“Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success.” (Herman Cain)
The abovementioned statement points to the advantageous side of achieving happiness. Whereas some believe that success is a precursor of happiness, this quote suggests that happiness can precede optimal human development. Studies have shown that happiness is associated with positive outcomes like academic success (Nickerson, Diener, & Schwarz, Reference Nickerson, Diener and Schwarz2011), good interpersonal relationships (Diener & Seligman, Reference Diener and Seligman2002), longevity (Diener & Chan, Reference Diener and Chan2011), and work efficiency (Oishi, Reference Oishi2012).
Earlier theories of well-being argue that relatively complex and comprehensive models of happiness is necessary to accurately capture the extent to which individuals sense that they live a joyful and satisfying life. For instance, the subjective well-being (SWB) model (Diener, Reference Diener1984) refers to positive evaluation of one’s life and greater extent of positive emotions. This framework points out that happiness has two distinct dimensions namely; cognitive (life satisfaction) and affective (positive and negative affect) well-being.
Another framework that offers notable insights in understanding the science of happiness is the psychological well-being model (PWB; Ryff & Singer, 1989). PWB refers to the extent to which individuals are effectively functioning in their lives. PWB is composed of the following facets: autonomy, environmental mastery, personal growth, positive relations with others, purpose in life, and self-acceptance. PWB differs significantly from the SWB framework as the former conceptualizes well-being as optimal psychological functioning than the latter which posits that well-being is a momentary evaluation of life satisfaction and expression of emotional states (i.e., positive and negative emotions).
Although these models have significantly contributed to development in the theorizing and measurement of well-being, Lyubomirsky and Lepper (Reference Lyubomirsky and Lepper1999) have pointed out that previous research did not place much emphasis on constructing an overall measure of happiness. To address this gap, the authors have conceptualized the subjective happiness construct which refers to the degree to which people believe that they are happy or unhappy with their lives. They have noted that this approach is more efficient in detecting global subjective happiness through examining how individuals’ lives resemble characteristics of a happy and an unhappy person. They have found that subjective happiness was positively correlated with desirable psychological outcomes like positive affect, self-esteem, and optimism.
Previous studies have shown that subjective happiness is positively associated with a wide range of optimal psychological outcomes such as job satisfaction (Iani, Lauriola, Layous, & Sirigatti, Reference Iani, Lauriola, Layous and Sirigatti2014), life satisfaction (Iani et al., Reference Iani, Lauriola, Layous and Sirigatti2014; Lyubomirsky & Lepper, Reference Lyubomirsky and Lepper1999; Swami et al., Reference Swami, Stieger, Voracek, Dressler, Eisma and Furnham2009), mental health (Nan et al., Reference Nan, Ni, Lee, Tam, Lam, Leung and McDowell2014), and optimal family functioning (Nan et al., Reference Nan, Ni, Lee, Tam, Lam, Leung and McDowell2014). Subjective happiness is also negatively related to anxiety (Iani et al., Reference Iani, Lauriola, Layous and Sirigatti2014), depression (Iani et al., Reference Iani, Lauriola, Layous and Sirigatti2014), and parental rejection (Moghnie & Kazarian, Reference Moghnie and Kazarian2012).
However, past investigations have examined happiness as an outcome rather than as a catalyst of optimal psychological functioning. Diener (Reference Diener2012) has suggested that happiness may also operate as antecedent of personal and occupational success across contexts. To support this, previous studies have revealed that happy people are prone to get higher income (Diener, Nickerson, Lucas, & Sandvik, Reference Diener, Nickerson, Lucas and Sandvik2002), to have greater work productivity (Oishi, Reference Oishi2012), and to live a longer life (Diener & Chan, Reference Diener and Chan2011). In the academic context, Seligman, Ernst, Gillham, Reivich, and Linkins (Reference Seligman, Ernst, Gillham, Reivich and Linkins2009) have recently focused on cultivating the “positive education” perspective which emphasizes the importance of nurturing positive psychological traits, states, and contexts to facilitate desirable learning outcomes.
