Abstract

Studies in the past have found that gender plays an important role in happiness. This study examines gender difference in happiness and depression in Chinese society, with regard to the Five Factor Model (FFM). Totally, 5648 students (aged between 17 and 29) were recruited from universities in China. Results indicated that women reported higher happiness and higher depression than men. The present study provides empirical data that women tend to express more emotional feelings, like gratitude and happiness. Moreover, results showed that extraversion mediated women’ experience of subjective happiness and depression whereas neuroticism mediated women’ experience of depression. The results of the present study reconfirmed that extraversion was the most reliable predictor of positive affect (e.g., happiness) while neuroticism was the most reliable predictor of negative affect (e.g., depression).