Finding a Life Manual

Do men generally grow grumpier with age?

My impression from following science journalism for a decade or so, and just confirmed by a quick google search, is that:

1. As people grow older, they tend to be happier/more positive.
2. As people grow older, men to be happier than women.

See [1] and [2] for references for the first claim, and [2] and [3] for references for the second claim.

Of course, for 1 it might be that the unhappy ones dies first.

“As a group, older adults are less likely to be depressed and less
affected by negative or unpleasant information,” said Stacey Wood, a
neuropsychologist from Scripps College in Claremont, Calif. who headed up the study.

[1]: http://www.livescience.com/4324-older-people-optimistic.html for the press coverage, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17760782 for the actual result.

The increase in happiness with age is consistent with the “age
as maturity hypothesis,” Yang said. With age comes positive
psychosocial traits, such as self-integration and self-esteem; these
signs of maturity could contribute to a better sense of overall
well-being

[2]: http://news.uchicago.edu/article/2008/04/16/age-comes-happiness-university-chicago-study-shows for the press release, http://asr.sagepub.com/content/73/2/204.abstract for the study

In later life these gender differences turn around. Men come closer than women to fulfilling their material goods and family life aspirations, are more satisfied with their financial situation and family life, and are the happier of the two genders.

[3]: http://psychcentral.com/news/2008/07/30/happiness-wanes-as-women-age/2668.html for the press release, http://www.springerlink.com/content/4j11681jx415315k/ for the study.

Papers might be behind paywall.