International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences

search-icon

What Makes Private University Students Happier?

Open access
This objective of this study is to explore the dimension of happiness among private university students in the year of 2023. As part of the processes for both individual and group counselling, a thorough interview was conducted. Employing a framework for wellbeing and happiness, the inductive thematic analysis was undertaken using the fully qualitative research approach. Participants in this study ranged in age from 20 to 24 and were all enrolled in private universities. There were ten people in attendance, six men and four women from three different universities. Present research comes out with three themes related to the dimension which make the private University students happier such as financial conditions, family, and academic success. The findings also shown that by achieving the academic achievement would be their ultimate happiness, this could be to enhance their motivation to achieve the good result and become happier. These results indicated the necessity for intervention to raise student happiness levels for their future career and professional growth.

1. Abecia, D., Samong, M., Abella, L., Baldomero, F., Tamayo, A., & Gabronino, R. (2014). Measuring Happiness of University Students. SSRN Electronic Journal. Published. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2433950
2. Aguilar, E. (2015, June). Simple ways to cultivate happiness in schools.Edutopia. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/simple-ways-cultivate-happiness-schools-elena-aguilar.
3. Carter N, Bryant-Lukosius D, DiCenso A, Blythe J, Neville AJ. The use of triangulation in qualitative research. Oncol Nurs Forum. 2014 Sep;41(5):545-7. doi: 10.1188/14.ONF.545-547.
4. Cin Cin Tan, Chong Man Chow, Stress and emotional eating: The mediating role of eating dysregulation, Personality and Individual Differences, Volume 66, August 2014, Pages 1-4, retrieved from www.elsevier.com/locate/paid
5. Compton, W. C., & Hoffman, E. (2013). Positive Psychology: The Science of Happiness and Flourishing (2nd ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
6. Corradino, C. & Forgarty, K. (2016). Positive emotions and academic achievement. Applied psychology opus. New York University. Retrieved fromhttp://steinhardt.nyu.edu/appsych/opus/issues/2016/spring/corradino_forgarty
7. Diener, Ed, Carol L. Gohm, Eunkook M. Suh and Shigehiro Oishi (2000). The similarity of the Relations Between Marital Status and Subjective Well-Being Across Cultures. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 31(4): 419-436
8. FarhanaYasmin, Muhammad Saeed, Naseer Ahmad, Changes faced by Post Graduates students: A case study of private University in Pakistan. Journal of Education and Human Development Vol. 7(No. 1): pp. 109-116 · October 2018.
9. Hills, P., & Argyle, M. (2002). The Oxford Happiness Questionnaire: A Compact Scale for the Measurement of Psychological Well-Being. Personality and Individual Differences, 33, 1073-1082.
10. Khairudin, C. T. (2017). Dimensi kebahagiaan golongan dewasa Melayu/Khairudin Che Tak (Doctoral dissertation, University of Malaya).
11. Levitt, H. M., Motulsky, S. L., Wertz, F. J., Morrow, S. L., & Ponterotto, J. G. (2017). Recommendations for Designing and Reviewing Qualitative Research in Psychology: Promoting Methodological Integrity. Qualitative Psychology, 4 (1), 2–22.
12. Lyubomirsky, S.King, L.,& Diener, E ( 2005 ).The Benefits of Frequent Positive Affect: Does Happiness Lead to Success?? Psychological Bulletin, 131 (6),803-855
13. Martin E.P Seligman ( 2002 ), Authentic Happiness, Nicholas Brealey Publishing, London.
14. Martin Seligman (2011) PERMA and the building blocks of well-being The Journal of Positive Psychology, Dedicated to furthering research and promoting good practice, Volume 13, 2018 - Issue 4
15. Melissa Malik, Norshidah Nordin, Azyyati Zakaria, Norsiah Sirun, An Exploratory Study on the Relationship between Life Satisfaction and Academic Performance Among Undergraduate Students of UiTM, Shah Alam Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, Volume 90, 10 October 2013, Pages 334-339.
16. Mussarat Jabeen Khan ( 2013), Effect of Perceived Academic Stress on Students' Performance, Journal of Social Science, Winter 2013, Vol 7.
17. Nanu, C, Taut, D & Baban, A. (2014) Why adolescents are not happy with their body image. Journal of Gender and Feminist Studies, Issue 2(16), ISSN 2344 – 2352;ISSN–L1453– 7559 http://www.analize-journal.ro/library/files/baban.pdf
18. Strauss and Corbin, J. (2008). Basics of Qualitative Research: Techniques and Procedures for Developing Grounded Theory (3rd Ed.). Thousand Oaks, London, New Delhi: SAGE Publications.
19. Tabbodi, M., Rahgozar, H., & Makki Abadi, M. M. (2015). The relationship between happiness and academic achievements. European Online Journal of Natural and Social Sciences: Proceedings, 4(1 (s)), pp-241.
20. Tahir U. Stress and eating behavior. Adv Obes Weight Manage Control. 2016;4(4):101-105. DOI: 10.15406/aowmc.2016.04.00095
21. Yew-Kwang Ng (2015) Happiness, Life Satisfaction, or Subjective Well-being? A Measurement and Moral Philosophical Perspective.