A major framework that can potentially elucidate why subjective happiness may optimize a wide range of academic and positive psychological outcomes is the broaden-and-build theory (Fredrickson, Reference Fredrickson2001). The model postulates that well-being states are adaptive in that these positive psychological states broaden or widen the range of thought-action repertoires. The thought-action repertoires accrued from happiness enable people to build durable physiological, psychological, and social resources. Previous studies have demonstrated that positive emotions predict functional psychological resources such as academic engagement (e.g., Lewis, Huebner, Reschly, & Valois, Reference Lewis, Huebner, Reschly and Valois2009), adaptive coping (Lewis et al., Reference Lewis, Huebner, Reschly and Valois2009), meaning life (Datu, Reference Datu2016), and academic motivation (Datu, Reference Datu2017; Isen & Reeve, Reference Isen and Reeve2005).
Despite the seeming advantages of investigating the role of subjective happiness in the academic context, previous studies have not paid much attention on this research area. In particular, we do not know of any research which explored the associations of subjective happiness with relevant educational outcomes like engagement and resilience. Examining the link of subjective happiness to academic and psychological functioning is an important research direction to demonstrate how positive psychological states can promote different indicators of students’ success.
Therefore, the present study addressed previous research gaps through examining the association of subjective happiness with optimal educational outcomes (i.e., behavioral engagement, emotional engagement, flourishing, and school resilience) among Filipino high school students. Behavioral engagement pertains to the degree to which students actively partake in relevant classroom activities while emotional engagement refers to the extent to which students espouse positive feelings when accomplishing academic endeavors (Skinner, Kindermann, & Furrer, Reference Skinner, Kindermann and Furrer2009). School resilience refers to the extent to which students can effectively cope with academic and social problems in the academic context (King, Caleon, & Datu, 2015). Flourishing pertains to ‘social-psychological prosperity’ which is characterized by greater optimism, meaning in life, durable interpersonal relations, and perceived competence (Diener et al., Reference Diener, Wirtz, Tov, Kim-Prieto, Choi, Oishi and Biswas-Diener2010). Furthermore, we controlled for the potential effects of gender on the link between subjective happiness and the abovementioned outcomes as previous studies have demonstrated gender differences in academic engagement (Kenney-Benson, Pomerantz, Ryan, & Patrick, Reference Kenney-Benson, Pomerantz, Ryan and Patrick2006; Ryan, Shim, Lampkins-Uthando, Kiefer, & Thompson, Reference Ryan, Shim, Lampkins-Uthando, Kiefer and Thompson2009), well-being (Meisenberg & Woodley, Reference Meisenberg and Woodley2015), and resilience (Newsome, Vaske, Gehring, & Boisvert, Reference Newsome, Vaske, Gehring and Boisvert2016). In particular, these investigations have shown that female scored higher than male in such outcomes.
The study proposed the following hypotheses (H):
H1: Subjective happiness would positively predict behavioral and emotional engagement even after controlling for gender.
H2: Subjective happiness would positively predict flourishing and school resilience even after controlling for gender.
Method
Participants
A total sample of 606 Filipino high school students in a private high school participated in the study. There were 300 boys and 305 girls. Yet, one participant failed to report gender. The mean age of the participants was 13.87. High school students in the Philippines are normally required to undergo six years of secondary education. Passive consent forms and active consent forms were given to parents and participants of the study before administering the survey.
Measures
Flourishing
The Flourishing Scale (Diener et al., Reference Diener, Wirtz, Tov, Kim-Prieto, Choi, Oishi and Biswas-Diener2010) is an 8-item questionnaire that measured the degree to which the participants experience holistic well-being. Sample items in the current scale involve “I am optimistic about my future” and “I actively contribute to the happiness and well-being of others”. All the items were rated on a 7-point likert scale (1 = Strongly disagree; 7 = Strongly agree). The Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient of the instrument in the current study was alpha = .85.
