Perceptions And Opinion Of Happiness Among University Students In A Malaysian University

ASEAN Journal of Psychiatry, Vol. 11 (2) July – December 2010: XX XX

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

PERCEPTIONS AND OPINION OF HAPPINESS AMONG

UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN A MALAYSIAN UNIVERSITY

Redhwan Ahmed Al-Naggar*, Karim Alwan. Al-Jashamy**,

Low Wah Yun***, Zaleha Mohd Isa****, Mutee Izidin Alsaror*****
and Abdul-Gafoor Ahmed Al-Naggar******
*
International Medical School, Management and Science University,
40100 Malaysia; **SEGi Medical School Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; ***Health
and Research Development Unit, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya,
Malaysia; ****Department of Community Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan
Malaysia Medical Centre, Cheras, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; *****Faculty
of Education, National University of Malaysia, Malaysia and
******
Faculty of Medicine, Taiz University, Yemen

Abstract

Objective: This study was aimed to explore the perceptions and opinions of
happiness among university students. Methods: This qualitative study was
conducted in January for the academic year 2010 among 33 Medical Science
Students from Management and Science University (MSU), Shah Alam,
Malaysia. The facilitator wrote down the conversation during the discussion.
The data obtained was classified into various categories. Due to the small
sample size, the data was analyzed manually. Results: All participants
mentioned that the main source of happiness is money. Good relationship with
friends and family is the second source of happiness among university
students. Some of the students mentioned that the stability of life and good
health are causes of happiness. Few participants mentioned that success in life
is one of the causes of the happiness. ASEAN Journal of Psychiatry Vol. 11 (2):
July-Dec 2010: XX XX.

Keywords: Happiness, Perceptions, University students

Introduction on many things, including income, labor

In today’s life, most people, if not all
people, are in search of happiness [1].
Happiness was rated as the most important
component of quality of Life, more
important than money, sex and self-esteem
among its participants. Happiness depends
market status, job characteristics, health,
leisure, family, social relationships, security,
liberty, moral values and many others [2].
Happiness is affected by external factors
such as leisure activities, social life, work
satisfaction and marriage and internal
factors such as goals, personality and coping
Perceptions And Opinion Of Happiness Among University Students In A Malaysian University
ASEAN Journal of Psychiatry, Vol. 11 (2) July – December 2010: XX XX
styles. Different people look for happiness
in different places, depending on the society
in which they live. Some look for happiness
in external factors such as material goods.
Others look for happiness in internal factor
such as self actualization. People may look
for happiness in different places, but one
thing that is common among people is their
goal of finding happiness. Argyle et al [3]
stated that when people are asked to define
happiness, they may report that they are
experiencing a positive emotional state such
as joy, or satisfied with life as a whole or
part of it. Happiness is the degree, to which
an individual judges the overall quality of
his own life as a whole favorably, and it is
generally considered to be an ultimate goal
in life; virtually everybody wants to be
happy.
Happiness affects behavior in many positive
ways. Happiness can enhance people’s
health and longevity, work performance,
sociability, altruism, creative thinking and
problem solving, and acts in favor of
people’s mental health by acting as a buffer
for stress [1]. People can increase their
happiness in many ways, some of which
include eating, engaging in social activities
and sexual intercourse, exercising and
playing sports, alcohol and other mood
enhancing drugs, putting their skills to use,
feeling successful and socially approved,
listening to music, doing art work, practicing
religion, resting and relaxing [1&3]. Wilson
[4] described the demographic
characteristics that correlated with
happiness. Wilson describes a happy person
as one who is young, healthy, well-educated,
well-paid, extroverted, optimistic, worry-
free, religious, married with high self-
esteem, high job morale, modest aspirations,
of either sex of a wide rate of intelligence.
The objective of this study was aimed to
explore the perceptions and opinions toward
happiness among university students.
Methods
This qualitative study was conducted in
January of the academic year 2010 among
33 Medical Science students from the
Management and Science University
(MSU), Shah Alam, Malaysia. Universal
sampling was used to conduct this study.
Consent was obtained from all participants
before starting the focus group discussion.
The students were divided into five focus
groups; two groups consisted of eight
students, one group consisted of seven
students, one group consisted of six students
and one group consisted of four students.
The main themes discussed were: What is
Happiness? What are the causes of the
Happiness? What are the ways prevent you
from Happiness? How do you handle the
sadness? If I could live my life all over
again, I would change almost. The main
researcher was the moderator for the group
discussion. The moderator asked probing
questions and directed the group discussion
in which all students participated were given
equal time for discussion. The moderator
wrote down the conversation during the
focus group discussion. The data obtained
were classified into various categories. Due
to the small sample size, the data was
analyzed manually.
Results
Participants in this study were 33 students,
the minimum age was 20 years old and the
maximum age was 28 years old. Majority of
the 23 participants (70%) were 22 years of
age or younger. The majority of the
participants were female 24 (73%). The
majority of participants were Malays and
Muslim (70%). The majority of the
participants were from urban areas 25 (76%)
Perceptions And Opinion Of Happiness Among University Students In A Malaysian University
ASEAN Journal of Psychiatry, Vol. 11 (2) July – December 2010: XX XX

