Subjective Well-Being of College Students Explained by Psychological and Sociodemographic Variables

Abstract

The correlational study sought to establish the relationship between life satisfaction and happiness, with self-esteem, extraversion, self-actualization and resentment, identifying whether the latter could predict well-being and comparing their impact on well-being with the impact of sociodemographic variables. The sample, non-probabilistic by convenience, consisted of 392 male and female students (16 to 49 years old) of the Universidad del Valle, Palmira campus. The results showed that all psychological variables were related to the components of well-being. Except for extraversion, the other variables predicted life satisfaction. The four variables (self-esteem, extraversion, self-actualization and resentment) predicted happiness. Psychological variables, and especially those nurtured by achievements, explained the variance of well-being much better than sociodemographic variables. The main conclusions were: (a) people construct a basic and stable way of relating to life, which contributes more to well-being than situational and sociodemographic factors; (b) subjective well-being depends on various factors, so that other relationship of well-being beyond traditional ones, (self-esteem, the Big Five) should be studied.