Life Satisfaction and Life Demands in College Students

Abstract

Researchers have proposed that life satisfaction may be increased by reduced life involvement (i.e., the scarcity hypothesis) or increas ed by greater life involve ment (i.e., the expansion hypothesis). In this study we aimed to determine if female and male college students are more satisfied with their lives if they have more or less a ctive life styles. A total of 157 females and 86 males were assigned to either a high, moderate, or low life satisfaction group and additional instruments were administered to assess the manner of decision mak ing, the extent of role demands and tim e pressures, and the respondents' satisfaction with sch ool performance and th eir dating and f amily relationships. Results indicated that both male and female college students with high life satisfaction had more demanding life styles than individuals with low life satisfaction, but they did not suffer greater personal stress. The significant role of ful filling interpersonal relationships in overall life satisfaction was also evident.The objective in this study was to determ ine if global life satisfact ion in college students related to active involve ment in li fe. It was assu med that a person who is life-active will tend to set and actively pursue more goals and have a larger number of roles an d obligations, while at t he same time maintaining interpersonal relationships they can rely on for sup port and decision-making. On the other hand, it was felt that college students with less life satisfaction will be characterized by more constricted life styles, i.e., fe w responsibilities, roles, and obligations, and l ess satisfying interpersonal relationships. In other words, global life satisfact ion will be related to a person's tendency to approach or avoid life. Barnett and Baruch (1985) have suggested that fem ale college students may experience negative consequences from assuming more roles and increasing life demands. They proposed a scarcity hypothesis that postulates adverse effects ______________

Students perceived stress in academic programs: Consequences for its management

“…Within this population, stress is a critical issue: most students (52 to 75%) report an intermediate or a high level of stress [1][2][3][4] which may impair health [2,[5][6][7][8]. Academic stress contributes to the deterioration of the students' quality of life and causes drug abuse and academic failure [4,[9][10][11][12][13][14].…”

Stress, Sex Differences, and Coping Strategies Among College Students

“…Previous research has found that college stress levels were often associated with cognitive deficits (for example, attention and concentration difficulties), illness, increased rates of depression and anxiety, and decreased life satisfaction (Bailey and Miller 1998;Chang 2001;Dyson and Renk 2006;Edwards et al 2001;Lumley and Provenzano 2003;Pritchard et al 2007). Poor health behaviors were also linked with high levels of collegiate stress.…”

Social Support and Optimism as Predictors of Life Satisfaction of College Students

“…In a study by Bailey and Miller (1998), it was proposed that students who were more satisfied with their lives also had more satisfying family relationships. In another study, Edward and Lopez (2006) reported that perceived family support was a significant predictor of life satisfaction.…”