Girls are happier at school than boys, new research shows. that's why

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Norwegian researchers have just confirmed what many have long suspected: Girls are happier than boys at school.

Find out why Maybe it all comes down to biologythey said.

Girls get more of the happiness hormone dopamine from social connections, including relationships with them friends and classmates.

Alternatively, boys get dopamine through more self-involved behavior and they need more activity because their Higher levels of the male sex hormone testosterone.

“Long school days, motionless, are not suitable for boys,” Hermundur Sigmundsson, a professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, explained in a report. statement.

Girls are happier at school than boys. Norwegian researchers say this may be due to biological reasons (Getty Images/iStock)

youthful vitality

Sigmundsson and his team studied More than 1,600 Norwegian children in first to fourth grade.

Researchers asked children questions about their friends, happiness and safety at school and what subjects they liked.

Girls and younger students in the six- to nine-year-old group showed better well-being and stronger preferences for classes than boys and older students.

Happiness in school is associated with having more friends.

“We found significant correlations between well-being and all the questions we asked. Enjoying school and feeling safe at school are closely related,” Sigmundsson said.

Academic achievement: real and perceived

The researchers also asked students about their performance in reading, science, math and physical education in school.

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Their answers showed that girls scored higher than boys in reading and science. They also believe they are better at both.

Boys thought they were best at math, and researchers found no difference in how much boys and girls enjoyed the subject.

Finally, boys enjoyed physical education the most, but girls and boys saw no difference in their performance.

One potentially surprising finding is that there is a weak correlation between good reading sense and physical education.

It’s unclear how much of a role Norway’s specific education system plays in these findings.

New York City girls are doing better academically than their male classmates — but recent data shows they're unhappy in school — New York City girls are doing better academically than their male classmates — but recent data shows they’re unhappy in school (Getty Images)

International takeaway

Previous data and studies of U.S. schoolchildren have shown mixed results.

New York City data released in 2023 shows girls outperforming boys academically but unhappy at school.

Surveys of American teenagers since the 1980s show that girls get better grades in school and are stronger leaders, while boys are more likely to cause disruption and fewer say they plan to go to college. pew research center.

“Girls have made progress over the past 50 years, but we’ve seen that boys haven’t made the same progress,” said Matt Englar-Carlson, who studies boys and men at California State University, Fullerton. new york times last year.

Sigmundsson said his recommendation to improve the well-being of all students would be to add passion projects and more physical activities to help keep kids engaged.

In the future, the researchers aim to study how these additional efforts will affect schoolchildren.