Research on the relation of gender inequality and subjective well-being (SWB) has produced inconsistent results. We suggest that culture moderates this relation such that inequality has a greater adverse effect in liberal than in conservative societies. The present studies, using aggregate data from 86 countries (Study 1) and 145,975 individuals’ data from 69 countries (Study 2), support this notion. Among liberal countries, inequality was negatively related to SWB for both men and women; there was some evidence that this relation was stronger for women. In conservative countries, the relation was not significant. Previously, the same liberal–conservative continuum moderated the relation between income inequality and SWB for groups with both high and low socioeconomic status (SES) but particularly for the low-SES group. The similarity in results across two different studies strongly supports the notion that the relation between inequality and SWB is contingent on where specific cultures are located on the liberal–conservative continuum.

关于性别不平等与主观幸福感 (SWB) 关系的研究产生了不一致的结果。我们认为文化可以缓和这种关系，使得不平等在自由社会中比在保守社会中具有更大的不利影响。本研究使用来自 86 个国家（研究 1）的汇总数据和来自 69 个国家（研究 2）的 145,975 个人的数据，支持这一观点。在自由国家中，不平等与男性和女性的主观幸福感呈负相关；有一些证据表明，这种关系对女性来说更强。在保守国家，这种关系并不显着。此前，同样的自由-保守连续统一体缓和了社会经济地位 (SES) 高和低的群体，尤其是低 SES 群体的收入不平等与 SWB 之间的关系。