IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i13p7661-d845610.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Unique Role of Hope and Optimism in the Relationship between Environmental Quality and Life Satisfaction during COVID-19 Pandemic

Author

Listed:
  • Walton Wider

    (Faculty of Business and Communication, INTI International University, Nilai 71800, Malaysia)

  • Nasehah Mohd Taib

    (Faculty of Business and Communication, INTI International University, Nilai 71800, Malaysia)

  • Mohd Wafiy Akmal Bin Ahmad Khadri

    (Faculty of Business and Communication, INTI International University, Nilai 71800, Malaysia)

  • Foon Yee Yip

    (Faculty of Business and Communication, INTI International University, Nilai 71800, Malaysia)

  • Surianti Lajuma

    (Faculty of Business and Communication, INTI International University, Nilai 71800, Malaysia)

  • Prasath A/L Punniamoorthy

    (Faculty of Business and Communication, INTI International University, Nilai 71800, Malaysia)

Abstract

COVID-19 in Malaysia has significantly affected the higher education system of the country and increased the level of distress among university students. Empirical evidence proposed that environment quality is associated with university students’ life satisfaction during COVID-19. It was found that hope and optimism are linked with greater life satisfaction in general. Although past literature has reported the effects of hope and optimism on life satisfaction, there are limited studies examining the underlying mechanism among Malaysian private university students. Therefore, the current study offers the preliminary understanding of the intervening role of hope and optimism on the relationship between environmental quality and life satisfaction among private university students in Malaysia. A total of 133 private university students in Malaysia were recruited through homogenous convenience sampling. Partial least square structure equation modeling (SmartPLS) was used to analyze the mediation models. The results revealed that only hope mediated the relationship between environmental quality and life satisfaction, but not optimism. Hence, it is proposed that mental health providers should focus on providing hope-related interventions to university students in confronting COVID-19 challenges and ultimately improving life satisfaction.

