A Study of the Happiness of Chinese University Students and Its Influencing Factors—A Case Study of Beijing Universities

Abstract

The enhancement of university students’ happiness is important for self-growth, family togetherness, social stability, and national development. This study aimed to explore the main factors that influence university students’ happiness. This study constructs a system comprising of 17 factors, such as personal health status, family atmosphere, school life satisfaction, and degree of social justice, which are extracted into four dimensions—individual, family, societal, and school—according to principal component analysis. Based on the data pertaining to the current state of university students’ happiness, the study used Pearson Correlation Analysis to analyze the correlation between the four dimensions and university students’ happiness, and the interaction between four dimensions were researched by the mediation model. The results of the principal component analysis indicate that the individual dimension explained most of the factors influencing happiness, which is consistent with the feature of subjective well-being. Pearson Correlation Analysis showed that the four dimensions all have positive effects on students’ happiness, and there are also significant correlations among the four dimensions themselves. Additionally, mediating effects analysis shows a significant mediating effect among the four dimensions. Based on this, this study argues that the happiness of students needs to be improved by focusing on four areas: cultivating a positive personal psychology, passing down good family traditions and customs, paying attention to the leading role of school education, and building a just and harmonious social environment.