Age, Personality and Life Happiness in Sweden

The study looks at what makes people feel good in Sweden, using a big survey of 15, 068 adults from 2023. Researchers split the data into three parts: who people are (age, gender, money), how they think and feel inside (Big Five traits like neuroticism and extraversion), and how their relationships go (loneliness, love for partner, friendships). They built a machine‑learning model that predicts an overall happiness score made of good feelings (happiness, balance) and bad ones (depression, anxiety). The model works well, explaining about 79 % of the variation in happiness scores.Age turns out to be the most important factor among all the demographic questions, with a moderate correlation of about 0. 3. It is only behind strong psychological indicators such as neuroticism, loneliness and relationship satisfaction, which are the classic predictors of well‑being. The researchers checked this finding with another long‑term survey from 2006 to 2024 and saw the same pattern: older Swedes now feel happier than younger ones, but this gap has widened only in the last five years. The paper also produces new “political identity maps” that show how different groups feel about life, which could help lawmakers and the public understand where to focus resources. The main takeaway is that while personality traits and relationship quality still explain most of the differences in happiness, age has become an increasingly important demographic cue. Policymakers might use this knowledge to help younger Swedes improve their well‑being.