[Table 1].

Table: 1 Socio-demographic characteristic of the participants (n = 33)

Variable Number (%)

Age (years) 23 (70)
≤22 10 (30)
>22
Sex
Male 9 (27)
Female 24(73)
Race
Malay 23 (70)
Indian 2 (6)
Others 8 (24)
Religion
Islam 23 (70)
Christian 5 (15)
Others 5 (15)
Resident
Urban 25 (76)
Rural 8 (24)

The definition of happiness Sources of Happiness

Group 1: Happiness is the situation where
someone is satisfied enough and enjoying
life.
Group 2: Happiness is coping with the entire
problems you face in life.
Group 3: Happiness is any pleasant joyful
moments and self- satisfaction with families
and friends.
Group 4: Happiness is a feeling of greatness,
satisfaction, pleasure when our needs are
fully met.
Group 5: Happiness is a state in which there
is emotional health, social and economic
well-being.
All participants mentioned that the main
source of happiness is money.
“Having money is one of the causes of the
happiness. If we don’t have enough money
we’ll got problems.” (Female, Malay, 22
years old).
Good relationships with friends and family
are the second cause of happiness among
university students.
“The cause of happiness is when we are sad,
there is someone in our family member
beside us to give support.” (Female, Malay,
22 years old).
“The cause of happiness is when we can be
with the loved ones such as family or
friends.” (Female, Malay, 22 years old)
Perceptions And Opinion Of Happiness Among University Students In A Malaysian University
ASEAN Journal of Psychiatry, Vol. 11 (2) July – December 2010: XX XX
Some of the students mentioned that the
stability of life is one of the causes of
happiness.
“Having a moderate but stable life is one of
the causes of the happiness.” (Female,
Indian, 20 years old)
“Stability in all aspects of life is one of the
causes of the happiness.” (Female, Malay,
24 years old)
Some of the students mentioned that one of
the causes of happiness is a good health.
“Good health is the main cause of
happiness.” (Female, Malay, 23 years old)
Few participants mentioned that success in
life is one of the causes of the happiness.
Security mentioned by only one participants
“Male, Dusun, 21 years old”
What do make you unhappy?
Majority of the participants mentioned that
not enough money make them unhappy.
“Don’t have enough money makes me not
happy.” (Female, Malay, 23 years old)
Eight of the study participants mentioned
that family and friends problems make them
unhappy. Five of them mentioned that
failure in life or in exam make them
unhappy. Four mentioned that negative
thinking makes them unhappy. Three of the
study participants mentioned that stress
makes them unhappy and other three
participants mentioned that doing mistakes
in their life make them unhappy.
Two of the study participants mentioned that
self-conflict makes them unhappy, and one
participant mentioned that load of study and
gossips make her unhappy.
“Too much time of studying and busy doing
assignment and projects thus I have limit
time to spend with my family, too much
gossip and controversy in facebook”
(Female, Malay, 21 years old).
I feel unhappy when sometimes I feel lonely
(Female, Malay, 24 years old)
No social life makes me unhappy (Female,
Malay, 24 years old)
When everybody hates me, that time I will
be not happy (Female, Malay, 22)
How do you handle the sadness?
The majority of the participants (13)
mentioned that talk and share with someone
else is one of the ways to handle sadness.
“Sharing problems with trusted people either
family or friends” (Female, Malay, 23 years
old) “Communicate with other people to get
advice how to handle the problems”
(Female, Kadazan, 21)
Majority of the study participants (11) stated
that praying and reading Al-Quran is one of
the ways to handle sadness.
“Always pray and try to be close with God”
(Female, Malay, 22 years old)
Majority of the female participants (5)
