IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/jhappi/v19y2018i6d10.1007_s10902-017-9895-5.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Children’s and Adolescents’ Conceptions of Happiness at School and Its Relation with Their Own Happiness and Their Academic Performance

Author

Listed:
  • Belén López-Pérez

    (Liverpool Hope University)

  • Belén Fernández-Castilla

    (University of Leuven, KU Leuven)

Abstract

Previous research on children’s and adolescents’ well-being at school has been focused on the possible determinants. However, no previous research has analysed children’s and adolescents’ lay-beliefs or conceptualizations of happiness at school. In the present work, we studied children’s (N = 104, 9–10-year-olds) and adolescents’ (N = 113, 15–16-year-olds) conceptualizations of happiness at school and its link with self-reported happiness (assessed 3 months later) and academic achievement (assessed 7 months later). For both samples, seven conceptualizations emerged: happiness as ‘being with friends’, ‘being praised’, ‘getting good grades’, ‘learning’, ‘leisure’, ‘enjoyment’, and ‘helping’. Age differences appeared for the conceptualizations of ‘being friends’ and ‘helping’, as children mentioned significantly more the former and adolescents the latter. No gender differences emerged. For adolescents, the conceptualizations of happiness at school as ‘being with friends’, ‘being praised’, ‘helping’, and not ‘having leisure time’ were positively related to self-reported happiness, which was positively related to academic achievement. For children, none of the conceptualizations were positively related to self-reported happiness. The conceptualization of happiness as ‘learning’ was positively related to academic achievement. The results are discussed in regards to their implications for children’s and adolescents’ well-being at school.

