Descriptive cross-sectional study, which deals with the meanings of happiness that older adults construct from their experiences in the nine commune of the city of Monteria (Cordoba, Colombia).The population subject to the study corresponded to 150 beneficiaries of the Solidarity Extension Project developed by the University of XX, from a representative sample of 75 older adults were selected, who were given the General Happiness Scale for the collection of information. Among the results obtained, there is an appreciable difference between the female perception and the male perception. Older women give meaning to happiness from affective dimensions such as family and social support as the base for health development; meanwhile men construct the sense of happiness from the ability to satisfy primary basic needs, to be independent and functional. It was concluded that happiness is a multidimensional concept whose perception is associated with the sociocultural condition of the context and the conditions of the person.