Gender Differences in Subjective Well-Being of Healthy High-School Students

Abstract

Summary The objective of this study was to analyse the level of subjective well-being (SWB) through five SWB dimensions and compare it between healthy male and healthy female high school students preferring sedentary leisure time activities. The research sample comprised of 90 male high school students (mean age 16.72 ± 1.33) and 126 female high school students (mean age 16.71 ± 1.36) who preferred sedentary types of leisure time activities with self-reported good health status. A standardized The Bern Subjective Well-Being Questionnaire for Adolescents (BFW) was used as a primary research method. We found significantly higher level of positive SWB dimension (U = 4281, p = 0.002, r = 172) and significantly lower level of negative SWB dimension (U = 2835, p = 0.000, r = 424) in the group of male high school students with self-reported good health status in comparison to female high school students. Parents should be involved in the selection of their children's leisure time activities, so it should not have only the sedentary character but also sport leisure time activities, mainly among young girls.