mentioned that shopping is one of the ways
to handle sadness; only one male used this
way to handle sadness. Three of the
participants mentioned that thinking
positively is one of the ways to handle
sadness.
Three of the study participants mentioned
that jogging is one of the ways to handle
sadness. Three of the participants mentioned
that sleep is one of the ways to handle
sadness. Three of the participants
mentioned that eating is one of the ways to
handle sadness and other three of them
mentioned that crying is one of the ways to
handle sadness.
“For me, crying is the way I handle the
sadness because I feel relief after crying”
(Female, Malay, 21)
Two of the study participants mentioned that
watching TV is one of the ways to handle
sadness, and another two mentioned that
Perceptions And Opinion Of Happiness Among University Students In A Malaysian University
ASEAN Journal of Psychiatry, Vol. 11 (2) July – December 2010: XX XX
outdoor activities are one of the ways to
handle sadness.
“Does more activity that will make us
forget the sadness?” (Female, Malay, 22).
Reading some motivation books, reading
novels, rest, smile, play game are some of
the ways mentioned by only one participant.
If you could live your life all over again,
you would like to change percentage (%),
What are the things you would like to
change?
Four of the study participants mentioned that
if they could live their life again, they would
like to change all their life to correct their
mistakes.
“I would like to change all my past life and
correct all my mistakes.” (Female, Malay,
22 years old)
Some of the participants mentioned that they
would like to change their finical status.
“I would like to change my economy status
and change my race.” (Male, Malay, 21
years old)
Money status, confident, relationship with
friends (Female, Malay, 24)
Five of the study participants would like to
change their attitudes, “I would like to
change my attitude” (Male, Malay, 25 years
old), “I want to change my attitude and be
better than now” (Female, Malay, 21 years
old)
Three of the students want to change their
weakness, one of the male participants
wants to change his gender “I would like to
change my gender.” (Male, Malay, 22 years
old)
One of the male participants wants to
change his weight, I would like to change
my life style
Three students mentioned that they do not
want to change anything in their previous
life.
“I don’t want to change anything; I am
pleased with what God give me” (Male,
Dusun, 25 years old).
“I love myself, why should I change?”
(Female, Malay, 23 years old)
“I will never change anything because this
will make me regret. I just want to change
my future and not my past.” (Female,
Malay, 22 years old)
Discussion
Religion and Happiness
Several studies based on national samples
indicated that happiness correlates
significantly with religiosity [5&6]. Pollner
[7] stated that religious experiences can
provide a sense of meaning and purpose in
daily life. Religiosity may provide social
and psychological benefits. “Religion may
increase feeling of efficacy, control and
security and may therefore provide greater
benefits for the cognitive aspects of
subjective well-being” [5]. Several studies
demonstrated a significant positive
correlation between happiness and
religiosity after controlling for the possible
contaminating influence of personality [8-
12]. Different other studies showed a
positive relationship between religion and
happiness [13-17]. Meanwhile, other
studies didn’t find a relationship between the
religion and happiness [18-20]. Positive and
satisfaction effect of the religion, family,
friends, leisure time on happiness and life
were confirmed in the previous studies [21],
religion increases the personal happiness
[22&23].
Income and Happiness
All participants of the present study
mentioned that the main source of happiness
