Research On The Relationship Between Life Meaning And Happiness Of College Students

Well-being and Meaning in life are two themes that have been widely watched by the public since ancient times,and there is a close relationship between them.In this study,a comprehensive and in-depth study of the relationship between Well-being and Meaning in life was carried out by using the design combined cross-sectional research with longitudinal research.The study was conducted among college students from two universities,aged between 18 and 22,using Satisfaction with Life Scale of Diener et al.in 1985、Subjective Happiness Scale of Lyubomirsky et al.in 1999、Flourishing Scale of Diener et al.in 2010 and The Meaning in Life Questionnaire of Steger et al.in 2006,respectively.And the study investigates some factors that affect human well-being.Such as: gender、whether it is the only child、whether it is in love、family residence(rural or urban)、weekly participation in group activity time、monthly spending.The study consists of two parts: cross-sectional research and longitudinal research.In the cross-sectional research,the final collection of 277 qualified questionnaires,including 89 freshmen,42 boys and 47 girls;100 sophomore students,51 boys and 49 girls;88 junior students,43 boys and 45 girls.The results show that the level of well-being of girls is higher than that of boys,and the level of well-being of the only child is higher than that of non-only child,and the level of well-being of someone who is in a romantic relationship is higher than someone who is not in love,and the level of well-being of someone who comes from town is higher than someone who comes from countryside,and more spending monthly makes people happier.Compared with sophomore and junior students,freshmen’s well-being level、presence of meaning level and searching for meaning level are all in the lowest state,and three grades of students’ well-being level was increasing yearly.There is significant difference between freshmen and sophomore students in terms of their presence of meaning level and search for meaning level,and no significant difference between sophomore and junior students in terms of their presence of meaning level and search for meaning level.Presence of meaning and search for meaning have significant positive effects on the people’s well-being level,in which presence of meaning has a complete mediating effect on the relationship between search for meaning and well-being.In the longitudinal study,30 freshmen were recruited,15 boys and 15 girls,to take part in a two-year follow-up research conducted for a total of four times.The time interval was six months.The results show that the well-being level of college students was increasing gradually in the past two years.Presence of meaning and search for meaning play significant positive roles in promoting the developmental trend of well-being of college students,and college students because of their own different level of presence of meaning and search for meaning have different developing rates and stages.Besides,The freshman girls’ well-being level are higher than the freshman boys’ High,and the well-being level of freshmen monthly spending more are higher than those monthly spending less,and the well-being level of freshmen from town are higher than freshmen from countryside.These results are mutually confirmed with the results of the cross-sectional research.However,these three variables have no significant effect on the development trend of college students’ well-being,but in the past two years the well-being level of college students who are in love are greater than their promotion who are not in love.