School resilience
The School Resilience Scale (King et al., 2015) is a 22-item instrument that gauged the extent to which students effectively adjust with various academic challenges. Sample items in the scale include “I am good at dealing with setbacks at school” and “I can manage stress in school work effectively”. The items were marked on a 7-point likert scale (1 = Strongly disagree; 7 = Strongly agree). The Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient of the scale in the present research was alpha = .90.
Student’s engagement
The Student’s Engagement Scale (Skinner, Kindermann, & Furrer, Reference Skinner, Kindermann and Furrer2009) is a 20-item questionnaire that measured behavioral engagement, emotional engagement, behavioral disaffection, and emotional disaffection. In the present research, only the behavioral engagement and emotional engagement were gauged. The items are gauged on a 4-point likert scale (1 = Not at all true; 4 = Very true). The Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficients were; behavioral engagement = .71; emotional engagement = .70.
Data analysis
First, descriptive statistics (e.g., mean, standard deviation, and Cronbach’s α reliability coefficients) of the variables in the current research were calculated. Second, Pearson r-correlational analysis was carried out to assess the associations of subjective happiness with the outcomes of interest in the study. Third, path analysis was performed to assess the degree to which subjective happiness may predict behavioral engagement, emotional engagement, flourishing, and school resilience. Yet we controlled for the potential effects of gender on academic engagement and school resilience. In assessing the validity of the hypothesized model, we adopted the criteria in detecting a model with excellent or acceptable fit based on the guidelines of Marsh et al. (Reference Marsh, Lüdtke, Muthén, Asparouhov, Morin, Trautwein and Nagengast2010) who proposed the following cut-off values: a) non-significant χ2 test statistics; b) goodness of fit (GFI), comparative fit index (CFI), incremental fit index (IFI), and normed fit index (NFI) should be greater than .95; and c) root mean square error of approximation should be less than .95.
Results
The results of descriptive statistics and correlational analyses were presented in Table 1. Subjective happiness was positively correlated with behavioral engagement, emotional engagement, flourishing, and school resilience. After satisfying the assumptions in performing structural equation modeling (e.g., normality and absence of multivariate outlier), we tested a path model wherein subjective happiness was entered as the antecedent of academic engagement, school resilience, and flourishing.
Table 1. Descriptive statistics and correlational coefficients among the variables
Note: *p < .01.
The hypothesized path model significantly fit the present Filipino high school sample: χ2 = 11.26, df = 3, p = .004, χ2/df = 3.75, CFI = .99, GFI = .99, IFI = .99, NFI = .98, and RMSEA = .07 (See Figure 1). Consistent with H1, path analysis showed that subjective happiness positively predicted behavioral (β = .08, p < .01) and emotional engagement (β = .08, p < .01) even after controlling for gender. Subjective happiness positively predicted flourishing (β = .17, p < .01) and school resilience (β = .18, p < .01) which supported H2. These results proposed that subjective happiness may be associated with high levels academic engagement, flourishing, and school resilience.
Figure 1. Final path model on the influence of subjective happiness on positive student outcomes
Note: *p < .05; **p < .001.
Discussion
The principal aim of the current research was to assess the associations of subjective happiness with positive student outcomes. Results indicated that subjective happiness was associated with high levels of engagement, flourishing, and resilience among Filipino high school students.
