When she first met the seven dwarfs, Snow White would have found little difficulty in deciding which of the group was Happy and which was Grumpy. Happy was the one with the perpetual smile, a condition never manifested by Grumpy. But could it be that closer acquaintance with Grumpy came to suggest something subtler? A survey published this week, discussed with obvious scepticism by John Humphrys (who turned 70 in mid-August) on the Today programme, produced the apparently counter-intuitive finding that while elderly men are famous for curmudgeonly ways – think Victor Meldrew – males of this age tend to be happier than their female counterparts. But is that so very surprising? To be a curmudgeon means you no longer need to secrete views you've been hiding for years for fear of offending enlightened opinion; that you no longer see any necessity of agreeing with that which you do not agree with. Curmudgeonliness also provides a defence against unwanted intrusion. Chuggers prowling a street will be far less ready to swoop on an older man sporting a conspicuous scowl. Retreating into grumpy old-manliness is a way of maintaining one's comfort zone. It can even be classed as enjoyable. "Oh, my!" Snow White may have exclaimed after a while. "Happy is happy being happy being Happy, of course. But dear old Grumpy – I begin to suspect he is happy being grumpy." Some people have occasionally detected as much in the morning grumps of dear old John Humphrys.