A clue to the paradox of happiness

This paper presents evidence from the 1976 survey of Americans’ mental health that married altruists are more likely to report themselves very happy than people with other personality dispositions, if family income and family size are held constant. Altruistic husbands exhibit diminishing marginal utility from children, as do all wives, regardless of personality. Data on the allocation of time for child-care account for the gender and personality differences in happiness. It is hypothesized that the paradox of happiness in the US is attributable to a decline in the percentage of altruists in the population.