is the money. One of the determinants of
Perceptions And Opinion Of Happiness Among University Students In A Malaysian University
ASEAN Journal of Psychiatry, Vol. 11 (2) July – December 2010: XX XX
happiness in most studied has been the one
relating to an objective measurement of
economic status. In rich countries; it has
been found that differences in wealth within
nations showed only small positive
correlation with happiness [24]. Rather,
happiness tends to lie in the quality of
friendship and of family life once people
rise above the poverty level [25]. However,
it has been found that an increase in income
does not necessary lead to a higher level of
happiness [26]. A study found that a certain
level of economic well-being would seem to
be a necessary condition of happiness, but
after people reach a certain level of income,
more money does not lead to greater
happiness. Similarly, it has been found that
increased income and possession of more
and more material goods have little impact
on the feeling of well-being. Rather,
happiness tends to be associated with
friendships and family life once people rise
above the poverty level [25]. Two economic
factors have been considered in their
relationship with happiness: unemployment
and income, with regard to the
unemployment, most studies mentioned that
either unemployment or beyond the
consequent loss of income are significant
source of unhappiness and dissatisfaction
[27&28]. Income level seems to be
associated with happiness [29] showed a
positive relationship between income and
happiness. Similar study reported that
subjective relative income seems to be an
important source of financial satisfaction
[30]. Psychology study has found a positive
correlation between economic well-being
(socioeconomic status) and happiness [31].
A research on happiness in the European
Union explores that income is the most
important determinant [32].
Some of the students mentioned that one of
the causes of happiness is a good health.
Similar study reported that bad health is
strongly associated with unhappiness [30],
health status has the highest positive
significant effect on life satisfaction.
Furthermore as health status improves life
satisfaction and happiness increase [21].
Happiness is associated with success in
many domains of life [33].
References
1. Argyle M. 2001. The Psychology of
Happiness. 2nd Ed. East Sussex:
Routledge.
2. Ahn N., Garcia, J.R., Jimeno, J.F.
The impact of unemployment on
individual well-being in the EU.
Europen Network of Economic
Policy Research Institutes, Working
paper, 2004; 29: 1
3. Argyle M, Martin M., Lu L. Testing
for stress and happiness: the role of
social and cognitive factors. In C.D.
Spielberger and I.G Sarason (Eds.),
Stress and Emotion, 1995;15: 173-
187.
4. Wilson W. Correlates of avowed
happiness. Psychological Bulletin,
1967: 67, 294-306
5. Diener E, Suh, EM, Lucas RE and
Smith HL. Subjective well-being:
three decades of progress.
Psychological Bulletin, 1999; 125:
276-302.
6. Lewis CA., Cruise S. M. Religion
and happiness: Consensus,
contradictions, comments and
concerns. Mental Health, Religion &
Culture, 2006; 9: 213–225.
Perceptions And Opinion Of Happiness Among University Students In A Malaysian University
ASEAN Journal of Psychiatry, Vol. 11 (2) July – December 2010: XX XX
7. Pollner M. Divine relations, social
relations and well-being. Journal of
health and social behavior, 1989; 30:
92-104.
8. Robbins M, Francis, LJ. 1996. Are
religious people happier? A study
among undergraduates. In L.J.
Francis, W.K. Kay and W.S.
Campbell (Eds.), Research in
religious education. Leominster:
Gracewing. University Press, pp.
207–217.
9. Francis LJ, Lester D. Religion.
Personality and happiness. Journal of
Contemporary Religion, 1997; 12:
81–86.
10. French S, Joseph S. Religiosity and
its association with happiness,