Suggested Citation

  • Walton Wider & Nasehah Mohd Taib & Mohd Wafiy Akmal Bin Ahmad Khadri & Foon Yee Yip & Surianti Lajuma & Prasath A/L Punniamoorthy, 2022. "The Unique Role of Hope and Optimism in the Relationship between Environmental Quality and Life Satisfaction during COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(13), pages 1-11, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:13:p:7661-:d:845610
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/13/7661/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/13/7661/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Luechinger, Simon, 2010. "Life satisfaction and transboundary air pollution," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 107(1), pages 4-6, April.
    2. Rehdanz, Katrin & Maddison, David, 2008. "Local environmental quality and life-satisfaction in Germany," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(4), pages 787-797, February.
    3. Sheela Sundarasen & Karuthan Chinna & Kamilah Kamaludin & Mohammad Nurunnabi & Gul Mohammad Baloch & Heba Bakr Khoshaim & Syed Far Abid Hossain & Areej Sukayt, 2020. "Psychological Impact of COVID-19 and Lockdown among University Students in Malaysia: Implications and Policy Recommendations," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(17), pages 1-13, August.
    4. Necmi K. Avkiran & Christian M. Ringle (ed.), 2018. "Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling," International Series in Operations Research and Management Science, Springer, number 978-3-319-71691-6, April.
    5. Gyula Kothencz & Ronald Kolcsár & Pablo Cabrera-Barona & Péter Szilassi, 2017. "Urban Green Space Perception and Its Contribution to Well-Being," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-14, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Walton Wider & Mei Xian Lim & Ling Shing Wong & Choon Kit Chan & Siti Sarah Maidin, 2022. "Should I Help? Prosocial Behaviour during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-10, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Pan Zhang & Zhiguo Wang, 2019. "PM 2.5 Concentrations and Subjective Well-Being: Longitudinal Evidence from Aggregated Panel Data from Chinese Provinces," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(7), pages 1-13, March.
    2. Bertram, Christine & Rehdanz, Katrin, 2015. "The role of urban green space for human well-being," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 139-152.
    3. Welsch, Heinz & Ferreira, Susana, 2014. "Environment, Well-Being, and Experienced Preference," International Review of Environmental and Resource Economics, now publishers, vol. 7(3-4), pages 205-239, December.
    4. Zhang, Xin & Zhang, Xiaobo & Chen, Xi, 2017. "Happiness in the air: How does a dirty sky affect mental health and subjective well-being?," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 81-94.
    5. Barrington-Leigh, Christopher & Behzadnejad, Fatemeh, 2017. "The impact of daily weather conditions on life satisfaction: Evidence from cross-sectional and panel data," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 145-163.
    6. Zerrahn, Alexander & Krekel, Christian, 2015. "Sowing the Wind and Reaping the Whirlwind? The Effect of Wind Turbines on Residential Well-Being," VfS Annual Conference 2015 (Muenster): Economic Development - Theory and Policy 112956, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    7. Juncal Cuñado & Fernando Gracia, 2013. "Environment and Happiness: New Evidence for Spain," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 112(3), pages 549-567, July.
    8. Ferreira, Susana & Akay, Alpaslan & Brereton, Finbarr & Cuñado, Juncal & Martinsson, Peter & Moro, Mirko & Ningal, Tine F., 2013. "Life satisfaction and air quality in Europe," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 1-10.
    9. Omri, Anis & Omri, Henda & Slimani, Sana & Belaid, Fateh, 2022. "Environmental degradation and life satisfaction: Do governance and renewable energy matter?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    10. Zhang, Xin & Zhang, Xiaobo & Chen, Xi, 2017. "Valuing Air Quality Using Happiness Data: The Case of China," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 29-36.
    11. Pei-shan Liao & Daigee Shaw & Yih-ming Lin, 2015. "Environmental Quality and Life Satisfaction: Subjective Versus Objective Measures of Air Quality," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 124(2), pages 599-616, November.
    12. Li, Fan & Zhou, Tao, 2020. "Effects of objective and subjective environmental pollution on well-being in urban China: A structural equation model approach," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 249(C).
    13. Li, Zhengtao & Folmer, Henk & Xue, Jianhong, 2014. "To what extent does air pollution affect happiness? The case of the Jinchuan mining area, China," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 88-99.
    14. Schmitt, Maike, 2013. "Subjective Well-Being and Air Quality in Germany," Schmollers Jahrbuch : Journal of Applied Social Science Studies / Zeitschrift für Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin, vol. 133(2), pages 275-286.
    15. Jie Zhu & Chuntian Lu & Anrui Song, 2023. "Air Pollution Governance and Residents’ Happiness: Evidence of Blue Sky Defense in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(21), pages 1-17, October.
    16. Eleftherios Giovanis, 2019. "Worthy to lose some money for better air quality: applications of Bayesian networks on the causal effect of income and air pollution on life satisfaction in Switzerland," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 57(5), pages 1579-1611, November.
    17. Tetsuya Tsurumi & Shunsuke Managi, 2017. "Monetary Valuations of Life Conditions in a Consistent Framework: The Life Satisfaction Approach," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 18(5), pages 1275-1303, October.
    18. García-Mainar, Inmaculada & Montuenga, Víctor M. & Navarro-Paniagua, María, 2015. "Workplace environmental conditions and life satisfaction in Spain," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 136-146.
    19. Brian Chi-ang Lin & Siqi Zheng & Eleftherios Giovanis & Oznur Ozdamar, 2016. "Structural Equation Modelling And The Causal Effect Of Permanent Income On Life Satisfaction: The Case Of Air Pollution Valuation In Switzerland," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(3), pages 430-459, July.
    20. Ary José A. Souza-Jr., 2021. "Climate change and behavior: Do environmental attitudes and perceptions impact on subjective well-being in Europe?," Working Papers REM 2021/0207, ISEG - Lisbon School of Economics and Management, REM, Universidade de Lisboa.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:13:p:7661-:d:845610. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.