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Subjective Happiness Optimizes Educational Outcomes: Evidence from Filipino High School Students

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 October 2017

Jesus Alfonso D. Datu ,
Jana Patricia Valdez ,
Ian Kenneth Cabrera  and
Maria Guadalupe Salanga
Jesus Alfonso D. Datu*
Affiliation:
The University of Hong Kong (Hong Kong)
Jana Patricia Valdez
Affiliation:
The University of Hong Kong (Hong Kong)
Ian Kenneth Cabrera
Affiliation:
Centro Escolar University (Philippines)
Maria Guadalupe Salanga
Affiliation:
De la Salle University (Philippines)
*
*Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Jesus Alfonso D. Datu. Division of Learning, Development, and Diversity – Faculty of Education. The University of Hong Kong (Hong Kong). E-mail: jaddatu@gmail.com
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Abstract

Subjective happiness has been found to be associated with key psychological outcomes. However, there is paucity of research that assessed how subjective happiness is related to a number of positive student outcomes in the educational setting. The objective of the study was to assess the associations of subjective happiness with academic engagement, flourishing, and school resilience among 606 Filipino high school students (mage = 13.87; nboys = 300, ngirls = 305, nmissing = 1) in the Philippine context. Results of path analysis demonstrated that subjective happiness positively predicted behavioral engagement (β = .08, p < .01), emotional engagement (β = .08, p < .01), flourishing (β = .17, p < .01), and school resilience (β = .18, p < .01) even after controlling for gender. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.

Keywords

academic engagementflourishingsubjective happinessschool resilience
Type
Research Article
Information
The Spanish Journal of Psychology , Volume 20 , 2017 , E60
Copyright
Copyright © Universidad Complutense de Madrid and Colegio Oficial de Psicólogos de Madrid 2017 

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Footnotes

How to cite this article:

Datu, J. A. D., Valdez, J. P., Cabrera, I. K., & Salanga, M. G. (2017). Subjective happiness optimizes educational outcomes: Evidence from Filipino high school students. The Spanish Journal of Psychology, 20. e60. Doi:10.1017/sjp.2017.55

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