this analysis seeks to confirm on the basis of the largest possible number of countries and observations whether subjective wellbeing in latin america is higher than would be expected on the basis of gdp per capita it also examines the relationship between subjective wellbeing and indicators for the position and responsibilities of men and women in different stages of the life cycle age civil status and number of children controlling for household monetary income and comparing the findings with other regions of the world one of the most influential studies was conducted by easterlin who observed that countries with the largest increments in gdp had stable levels of subjective wellbeing over time these findings were corroborated by other research