The surveys assessed men and women based on how unpleasant they found various tasks during the course of their day:
Not surprisingly, men and women often gave similar answers about what they liked to do (hanging out with friends) and didn’t like (paying bills). But there were also a number of activities that produced very different reactions from the two sexes — and one of them really stands out: Men apparently enjoy being with their parents, while women find time with their mom and dad to be slightly less pleasant than doing laundry.There all sorts of ways to explain the gap: changes in societal norms, have-it-all-ism, second shift-ism, etc. These certainly have the look and feel of truth.
Now, in the deep-theory behind Dramatica, there are two way of solving problems and assessing one's progress: linear (moving from one step to the next to the next) and holistic (balancing many things simultaneously). According to the theory, linear thinkers are primarily (though not necessarily) male and holistic thinkers are primarily (though not necessarily) female.
So in the course of a day men are able to move from one task to the next, and their sense of satisfaction is based solely on the task at hand. If they have 10 things to do they focus on just one and ignore the other 9. This is where we get the stereotype of the man who happily sits watching TV while the leaves go unraked, the fence goes unpainted, and the kids go un-fed.
Women on the other hand move through their day trying to balance each of their 10 tasks within the overall fabric of their lives. If 1 thing is going poorly, it diminishes her satisfaction with the other 9 and vice versa. This is where we get the stereotype of the superwoman trying to be a success at everything simultaneously.
If one is asked to report their level happiness on isolated activities, what they are really being asked is how happy are they solving problems linearly. My feeling is that men will tend to report greater happiness because the survey plays into the problem-solving style they are more comfortable with. If the questions put more emphasis on their ability to balance work, life, and leisure, you might get a different response.
