Abstract

The current study examined trajectories of five types of indicators for life satisfaction (economic, health, relationship with children, relationship with spouse, and global) with age during middle adulthood, and determined gender differences of changes. Data were drawn from 668 men and 942 women aged 45 to 64 years among those who responded to all biennial panel surveys for a Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging from 2006 to 2018. Hierarchical linear models showed non-linear decreases in the relationships with children and spouse, a non-linear increase in economic satisfaction, and no change in health satisfaction. Global life satisfaction was in the middle area among children, spouse, health, and economic satisfaction. It showed a U-shaped curve, decreasing until mid-50s and then increasing in later life. Gender differences were only found in spouse and health satisfaction, showing that men had higher levels of satisfaction in their health and relationship with spouse. Findings of this study provide information on trajectories of life satisfaction during middle adulthood. They can help us understand how subjective well-being changes with age on the lifespan perspective, along with previous research findings on trajectories of life satisfaction during adolescence and old age.