Influence of internal working model and view of happiness on university students’ subjective well-being

Abstract

This study investigated how university students’ internal working model (IWM) and view of happiness influenced their subjective well-being. First, we conducted a preliminary survey to draw up a view of happiness index and identified how the university students regarded happiness. We then conducted a survey involving 168 university students and drew up a subjective well-being scale based on the findings of the preliminary survey. The results revealed five factor structures: interpersonal relationships, sense of achievement, time to spare, physical fulfillment, and leisure. We then investigated how the IWM and view of happiness affected the participants’ subjective well-being. The results showed that university students who had a positive IWM (positive selfview [anxiety] and positive other-view [avoidance]) had high subjective well-being. Moreover, among participants with a positive other-view and negative self-view, the happier they perceived their relationships to be, the higher their subjective well-being. Finally, among participants with a negative self-view and other-view, the happier they were about their acquisition, the higher their subjective well-being.