Objective: This study investigated nativity disparities in life satisfaction among ethnoracial groups of older adults in the United States and the factors associated with such disparities. Method: Cross-sectional data from 7,348 respondents aged 60 and older from the 2012/2014 waves of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) were used to estimate linear regression models. Results: Older immigrants experienced higher levels of life satisfaction than comparable native-born individuals. This “happiness advantage” was particularly salient for Hispanic immigrants, who reported the highest levels of life satisfaction of all groups included in the study. With increasing education, life satisfaction increased for White and “Other Race” groups, regardless of nativity. However, for both Black groups and native-born Hispanics, higher levels of education were associated with lower life satisfaction. Discussion: Findings suggest that the “happiness paradox” may not only be a matter of Hispanic ethnicity, but that it may also extend to immigrants from other ethnoracial backgrounds. © The Author(s) 2017.

Life satisfaction immigrants Health and Retirement Study ethnoracial happiness paradox

education immigrant indigenous people human controlled study Aged retirement Happiness United States Hispanic life satisfaction male female race linear regression analysis Article major clinical study human experiment ethnicity