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A Study of the Happiness of Chinese University Students and Its Influencing Factors—A Case Study of Beijing Universities

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  • Chenchen Liang

    (School of Marxism, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, China)

  • Jingdong Sun

    (School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, China)

Abstract

The enhancement of university students’ happiness is important for self-growth, family togetherness, social stability, and national development. This study aimed to explore the main factors that influence university students’ happiness. This study constructs a system comprising of 17 factors, such as personal health status, family atmosphere, school life satisfaction, and degree of social justice, which are extracted into four dimensions—individual, family, societal, and school—according to principal component analysis. Based on the data pertaining to the current state of university students’ happiness, the study used Pearson Correlation Analysis to analyze the correlation between the four dimensions and university students’ happiness, and the interaction between four dimensions were researched by the mediation model. The results of the principal component analysis indicate that the individual dimension explained most of the factors influencing happiness, which is consistent with the feature of subjective well-being. Pearson Correlation Analysis showed that the four dimensions all have positive effects on students’ happiness, and there are also significant correlations among the four dimensions themselves. Additionally, mediating effects analysis shows a significant mediating effect among the four dimensions. Based on this, this study argues that the happiness of students needs to be improved by focusing on four areas: cultivating a positive personal psychology, passing down good family traditions and customs, paying attention to the leading role of school education, and building a just and harmonious social environment.

Suggested Citation

  • Chenchen Liang & Jingdong Sun, 2022. "A Study of the Happiness of Chinese University Students and Its Influencing Factors—A Case Study of Beijing Universities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-15, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:23:p:16057-:d:990370
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Hassan Mahmoodi & Haidar Nadrian & Fahime Javid & Ghadriye Ahmadi & Rojia Kasravi & Masomeh Chavoshi & Fariba Golmohammadi, 2019. "Factors associated with happiness among college students: do academic self-efficacy and stress predict happiness?," International Journal of Happiness and Development, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 5(1), pages 14-24.
    2. Veronika Huta & Richard Ryan, 2010. "Pursuing Pleasure or Virtue: The Differential and Overlapping Well-Being Benefits of Hedonic and Eudaimonic Motives," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 11(6), pages 735-762, December.
    3. Stephen Hicks & Lucy Tinkler & Paul Allin, 2013. "Measuring Subjective Well-Being and its Potential Role in Policy: Perspectives from the UK Office for National Statistics," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 114(1), pages 73-86, October.
    4. Juncal Cuñado & Fernando Gracia, 2012. "Does Education Affect Happiness? Evidence for Spain," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 108(1), pages 185-196, August.
    5. Ed Diener & Shigehiro Oishi & Louis Tay, 2018. "Advances in subjective well-being research," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 2(4), pages 253-260, April.
    6. Omar A. Alismaiel & Javier Cifuentes-Faura & Waleed Mugahed Al-Rahmi, 2022. "Online Learning, Mobile Learning, and Social Media Technologies: An Empirical Study on Constructivism Theory during the COVID-19 Pandemic," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-15, September.
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