Filipino Youth Subjective Well Being

Running Head: Youth Subjective Well-Being Filipino Youth Students Subjective Well-Being Scale Kathlyn Rose Gabriel Maria Sophie Gatab Kimberly Lagumen Kristin Navalta Abstract The researchers of the present study constructed a scale that is designed to measure the perceived subjective well-being of the Filipino youth, and how they are affected by the three factors namely: life satisfaction, negative affect and positive affect. The items were constructed based on the information gathered by the researchers from journals and other sources.The researchers constructed a questionnaire with a 5-point Likert scale which consists of 59 items and was administered to 200 Filipino youth participants. The data analysis revealed a Cronbach’s alpha of . 895 Filipino Youth Subjective well-being Scale The Filipino youth have their own way of satisfying their lives and how they will be contented and happy with it. The most commonly used question probing life satisfaction is: â€Å"how satisfi ed are you with your life as a whole at present? † Some are uncertain with regards to their overall happiness, while some are certain that they are indeed happy and satisfied with their life.In this study, the researchers constructed a 5-point Likert Scale that is designed to measure an individual’s perceived level of well-being. The researcher’s objective to determine which factor gives stronger influence on the subjective well-being of the Filipino youth. Does it follow that Filipino youth with parents are happier than those without? Can the researchers conclude that youth who chose to have no social networks, company, or friends, are lonelier than those with web-like affiliations? These are some of the queries that this research aimed to investigate on. Conceptual Framework vh Figure 1. Filipino Youth Subjective Well-Being Framework Subjective well-being is defined as the individual’s current evaluation of her happiness. Such an evaluation is often expr essed in affective terms; when asked about subjective well-being, participants will often say, â€Å"I feel good† (Schwartz & Strack, 1999). Measuring people’s life happiness has one that makes life interesting especially when they know that they are satisfied with what they feel. In the present study, the researchers came up with three sub-factors namely life satisfaction, positive affect and negative affect.They aimed to use these three factors to measure a person’s perceived subjective well-being. Also, they were able to know how these factors put an effect on the Filipino youth. Affect describes the emotions and feelings of a person based on his or her present life. Life satisfaction is how an individual judges his or her overall satisfaction in life (Hoorn, 2007). Life satisfaction is the measure of an individual's perceived level of well-being and happiness. It is frequently assessed in surveys, by asking individuals how satisfied they are with their own l ives.Positive and negative affect are both states and traits that have been shown to relate to personalities such as happiness and anxiety. Review of Related Literature Subjective well-being Subjective well-being (SWB) is the scientific name for how people evaluate their lives in terms of a global judgment (such as satisfaction with one's life and experience of more frequent pleasant emotions as compared to unpleasant emotions (Diener et al. , 1999). SBW is the self-evaluation of life satisfaction (Robbins & Kliewe, 2000, as cited in Vera et al. , 2008) and its cognitive evaluation is measured through judgments of life satisfaction.Meanwhile, affective components are measured by assessing the frequency of the occurrence of pleasant and unpleasant emotions. Life Satisfaction This article looks into the situation of people with spinal cord injury during acute rehabilitation and 3 months after discharge. The participants were assessed on how they can scale their life satisfaction durin g rehabilitation. The hypothesis of this study is that greater benefit finding, hope, and positive affect will be related to greater life satisfaction both during the initial acute rehabilitation period as well as 3 months post discharge.It was stated that spinal cord injury (SCI) can result to life changes. Decreased rates of returning to work (Schonherr, Groothoff, Mulder, & Eisma, 2005), poorer life satisfaction, decreased life participation, decreased independence, decreased community integration (Charlifue & Gerhart, 2004), and increased psychological distress have all been found to occur in this population. There were eighty-seven adults who were participating in in-patient; acute rehabilitation for spinal cord injury in two metropolitan hospitals completed the Satisfaction with Life Scale.The results revealed initial support for facilitators playing an important role in life satisfaction, which facilitators contribute uniquely at 3-month follow up. In summary, the results pro vide support for a predictive relationship between facilitator variable, life satisfactions for individuals with acute SCI. These findings suggest that facilitators potentially play a strong role in the rehabilitation patient’s subjective well being and provide potential avenues for interventions that could be proactively applied to facilitate positive outcomes.According to the article about science of happiness, people have their different opinion on how