An Examination of Subjective Well-Being and Life Satisfaction of Students Attending to Universities in South Africa and Turkey

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate subjective well-being and life satisfaction of students attending to universities in South Africa and Turkey. The sample of the study consisted of 803 university students; 400 from South Africa and 403 from Turkey. The English and Turkish versions of the Subjective Well-Being Scale (Tuzgöl Dost, 2005a) and the Satisfaction with Life Scale (Diener, Emmons, Larsen and Griffin, 1985; Köker, 1991) and an additional Personal Information Form were used for data collection. The results showed that students from South Africa reported higher levels of subjective well-being and life satisfaction than those from Turkey. Also, subjective well-being and life satisfaction levels of students from both countries differed according to the variables of perceived academic achievement, perceived economic status and perceived parents’ attitudes.