Suggested Citation

  • Belén López-Pérez & Belén Fernández-Castilla, 2018. "Children’s and Adolescents’ Conceptions of Happiness at School and Its Relation with Their Own Happiness and Their Academic Performance," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 19(6), pages 1811-1830, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jhappi:v:19:y:2018:i:6:d:10.1007_s10902-017-9895-5
    DOI: 10.1007/s10902-017-9895-5
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10902-017-9895-5
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10902-017-9895-5?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Edward Deci & Richard Ryan, 2008. "Hedonia, eudaimonia, and well-being: an introduction," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 9(1), pages 1-11, January.
    2. Adrian Furnham & Helen Cheng, 2000. "Lay Theories of Happiness," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 1(2), pages 227-246, June.
    3. Richard M. Ryan & Veronika Huta & Edward Deci, 2008. "Living well: a self-determination theory perspective on eudaimonia," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 9(1), pages 139-170, January.
    4. E. Huebner & Gary Alderman, 1993. "Convergent and discriminant validation of a children's life satisfaction scale: Its relationship to self- and teacher-reported psychological problems and school functioning," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 30(1), pages 71-82, September.
    5. Antonella Delle Fave & Ingrid Brdar & Teresa Freire & Dianne Vella-Brodrick & Marié Wissing, 2011. "The Eudaimonic and Hedonic Components of Happiness: Qualitative and Quantitative Findings," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 100(2), pages 185-207, January.
    6. van de Wetering, E.J. & van Exel, N.J.A. & Brouwer, W.B.F., 2010. "Piecing the jigsaw puzzle of adolescent happiness," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 923-935, December.
    7. Shannon Suldo & E. Huebner, 2006. "Is Extremely High Life Satisfaction During Adolescence Advantageous?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 78(2), pages 179-203, September.
    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. Cynthia Leung & Janet T. Y. Leung & Sylvia Y. C. L. Kwok & Anna Hui & Herman Lo & H. L. Tam & Simon Lai, 2021. "Predictors to Happiness in Primary Students: Positive Relationships or Academic Achievement," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 16(6), pages 2335-2349, 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. Belén López-Pérez & Janice Sánchez & Michaela Gummerum, 2016. "Children’s and Adolescents’ Conceptions of Happiness," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 17(6), pages 2431-2455, December.
    2. Belén López-Pérez & Antonio Zuffianò, 2021. "Children’s and Adolescents’ Happiness Conceptualizations at School and their Link with Autonomy, Competence, and Relatedness," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 22(3), pages 1141-1163, March.
    3. Ofer I. Atad & Pninit Russo-Netzer, 2022. "The Effect of Gratitude on Well-being: Should We Prioritize Positivity or Meaning?," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 23(3), pages 1245-1265, March.
    4. Julia Krasko & Sabrina Intelisano & Maike Luhmann, 2022. "When Happiness is Both Joy and Purpose: The Complexity of the Pursuit of Happiness and Well-Being is Related to Actual Well-Being," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 23(7), pages 3233-3261, October.
    5. Miriam Raquel Wachholz Strelhow & Jorge Castellá Sarriera & Ferran Casas, 2020. "Evaluation of Well-Being in Adolescence: Proposal of an Integrative Model with Hedonic and Eudemonic Aspects," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 13(4), pages 1439-1452, August.
    6. Piotr Oleś & Tomasz Jankowski, 2018. "Positive Orientation—a Common Base for Hedonistic and Eudemonistic Happiness?," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 13(1), pages 105-117, March.
    7. Pninit Russo-Netzer, 2019. "Prioritizing Meaning as a Pathway to Meaning in Life and Well-Being," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 20(6), pages 1863-1891, August.
    8. Andrew E. Clark, 2015. "SWB as a Measure of Individual Well-Being," Working Papers halshs-01134483, HAL.
    9. Mohsen Joshanloo, 2013. "A Comparison of Western and Islamic Conceptions of Happiness," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 14(6), pages 1857-1874, December.
    10. Brand-Correa, Lina I. & Steinberger, Julia K., 2017. "A Framework for Decoupling Human Need Satisfaction From Energy Use," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 43-52.
    11. Mohsen Joshanloo & Dan Weijers, 2019. "A two-dimensional conceptual framework for understanding mental well-being," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(3), pages 1-20, March.
    12. Ali Eryilmaz, 2012. "A Model for Subjective Well-Being in Adolescence: Need Satisfaction and Reasons for Living," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 107(3), pages 561-574, July.
    13. Sabrina Intelisano & Julia Krasko & Maike Luhmann, 2020. "Integrating Philosophical and Psychological Accounts of Happiness and Well-Being," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 21(1), pages 161-200, January.
    14. Nikolova, Milena & Cnossen, Femke, 2020. "What makes work meaningful and why economists should care about it," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    15. Alexandra Ganglmair-Wooliscroft & Ben Wooliscroft, 2019. "Well-Being and Everyday Ethical Consumption," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 141-163, January.
    16. Carmel Proctor & P. Linley & John Maltby, 2009. "Youth Life Satisfaction: A Review of the Literature," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 10(5), pages 583-630, October.
    17. Veselina P. Vracheva & Robert Moussetis & Ali Abu-Rahma, 2020. "The Mediational Role of Engagement in the Relationship Between Curiosity and Student Development: A Preliminary Study," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 21(4), pages 1529-1547, April.
    18. Badri Bajaj & Ragini Gupta & Santoshi Sengupta, 2019. "Emotional Stability and Self-Esteem as Mediators Between Mindfulness and Happiness," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 20(7), pages 2211-2226, October.
    19. Erik Carlquist & Hilde E. Nafstad & Rolv M. Blakar, 2018. "Understanding Satisfaction: An Analysis of the Meaning Potential of the Word “Satisfaction” in Everyday Norwegian Language," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 19(4), pages 939-959, April.
    20. Luke Henderson & Tess Knight & Ben Richardson, 2014. "The Hedonic and Eudaimonic Validity of the Orientations to Happiness Scale," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 115(3), pages 1087-1099, February.

    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:spr:jhappi:v:19:y:2018:i:6:d:10.1007_s10902-017-9895-5. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.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.