they live their life but most people are not contended on it. According to the Subjective- well being (SWB), defines as an indicator of people’s happiness on how they rated their life as worth- living and on how people funding on to achieve satisfaction in their lives. Another idea of what constitutes a good life, however, is that it is desirable for people themselves to think that they are living good lives (Diener, 2000).Our study concerns college students on how they rated their subjective well-being, since one of the sources of people’s subjective well-being is based on their self-fulfillment. Based on the article it was said that presents means from an international college sample of 7,204 respondents signified how students view happiness. These people asked the experimenter on how they often think about SWB and how important their SWB is for them. The results revealed that scores of the participants has a greater effect when it comes to rating their happiness.It was also revealed that it has a significant effect when it comes to their life satisfaction. The result revealed that people still wants to satisfy their lives and that they are busy finding their own happiness in life, and their basic and material needs come second to finding their own happiness. They give importance to their fulfillments, dreams and happiness. Diener and Fujita (1995) mentioned that people measure their subjected well-being (SWB) based on their physical attributes, their capability to make friends, gain em ployment, and have romantic relationships and to generally feel empowered.A person with money should not only be better able to meet his or her basic physical needs but also should be able to develop his or her talents, have more choices in terms of recreation. The co variation of resources such as money, family support, social skills, and intelligence with subjective well-being (SWB) was assessed in 222 college students (110 men and 112 women) in Midwestern University. The resources found in SWB are material, social, or personal characteristics that a person possesses that he or she can use to make progress toward her or his personal goals.Resources can be external possessions (e. g. , money), social roles (e. g. , being a chairperson), and personal characteristics (e. g. , intelligence). The experimenters used a Life Scale, and a number of interesting findings emerged from this study. First, SWB, as measured by different methods, formed strongly convergent factors. Second, family and friends rated the target participants as above average on every single resource. Third, there are certain resources that are prominently depicted in the media as being very important to happiness (e. g. money, physical attractiveness, and material possessions). They theorized that those assets are related to SWB insofar as they help individuals attain states they desire. To the extent that people differ in their desires and the resources they use to attain those desires, the effects of particular assets on SWB will differ from person to person. Happiness is a common goal toward which people strive, but for many it remains frustratingly out of reach (Buss, 2000). It was said that the best things in life are free but it was not stated how we can get them.Gaining happiness is hard to attain, and eagerness to gain happiness can frustrate people. In this article it was stated how people desire to feel happy. These include the desire to be successful, to have a good life, to have frie nds who never let them down and to gain such confidence to overcome life. When a people gain these desires, it can make them feel complete and satisfied. We as researchers conclude that fulfilling one’s desire can make a person satisfied and happy. Affect Positive affectNumerous studies show that happy individuals are successful across multiple life domains, including marriage, friendship, income, work performance, and health because of positive emotions (Diener, King, & Lyubomirsky, 2005). The researchers suggested that happiness is linked to success not only because success breeds happiness, but also because positive affect causes success (Diener, 2005). This study implies that success of happy people rests on 2 factors; one is that because happy people frequently experience positive emotions (positive affect), which makes them more likely to strive towards new goals while experiencing those emotions.Second is that people possesses skills and resources, which they have deve loped in the past while experiencing positive emotions. This study implies that positive affect is a factor for a person’s subjective well-being (happiness) which leads to the success of the person. In a study of Myers (2000), predictors of subjective well-being are revealed, which all involves positive emotions. Ed Diener (as cited in Myers, 2000) measured the subjective well-being of over 1. 