The Relationship Between Gender Inequality and Happiness in Iran\'s Provinces: An Ecological Study

Background and Aim: In 2020 the rank of Iran in happiness index and gender inequality were reported to be rather low, they being, among 153 countries, 118 and 113, respectively. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between gender inequality and happiness in Iran's provinces. Materials and Methods: This ecological study was conducted based on secondary analysis of data on happiness index, as the dependent variable, and gender inequality, as the main independent variable, in 31 Iranian provinces, the statistical population being people over 10 years old. The sources of data on other background variables were previous national studies and the national statistical yearbook. Analysis of the data was done using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation coefficient and multiple linear regression. Results: No significant relationship was found between gender inequality and happiness (p<0.05) in the provinces. Neither was found any relationship between the background variables and happiness. However, the mean age of the population and gender inequality were inversely associated (p<0.05), meaning that with an increase in the mean age gender inequality would decrease. Conclusion: The fact that no statistically significant association was found between the various variables and happiness in Iran’s provinces could be due to the small sample size. We would recommend to investigate further this topic at the individual level and with a larger sample size.