To what extent does a sense of belonging and control affect stress and happiness in students?

Abstract

Every year millions of people move from school to University, and in this transition a sense of belonging and control can be lost. Year on year students are experiencing increased levels of depression, anxiety, and stress. Although we have this information and understand it, research is yet address this gap. Therefore, this study aimed to look at the extent to which a sense of belonging and a sense of control effects stress and happiness in university students. It hypothesized that both an increased sense of belonging and sense of control will correlate to increased happiness and decreased stress. Similarly, a decreased sense of belonging and sense of control will correlate to decreased happiness and increased stress. The data collected comprised of 100 participants through opportunity sampling. Participants completed four questionnaires and they included; the General Belongingness Scale; the MIDI Sense of Control scale; the Subjective Happiness Questionnaire; and the Perceived Stress Scale. The results highlight the predictor model can significantly predict happiness and stress. Moreover, all four variables are significantly correlated with one another. The overall findings align with previous research in that sense of belonging and sense of control are important to happiness and stress. Although these findings give some insight into why there is increased anxiety depression and stress at university, it doesn’t fully explain the problem. Further research should aim to outline other concepts that effect stress and happiness in order to fully understand why students are experiencing increased stress and decreased happiness.