Another addition to the list of bizarre research studies would be the study on which gender finds parenthood more fulfilling. According to the study, which studied over 18,000 people, fathers experience more well-being when compared to mothers from parenthood. Past studies have considered whether people with children have greater well-being than those without kids.
Published in the journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, the researchers from the University of California, analysed three separate studies totaling more than 18,000 people to determine whether fathers or mothers experience greater happiness from their parenting roles.
The research team looked at measures of well being, like happiness, depressive symptoms, psychological satisfaction and stress across the three studies.
"Fathers may fare better than mothers in part due to how they spend their time with their children," said Katherine Nelson-Coffey, who worked in UC Riverside psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky's lab as a graduate student.
Across all outcomes measured in the first studies, fatherhood was more frequently linked with greater well-being than motherhood. Men were happier while caring for their children, while women were less happy.
One possible explanation for this finding is that, relative to mothers, fathers were more likely to indicate that they were playing with their children while they were caring for them or interacting with them.
