1Medical Intern, Taif University, School of Medicine, Taif, Saudi Arabia
26th year medical student, Taif University, School of Medicine, Taif, Saudi Arabia
3Psychiatry Resident, Taif University, School of Medicine, Taif, Saudi Arabia
4Psychiatric Registrar, Auckland City Hospital, Auckland, New Zealand
5School of Psychology, Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand
6Vice Dean of Graduate Studies and Scientific Research, Taif University, School of Medicine, Taif, Saudi Arabia
American Journal of Educational Research.
2016,
Vol. 4 No. 1, 111-114
DOI: 10.12691/education-4-1-17
Copyright © 2016 Science and Education PublishingCite this paper: Abdullah A Alshehri, Sami M Althobaiti, Huda D Alsaadi, Abdullah K Alnemari, Hussain Alyami, Mohsen Alyami, Khaled A. Alswat. Subjective Happiness Assessment among Taif University Medical Students.
American Journal of Educational Research. 2016; 4(1):111-114. doi: 10.12691/education-4-1-17.
Correspondence to: Khaled A. Alswat, Vice Dean of Graduate Studies and Scientific Research, Taif University, School of Medicine, Taif, Saudi Arabia. Email:
kalswat@hotmail.comAbstract
Happiness is a very important factor in human life, it is due to happiness that a person can perform tasks in a better or worse way, as it can affect performance. It also could be affected by different factors including study load, smoking, marital status, income, exercise, and study habits. Medical students in particular are subject to have many factors that could influence their happiness level. We conducted a cross-sectional study of 605 medical students at Taif University, Taif, Saudi Arabia that was conducted between August and November of 2015. Students filled a questioner that includes demographic data and validated questions to assess the subjective happiness [the Subjective Happiness Scale (SHS)]. We classified students into happy and unhappy groups according to the score achieved. Those who achieved score more than median were considered to be happy. The primary goal is to assess the level happiness and it’s relation to the level of the students, gender, income, study habits, and lifestyle habits. According to the SHS, more students were classified as unhappy (54.4%). The 2nd and 3rd year groups were more likely to be happy (p 0.106). Engaged students were more likely to be happy compared to those who were single or married (p 0.323). Happy students tend to have non-significant higher mean GPA. Happy students were more likely to be younger and reports high/middle income compared to the unhappy group (p <0.05). Those who do exercise for at least 30 min were more likely to be happy compared to those who reports sedentary lifestyle (p 0.146). Students study habits didn’t impact the happiness level (p 0.953). According to SHS, more students were considered to be unhappy. The 2nd and 3rd year groups were happier than the other years. Happy students were more likely to be male, younger, engaged, reports high/middle income, higher GPA and exercise more.
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