The research, which comprised several different studies, suggested "parents are not nearly the 'miserable creatures' we might expect from recent studies and popular representations", said study researcher Elizabeth Dunn from the University of British Columbia in Canada.
"If you went to a big dinner party, our findings suggest that the parents in the room would be as happy or happier than those guests without children. Even so, we are not saying parents are walking around in this amazing state of bliss either," Dunn told LiveScience.
Specifically, the research found that parents are happier when they are caring for children than during other daily activities; across the studies that formed this research, the happiness bump was seen most consistently in fathers and in parents who are older and married.
"We find that if you are older and married (presumably having more social and financial support), then you're likely to be happier if you have children than your childless peers," co-researcher Sonja Lyubomirsky, of University of California, Riverside, said. "This is not true, however, for single parents or very young parents."
The research, to be published in a forthcoming issue of journal Psychological Science, adds to a mix of data on the lives of parents and their kids.
In the current research, the researchers conducted three studies to test whether parents are happier overall than their childless peers, if parents feel better moment-to-moment than non-parents, and whether parents experience more positive feelings when taking care of children than during their other daily activities.
In one study, the researchers used data from the World Values Survey, encompassing more than 6,900 US adults, about half being female. They found that fathers in particular expressed greater levels of happiness, positive emotion and meaning in life than their childless peers. (More)