Gender and age differences in life satisfaction within a sex-segregated society: sampling youth in Qatar

Recent decades have witnessed a surge of interest in the measures of subjective well-being, including mental and physical health, happiness and life satisfaction. The purpose of this study was to determine if there are differences between Qatari males and females with respect to their satisfaction with life and if there are relevant age differences among youth with regards to their level of satisfaction. A convenience sampling technique was used, and of 319 Qataris from Qatar University and other governmental schools who participated in the study, 151 were male and 168 were female. The participants were divided into early adolescent and late adolescent groups. There were attrition in the data as many youth did not report their age. In small group sessions or in whole school classes, participants were administered and responded anonymously to the life satisfaction scale, which was designed by Ed Diener and his colleagues in 1985 and was translated to Arabic by Taisir Abdallah in 1998. Results revealed a significant difference between males and females, but no significant differences among age groups. This is the first study to be conducted in Qatar to address life satisfaction among adolescents. Further studies are encouraged to address socio-economic and health factors with respect to satisfaction.