Happiness among adolescents in The Netherlands: ethnic and sex differences

A nationwide sample of 2710 Dutch adolescents and 518 ethnic minority adolescents living in the Netherlands was used to examine ethnic and sex differences in happiness. Analyses of variance were conducted with ethnic background, sex, and length of residence in the Netherlands, as variables. Socioeconomic status was included in the analyses as a covariate. Adolescents from ethnic minority backgrounds, as compared to the Dutch, had significantly lower scores on a generalized estimates of life satisfaction and on a measure of hedonic effect. Both differences, however, explained only a very small amount of variance. Girls (from all ethnic groups including the Dutch) had lower scores than boys on both measures. There was no significant effect for length of residence on either measure.