engleski

Life goals, positive experiences at faculty and well-being of future teachers

Several lines of research (Kasser & Ryan, 1993, 1996, 2001) have shown that investment in, or success at, so-called intrinsic goals is associated with enhanced well-being. On the other hand, investment in and/or success at extrinsic goals do not enhance, and often detracts from, well-being. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that placing importance on intrinsic goals leads to more positive experiences which in turn contribute to higher well-being. Three questionnaires, Aspiration Index (Kasser & Ryan, 1996), The Satisfaction With Life Scale (Diener, 1985) and The Short Depression-Happiness Scale (Joseph, Linley & Hartwood, 2004) were administered to 129 first year college students from Faculty of Teacher Education in Zagreb (120 females and 9 males). The students also filled open-ended questionnaire dealing with their positive and negative experiences at the faculty. The difference between number of positive and negative (positivity index) experiences was calculated for each student. Results from path analysis revealed that intrinsic goals were directly positively related to both happiness and life satisfaction. In addition to that, it was found that positivity index mediated the relationship between intrinsic goals and happiness, but not life satisfaction. As predicted intrinsic life goals were related to more positive experiences at faculty than negative ones, which in turn contributed to higher level of students’ happiness. Extrinsic goals were not related neither to positivity index nor to well-being. These results point to the possibility of positive experiences as mediating variable between intrinsic life aspirations and happiness.

life goals, positive experiences, happiness, life satisfaction

Skup je održan 2009.g. u Zadru, Hrvatska.