Why aren't women happier these days?

    That's the question raised by a thought-provoking study, 'The Paradox of Declining Female Happiness,' released last month. The research showed that over the past 35 years women's happiness has declined, both compared to the past and relative to men even though, by most objective measures, the lives of women in the U.S. have improved in recent decades.

    The research, by University of Pennsylvania economists Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers, and released by the National Bureau of Economic Research, found the decline in happiness to be pervasive among women across a variety of demographic groups. The researchers, for instance, measured similar declines in happiness among women who were single parents and married parents, 'casting doubt on the hypothesis that trends in marriage and divorce, single parenthood or work/family balance are at the root of the happiness declines among women,' they wrote.

    One theory for the decline in happiness is that expectations for workplace and general advancement were raised too high by the women's movement and women might 'feel inadequate for not 'having it all,'' as a Los Angeles Times columnist recently put it.

    The researchers acknowledge that's a possibility:

    'If the women's movement raised women's expectations faster than society was able to meet them,' the paper says, 'they would be more likely to be disappointed by their actual experienced lives.' But they add, things could change for the better: 'As women's expectations move into alignment with their experiences, this decline in happiness may reverse.'

    Readers, why do you think women are unhappier than in the past? Do you think that if expectations for 'having it all' were lowered to 'move into alignment with experiences,' women might be happier?

    現在女性的幸福感為什么下降了？

    五月公布的一項發人深思的調查《女性幸福感下降之詭辯》（The Paradox of Declining Female Happiness）提出了上述問題。這項研究顯示，在過去的35年中，無論是縱向與過去相比，還是橫向與男性相比，女性的幸福感都下降了──盡管按照大多數客觀標準看，過去幾十年來美國女性的生活改善了。

    這項研究由賓夕法尼亞大學經濟學家史蒂文森（Betsey Stevenson）和沃爾弗斯（Justin Wolfers）進行，由美國國家經濟研究局（National Bureau of Economic Research）公布。研究發現，在各類女性群體中，幸福感都普遍下降。舉例來講，研究人員發現，單身母親和已婚母親中幸福感的下降幅度類似；他們寫道，這對一種假說提出了質疑，這種假說認為，婚姻、離婚、單身母親或工作/家庭平衡等問題中的發展趨勢是導致女性幸福感下降的根源。

    正如《洛杉磯時報》（Los Angeles Times）一位專欄作家最近所寫的，關于幸福感下降的一個理論是，對工作和總體發展的期望值被婦女運動推得過高，如果沒有擁有一切，女性可能就覺得有所欠缺。

    研究人員承認這是一種可能。

    研究報告說，如果婦女運動提高女性期望值的速度高于社會滿足她們期望值的速度，那么她們將更有可能對實際經歷的生活感到失望。不過研究人員說，形勢也可能峰回路轉。他們寫道，隨著女性期望值與自身的經歷更加貼近，幸福感的下降可能會逆轉。

    讀者朋友們，你認為女性為什么沒有過去幸福了？你認為，如果對"擁有一切"的期望值被降低到與經歷相符的程度，女性是否可能更幸福？