purpose in life, and self-
actualisation. Mental Health,
Religion and Culture, 1999; 2: 117–
120.
11. Francis LJ, Jones SH., Wilcox C.
Religiosity and happiness: during
adolescence, young adulthood and
later life. Journal of Psychology and
Christianity, 2000; 19: 245–257.
12. Francis LJ, Robbins M. Religion and
happiness: A study in empirical
theology. Transpersonal Psychology
Review, 2000; 4: 17–22.
13. Moberg and Taves. Religion and
happiness: Consensus,
contradictions, comments and
concerns, Mental Health, Religion &
Culture, 1965P; 9: 213-225.
14. Veenhoven R. Happiness a trait?
SocialIndicators Research , 1994:
101-160.
15. Witter RA, Stock WA, Okun MA,
Haring MJ. Religion and Subjective
Well Being in Adulthood: A
Quantitative Synthesis, Review of
Religious Research, 1985; 332-342.
16. Zuckerman Dm, Kasl Sv, Ostfeld
AM. American Journal of
Epidemiology, 2003; 119: 410- 423.
17. Mookerjee R, Beron K. Gender,
religion and happiness, Journal of
Socio Economics, 2005; 9: 213-225.
18. Heisel MA, Faulkner AO.
Religiosity in an Older Black
Population, Gerontologist, 1982; 22:
354-358.
19. Janssen F, Bänziger S, Dezutter, J,
Hutsebaut D. The underlying aspects
of the relation between religion and
mental health. Archive for the
Psychology of Religion, 2005; 27:
19-45.
20. Abdel-Khalek AM. Happiness,
health, and religiosity: Significant
relations. Mental Health, Religion
and Culture, 2006; 9: 85-97.
21. Selim S. Life Satisfaction and
Happiness in Turkey. Soc Indic Res,
2008; 88:531–562.
22. Inglehart R, Rabier JR. Aspirations
adapt to situations-but why are the
Belgians so much. (happier than the
French? A cross-cultural analysis of
the subjective quality of life. In F. M.
Andrews (Ed.), Research on the
Perceptions And Opinion Of Happiness Among University Students In A Malaysian University
ASEAN Journal of Psychiatry, Vol. 11 (2) July – December 2010: XX XX
quality of life (pp. 1–56). Michigan:
The Survey Research
Center/Institute for Social Research.
Argyle, M. (1989). The psychology
of happiness. London: Routledge.
1986.
23. Myers DG. The funds, friends, and
faith of happy people. American
Psychologist, 2000; 55: 56–67.
24. Ahuvia CA, Wong NY. “Personality
and Values Based Materialism: their
Relationship and Origins,” Journal of
Consumer Psychology, 2004; 12:
389-402.
25. Lane RE. 2000. The Loss of
Happiness in Market Eeconomies.
Yale University Press, New Haven.
26. Moller V. 2005. “Researching
Quality of Life in a Developing
Country: Lessons from the South
African Case.” In I. Gough & A.
McGregor (eds.), New approaches
and research strategies. Cambridge
University Press, Cambridge.
27. Clark AE, Oswald AJ. Unhappiness
and unemployment. Economic
Journal, 1994; 104: 648-659.
Corresponding Author: Dr. Redhwan Ahmed Al-Naggar, International Medical School,
Management and Science University (MSU), 40100, Shah Alam, Selangor Darul Ehsan,
Malaysia.
Email: Radhwan888@yahoo.com
Received: 25 July 2010
28. Gerlach K, Stephan G. A paper on
unhappiness and unemployment in
Germany. Economics Letters, 1996;
52: 325–330.
29. Veenhoven R. 1989. National wealth
and individual happiness. In:
Grunert, K.G., O¨ lander, F. (Eds.),
Understanding Economic Behaviour.
Kluwer Academic Publishers,
Dordrecht.
30. Peir´o A. Happiness, satisfaction and
socio-economic conditions: Some
international evidence. The Journal
of Socio-Economics, 2006: 35:348–
365
31. Fuentes, N., Rojas, M. Economic
theory and subjective well-being:
Mexico. Social Indicators Research,
2001; 53: 289–314.
32. European Foundation for the
Improvement of Living and Working
Conditions in Europe. Quality of life
in Europe. Life satisfaction in an
enlarged Europe, Dublin, 2004.
33. Okun M, Levy R, Karoly P,
Ruehlman L. Dispositional happiness
and college student GPA: Unpacking
a null relation. Journal of Research
in Personality, 2009; 3: 711–715.
Accepted: 10 August 2010