Influence of demographics variables on students subjective well‐being

• Published date: 01 December 2022
• Author: Rekha Mewafarosh,Shivani Agarwal
• Date: 01 December 2022
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2749

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Influence of demographics variables on students subjective

well-being

Rekha Mewafarosh

1

| Shivani Agarwal

2

1

Indian Institute of Management Kashipur,

Kashipur, India

2

KIET School of Management, KIET Group of

Institutions, Delhi-NCR, Ghaziabad, India

Correspondence

Shivani Agarwal, KIET School of Management,

KIET Group of Institutions, Delhi-NCR,

Ghaziabad-201206, India.

Email: jindal.shivani24@gmail.com

The paper is an attempt to investigate the impact of demographic variables on the

level of the subjective well-being (SWB) of students enrolled in premiere business

school. SWB was measured through a three-dimensional approach consisting of life

satisfaction, positive affect, and negative affect using Life Scaleand Positive Affect &

Negative Affect Scale. Data was collected from 352 students and using OLS regres-

sion method, significant differences regarding SWB were examined. Research find-

ings show a significant difference in the exhibition of most of the demographic

variables and SWB. This paper presents data and provides insights into the level of

SWB of students enrolled in premiere business School.

KEYWORDS

age, designation, educational qualification, gender-wise differences, marital status, students

and management institutions, subjective well-being, work experience

1|INTRODUCTION

Well-being is divided into psychological, physical, and emotional. The

emotional functioning of a person revolves around the components

like high positive affect, low negative affect, and satisfaction with life

is known as subjective well-being (SWB). It is defined as the quality of

life a person lives concerning these positive and negative emotions

and their frequency over the period and overall satisfaction with, it

has with his life (Diener,et.al., 1980). It tends to be stable over the

lapse of time and has a strong relationship with the trait of an individ-

ual. This research states that life satisfaction is strongly associated

with the psychological well-being of individuals (Guney, 2009; Raza

et al., 2020).

SWB is a very interesting and important field of research

(Agarwal, S., 2020, Agarwal S et al., 2019a, b). It is an area of psychol-

ogy that studies an individual's evaluation of their lives. The evalua-

tion of lives is divided primarily into cognitive, positive emotion which

an individual experiences in his life (e.g., joy, elation, happiness, etc.)

and negative emotions (e.g., sadness, sorrow, depression, etc.) Today's

lifestyle, growing pressure from the personal and professional front,

cut-throat competition, globalization, diverse workforce, dual working

partners, etc. have given different challenges in human life. Many

researchers across the globe have shown interest in SWB. Several

studies have been conceptualized, assessed found predictors of SWB,

but need further stress on an empirical exploration of SWB. It is an

area of studies in which the researcher studies how and what makes

people content in his life. The total sum of cognitive and affective

evaluations about their perceived level of happiness (Diener, 1984).

SWB is a conscious evaluation of a person's life by including vari-

ables like life satisfaction, positive affects, and negative affects. This

evaluation is based on individual satisfaction with life as a whole or

evaluation based on certain aspects of life such as education, age, etc.

A person experiencing frequent joyful, cheerful situations will directly

affect his/her SWB, and this will result in high SWB; while a person

who is experiencing sorrow and sadness frequently in his life will have

low SWB. So, SWB is directly affected by the frequency of positive or

negative affect that a person is experiencing in his life.

The definition of SWB correlates it with the inner experience of

an individual. The external frame of reference is not taken into consid-

eration while assessing SWB. It is measured and affected by an indi-

vidual's perspective. It is the conscious conceptualization of life

satisfaction by an individual about his life. It is an array of reflection

which differentiates a very happy person from moderately happy,

moderately happy from an unhappy person.

Past studies have evidenced a strong relationship between SWB

and the level of happiness or happiness level of an individual

Received: 12 August 2020 Revised: 6 March 2021 Accepted: 9 August 2021

DOI: 10.1002/pa.2749

J Public Affairs. 2022;22(Suppl. 1):e2749. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/pa © 2021 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. 1of11

https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2749