1 million people over 45 nations through administering a survey.Results revealed that people who reported that they are happy seemed to look happy to their family members and close friends. The result of their daily mood ratings revealed positive emotions as well. Depressed people reported to have negative emotions and that they are less healthy, physically and emotionally, than those who reported to be happy. Overall, this article shows that emotions affect how people perceive themselves (and how they are perceived by others) in terms of their subjective well-being.Caprara and Stecaâ⠂¬â„¢s (2005) study suggests that there are two main components of subjective well-being; first, an individual’s evaluation of life satisfaction according to subjectively determined standards, and second, the predominance of positive affect over negative affect (Diener, Suh, Lucas, & Smith, 1999, as cited in Caprara & Steca, 2005). Caprara (2005) suggested that life satisfaction, self-esteem and optimism are components of subjective well-being, and all together these three shares a common dimension called â€Å"positive thinking†.However, positive thinking is more stable overtime and holds stronger relations with a variety of other indicators of well-being when compared to life satisfaction, self-esteem, and optimism (Caprara & Steca, 2004, as cited in Caprara & Steca 2005). In the work of Bradburn (as cited in Caprara & Steca, 2005), the dominance of positive emotional experiences over negative ones was stated as a core dimension of subjective well-being. Later studie s led to the suggestion that positive and negative affect are independent dimensions.As they are experienced in different life situations, the distinction between positive and negative affect are ought to be affective components of subjective well-being (Diener, 2000; Diener & Emmons, 1984; Diener, Smith, & Fujita, 1995; Diener, Suh, Lucas, & Smith, 1999; Zevon & Tellegen, 1982, as cited in Diener & Steca, 2005) Positive emotions signify that life is going well, the person’s goals are being met, and resources are adequate (Clore, Wyer, Dienes, Gasper, & Isbell, 2001).The characteristics related to positive affect include confidence, optimism, and self-efficacy; likability and positive view of others; sociability, activity, and energetic. Positive emotions produce the tendency to approach rather than to avoid and to prepare the individual to seek out and undertake new goals. In this journal research evidence supports the notion that it is the amount of time that people experie nce positive affect that defines happiness. They also identify happy individuals as those who experience high average levels of positive affect.In summary, their review of the cross-sectional empirical literature suggests that happiness is positively correlated. Their examination of the cross-sectional correlational literature thus far suggests that high subjective well-being is related to positive outcomes in many areas of life, which is brought by positive affect. Negative Affect In the article â€Å"Happiness and Stereotypic Thinking in Social Judgment†, the role of happiness and stereotyping in students' perceptions and judgments and how either negative or positive emotions affect someone’s judgments are examined.The article hypothesized that if people felt happy, the tendency would be that the judgment would be positive, and when a person’s mood is angry or sad the reaction would be negative. It was also stated that negative affect is the fuel for the fire of prejudice and stereotyping (Bodenhausen, Kramer ; Susser, 1994, as cited in O’Brien, 2008). In this study, the participants were 94 undergraduate students (21 men and 73 women). At first the experimenter explained about recalling their happy memories to set their mood and after that they were asked to read a case.After that, they were asked to respond prior to reading it. The results yielded that person who have negative mood response into the case more stereotypic comparable to the happy subjects in the present experiments. These findings collectively suggest that previous views about the connections between affect and stereotyping have been proven. We, as the researchers conclude that if people have negative feelings (sadness, anger or depression) the tendency is that they may respond to an object or situation negatively contrasting to the person who has positive affect.People who have a feeling that they’re losing living their life or life is pretty hard for them feel negative emotions such as anxiety, sadness, anger, depression, or guilt etc. These affects made them feel that they’re not living their life worthy and contended. This article entitled â€Å"Origins and Functions of Positive and Negative Affect: A Control-Process View† differentiated both affect as either positive or negative. But we the researchers would like to focus more on the negative affect. It was said that, when situations are unfavorable, people have negative feelings—anxiety, dysphoria, or despair (Carver ; Scheier, 1990).That people who are in bad mood tend to view life negatively and being in a bad mood makes people see things negatively as well. Method Item Selection and Construction In constructing the Filipino Youth Subjective Well-Being Scale, the researchers had come up with two dimensions: life satisfaction and affect (positive, negative). Each sub factor consist 20 questions. The researchers gathered data from supporting journals on cons tructing each item. After constructing the items, the researchers had it evaluated by a professional.After the evaluation, the researchers constructed the items into a questionnaire. Data gathering The researchers administered the test online to 100 participants and a hard copy of the test to another 100 participants, totaling to 200 participants with a mean age of 19. 