Throughout the world, women seem to be somewhat happier than men, although the gender gap is most pronounced in the developing countries, according to the US-based Pew Research Center for People and the Press.

"In particular, women are much happier than men in Japan, India, the Philippines, Pakistan and Argentina," according to the survey, which involved 38,000 interviews in 44 countries.

In India, 21 per cent of the women respondents rated their lives as being on the highest rung of the ladder of life, compared to 13 per cent of men.

In the United States, 68 per cent of women and 64 per cent of men surveyed rated their lives as being on the highest rung.

The survey also found that the happiest people, men and women, live in the United States and Canada.

The people least satisfied with their lives are men and women in eastern and southern Africa, where one-in-five (19 per cent) of those surveyed have a negative view of the future.

The global gender gap is not limited to happiness, for it also reflects differing life perspectives. According to the survey, the only major disagreements between the sexes are in India, where men are much more unhappy about global affairs than women are, and in France and the United States, where women are more dissatisfied.

Women also show greater concern about issues that directly affect the family and home life, while men are more concerned about issues outside the home. For instance, men in more countries mentioned the actions of the government and work-related difficulties when asked an open-ended question about the most important problem facing their family.

Women in more countries volunteer health problems and difficulties with children and education. As might be expected, economic hardships are the most frequently cited concerns by both sexes.

Despite, or possibly because of their outward focus, men rate their family life better than women. The poll finds women in poorer nations happier with their incomes than men, while in richer counties there is less of a gender difference in opinions about one's income.

Women in most countries also tend to be more satisfied than men with the personal progress they have made in recent years. Although happier and more satisfied with their personal progress than men, women are less optimistic about the future.

Men, the survey found, are happier with their family life and more optimistic about what lies ahead for their children. In more than half (24 of 44) the countries surveyed men are more optimistic about their personal futures than are women.

Both men and women are dissatisfied with the state of the world, it added.