Original Research
Happiness among first-year students at a comprehensive tertiary institution: An exploratory study
Journal of Economic and Financial Sciences | Vol 7, No 2 | a151 |
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/jef.v7i2.151
| © 2019 Marinda Pretorius, Derick Blaauw
| This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 22 December 2017 | Published: 31 July 2014
Submitted: 22 December 2017 | Published: 31 July 2014
About the author(s)
Marinda Pretorius, Department of Economics and Econometrics, University of Johannesburg, South AfricaDerick Blaauw, School of Economics, North-West University, South Africa
Full Text:
PDF (277KB)Abstract
The 1970s saw a significant increase in the volume of research on individuals’ subjective experience of well-being. The subjective well-being of university students has received less attention, however. Student well-being is important, given the widespread concern over the high dropout rates at institutions of higher learning in South Africa (Council of Higher Education, 2013; Van Zyl, 2010). The paper adds to the existing body of literature through an exposition on the possible influence of variables forthcoming from the literature, on the overall subjective well-being of first-year economics students at a comprehensive university. Variables that displayed a significant and positive contribution to subjective well-being were first-year and extended-degree students, the university being the institution of choice, feeling at home, knowing exactly how the university functions, and watching or participating in sport. Variables that were found to be significant with a negative contribution to subjective well-being levels were: worries about tests, studying less than 10 hours per week and, interestingly, living on campus.
Keywords
happiness; subjective well-being; university students; determinants; economics
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Crossref Citations
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