School: are girls happier than boys?

School: are girls happier than boys?

By Dr. Kyle Muller

A study conducted on over 1,600 children shows that girls experience the school environment better: how social relationships, the structure of lessons and performance affect their well-being.

On average, girls are happier: at least according to research carried out by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology and published inEuropean Early Childhood Education Research Journal. Scientists interviewed 1,620 children aged between 6 and 9, asking them whether they had friends and whether they felt safe. Researchers have found that enjoyment of going to school and feelings of safety at school are closely related.

Possible reasons

But, in general, girls were happier than boys: according to the researchers, this depends on the fact that while girls get more pleasure from social relationships, boys get more pleasure from physical activity, which however is limited at school.

Yield

Even when it comes to activities such as reading and science, females generally obtain higher scores than males, both in terms of the interest they have in the subjects and the perception of their own performance. And performance is in turn linked to interest in study subjects.

Kyle Muller
About the author
Dr. Kyle Muller
Dr. Kyle Mueller is a Research Analyst at the Harris County Juvenile Probation Department in Houston, Texas. He earned his Ph.D. in Criminal Justice from Texas State University in 2019, where his dissertation was supervised by Dr. Scott Bowman. Dr. Mueller's research focuses on juvenile justice policies and evidence-based interventions aimed at reducing recidivism among youth offenders. His work has been instrumental in shaping data-driven strategies within the juvenile justice system, emphasizing rehabilitation and community engagement.
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