12. The participants came from different schools such as Miriam College, St. Paul University, University of the East, T. I. P, La Consolacion College, Far Eastern University, San Beda College, Centro Escolar University, ISCHAM, Polytechnic University of the Philippines and University of the Philippines.Data Analysis The researchers came up with the decision that some of the items would be revised because other statistical reliability analyses of these items are still acceptable. Table. 1 Retained Items Items QuestionCorrected Item-Total CorrelationCronbach's Alpha if Item Deleted 1. I love spending time with my family . 457. 892 4. I enjoy being with my friends. 390. 893 6. I spend my time in doing things that really interest me .377 .893 7. I have a good grades at school. 292. 894 8. I am very passionate in everything I do. 392. 893 9. I do the things that I enjoy everyday. 46. 892 10. At the end of the day I am satisfied with what I have done . 495 .891 11. I am happy in my life right now. 494. 891 14. I always get what I want in my life to satisfy my need/s . 255 .894 15. I have accomplished more in my life, than other people . 208 .894 18. My life has a meaning. 420. 892 20. Life is full of adventure. 438. 892 21. I feel loved by my family and friends. 596. 891 22. I feel that all my friends cares for me . 496. 892 23. My family and friends are afraid of losing me. 519. 891 24. I am satisfied with the activities that I do .553 .891 25.I feel energetic. 417. 892 26. I enjoy my physical education class. 129. 896 27. I am happy with my daily routine. 499. 891 28. I am in good spirit. 507. 891 29 . I am hardly ever angry. 182. 895 30. I feel satisfied. 573. 891 31. I am proud when I accomplish something. 450. 892 32. I can deal with my problems. 497. 892 33. I feel so inspired. 497. 891 34. I am so alive. 618. 890 35. I accept myself for who I am. 535. 891 36. I am a strong person. 459. 892 37. I accept all criticism with respect. 416. 892 38. I am willing to grow and learn from my mistakes. 449. 892 39.My friends always compliment that I am a cheerful person . 354 .893 40. I am able to keep my calm in complicated situations .327 .893 41. I enjoy doing risky things. 075. 896 Table. 2 Reversed Items Item QuestionCorrected Item-Total CorrelationCronbach’s Alpha if Item Deleted 12. I find myself lonely sometimes .267 .894 16. I am not happy with my disposition in my life. 402. 892 43. I keep distance from others .260 .894 48. I’ve been in trouble with the school policies .252 .894 56. I have tried to hurt or kill myself .318 .893 58. I am not interested in having close friends .367 .893 44.When I am stressed, I get paranoid or â€Å"just black out† . 225 .895 47. My friends complain that I do not keep my commitments .225 .895 50. I often wonder who I really am .364 .893 51. Others consider me as moody or hot tempered .320 .893 54. I get into a lot of physical fights .332 .893 42. Some people are jealous of me. 080. 896 52. I find it difficult to start something if I have to do it by myself. 283. 894 53. Others will use what I tell them against me. 344. 893 59. I never forget or forgive those who do me wrong .145 .896 60. When alone, I feel helpless and unable to care for my self . 295 894 19. I feel anxious about the future without knowing why. 115. 896 45. I avoid working with others who criticize me. 138. 896 46. I can’t make decisions without the advice or reassurance of others . 227 .894 49. I make friends with other people only when I am sure that they like me .101 .896 55.I fear losing the support of my friends if I disag ree with them . 143 .896 57. I use my looks to get the attention that I need. 125. 896 2. No one listens to me. 458. 892 13. Sometimes, I feel like a failure. 442. 892 3. I do not live with my own family. 226. 894 17. I used to enjoy life, now I don’t. 54. 890 The items seen in Table 2 were reversed because of the inconsistency of the statistical results. The items were consistent to be scoring low in the item analysis that it might not be measuring the characteristics of Subjective Well-Being. The examiners considered to keep the items reversed as reliable, because it measures what it intends to measure. Table. 3 Dropped Item 5. My friends influence the way I see life .028 .895 The item seen in Table. 3 is dropped item, because the Corrected Item-Total Correlation scored low from the limit that was considered to be acceptable.Even if the item was revised the score of this item is still low. The examiners believed that if the item above is still included in the final items it will affect the reliability of the scale. The item was consistent to be scoring low in the item analysis that it might not be measuring the characteristics of a well-being of a person. Discussion The table below shows the reliability statistics of the scale when item 5 was deleted.Having a result of (~. 90 above) made the instrument good and can be an ideal instrument for a longitudinal study. The finding indicates that Subjective Well-Being scale measures what it intends to measure even though there are many factors to be considered. Moreover, the researchers established that the scores of SWB scale were on the right track to be as sensitive as it can be to measure a scale of Subjective Well-Being. An item was deleted to make the Cronbach’s Aplha increase. Now, having 59 items in the scale, with the previous item deleted, the Cronbach’s Alpha was increased to . 95 which is an indication of a higher reliability as shown in Figure 2.