H1 was confirmed as the study showed that subjective happiness was associated with greater behavioral and emotional engagement. These results suggest that the extent to which students perceive that they are living a happy life may be associated with more active participation (academic engagement) and endorsement of positive emotions (e.g., excitement and pride) when participating in classroom activities. These findings corroborated the extant literature on the link of well-being to academic and psychological outcomes such as academic engagement (Lewis et al., Reference Lewis, Huebner, Reschly and Valois2009), academic motivation (Datu, Reference Datu2017; Isen & Reeve, Reference Isen and Reeve2005), adaptive coping (Lewis et al., Reference Lewis, Huebner, Reschly and Valois2009), general self-esteem (Datu, Reference Datu2013), meaning in life (Datu, Reference Datu2016), and physical health (Diener & Chan, Reference Diener and Chan2011). Our study contributed to the well-being literature through showing that the subjective happiness construct may be associated with engagement in the educational context.
Subjective happiness also predicted flourishing, and school resilience which supported H2. These results implied that students who are subjectively happy tend to experience high levels of social-psychological prosperity, and effective coping with academic challenges. Findings provided support on the existing literature which demonstrated a positive linkage between happiness and positive psychological outcomes like flourishing (Diener et al., Reference Diener, Wirtz, Tov, Kim-Prieto, Choi, Oishi and Biswas-Diener2010).
The results on the positive associations of subjective happiness with engagement and other student outcomes were in line with the important tenets of the broaden-and-build theory (Fredrickson, Reference Fredrickson2001). Indeed, well-being states are beneficial as these emotional responses provide greater opportunities to enhance thought-action repertoires which build functional physical, psychological, and social resources. Existing empirical investigations have emphasized the advantageous effects of well-being indices like positive affect and life satisfaction in the academic context (e.g., Datu, Reference Datu2013, Reference Datu2016, Reference Datu2017; Isen & Reeve, 2015; Lewis et al., Reference Lewis, Huebner, Reschly and Valois2009).
Taken together, our study indicates that students who have greater subjective happiness are likely to stay happy and succeed in academic related endeavors as they might show higher tendencies to participate in classroom tasks, to feel satisfied when joining academic tasks, to experience greater psychological well-being, and to efficiently deal with pertinent academic struggles. Our investigation was in line with the literature on positive education (Seligman et al., Reference Seligman, Ernst, Gillham, Reivich and Linkins2009) which places importance on the role of well-being indices in facilitating important student outcomes in the academic context.
The study has a number of limitations. First, since our study was cross-sectional in nature, caution should be observed when drawing causal inferences between subjective happiness and positive student outcomes. Future researches are recommended to carry out experimental approaches, longitudinal research designs, and experience sampling approaches to offer stronger evidence on the link between subjective happiness and academic functioning. Second, as the study focused on examining the direct effects of subjective happiness to different student outcomes, limited insights could be drawn on the specific theoretical mechanisms that explain why subjective happiness may enhance engagement, flourishing, and resilience. Future research can address this limitation through exploring potential mediating variables on the link between subjective happiness and positive student outcomes. Third, the research selected Filipino high school samples. Future studies are encouraged to recruit student samples from other collectivist settings (e.g., Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Hong Kong) to strengthen the generalizability of our results in other cultural contexts. Fourth, self-report rating scales were utilized in the present study which are prone to common method variance. That said, future studies are recommended to employ other forms of data collection strategies to assess subjective happiness and relevant student outcomes (e.g., peer-report and teacher-report ratings).
Yet, the study offers key theoretical and practical implications. Concerning theory, our findings demonstrated that subjective happiness may serve as an important predictor of adaptive educational outcomes. To our knowledge, this was the first investigation which explored the theoretical linkage among subjective happiness and academic engagement, school resilience, and flourishing. Hence, the results of the study may provide valuable evidence regarding the nomological network of the subjective happiness construct in the academic contexts. In terms of practice, counselors, school psychologists, and other school-based mental health professionals are recommended to assess students’ overall evaluations of happiness which may offer potential insights on what psychological interventions can be developed to cultivate academic success and psychological flourishing among secondary school students. To provide greater prospects for enhancing students’ engagement and resilience, academic institutions are also encouraged to invest on school-wide psychological programs that aim to boost students’ subjective happiness.
