THE ROLE OF SELF-ESTEEM, PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL - BEING, EMOTIONAL SELF - EFFICACY, AND AFFECT BALANCE ON HAPPINESS: A PATH MODEL

European Scientific Journal July 2013 edition vol.9 THE ROLE OF SELF-ESTEEM, PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL - BEING, EMOTIONAL SELF - EFFICACY, AND AFFECT BALANCE ON HAPPINESS: A PATH MODEL Tayfun Dogan 0 0 Research Fellow, The University of Kansas, Department of Psychology , Lawrence, Kansas, USA Tark Totan , PhD Assistant Professor, Adnan Menderes University, Faculty of Education, Department of Guidance and Counselling , Aydn, TURKEY Fatma Sapmaz , PhD Assistant Professor, Sakarya University, Faculty of Education, Department of Guidance and Counselling , Sakarya, TURKEY The objective of this study is to examine the effects of self-esteem, psychological well-being, emotional self-efficacy and affect balance variables on happiness. The participants of the study are 340 (female n= 213; male n= 109) university students from Turkey. Oxford Happiness Questionnaire-Short Form, Self-Liking/Self-Competence Scale, Flourishing Scale, Emotional Self-efficacy Scale, and Positive-Negative Events Scale were used as data acquisition tools in the study. The relationships between the variables were examined via path analysis. According to the analysis it was determined that there are positive and significant relationship between psychological well-being, emotional self-efficacy and affect balance; and that psychological well-being and affect balance have positive effects on self-esteem and happiness, emotional self-efficacy has a positive effect on self-esteem and that self-esteem has a positive effect on happiness (2= 1.84, df= 1, 2/df= 1.8, GFI= .99, CFI= .99, NFI= .99, RFI= .95, IFI= .99, TLI= .98, RMSEA= .05). In addition, it was concluded that 46% of the total variance regarding self-esteem is explained by psychological well-being, emotional self-efficacy and affect balance. It was also concluded that psychological well-being, emotional self-efficacy, affect balance and selfesteem explain 51% of the total variance regarding happiness. - Introduction Happiness is defined as the cognitive and emotional evaluation of life (Diener, 1984). The evaluations and judgments of individuals regarding various areas of life (marriage, health, professional life etc.) signify the cognitive aspect of happiness. Whereas the frequency of positive or negative emotions comprise the emotional aspect of happiness. Accordingly, those who experience positive emotions more frequently in comparison with negative emotions are considered to be individuals who have a high level of life satisfaction (Myers & Diener 1995). Many studies have been conducted to determine what the psychological, biological, and social elements that affect happiness are (Lyubomirsky, 2001). Accordingly, findings have been obtained which show that genetic factors are the most important predictors of happiness. The studies carried out have put forth that genetic factors have a 40%-50% effect on happiness (Lykken & Tellegen, 1996). Whereas it has been determined that life conditions and demographic factors (age, gender, education level, marital status etc.) have a 10% effect on happiness. It has also been concluded that purposeful activities (positive thinking, altruism, coping with stress etc.) have a 40% effect on happiness (Lyubomirsky, 2001; Lyubomirsky, Sheldon, & Schkade, 2005). Happiness has many other benefits for the life of an individual besides giving happiness, positive emotions, welfare and peace. Research results indicate that happiness strengthens the immune system of individuals along with their energy and creativity while providing that they are preferred more in their social relations, increase efficiency at the workplace and provide a longer life (Lyubomirsky, King, & Diener, 2005). The variables of self-esteem, psychological well-being, emotional self-efficacy and affect balance are also evaluated within the study areas of positive psychology similar to happiness. There are many studies that examine the relationships between happiness and self-esteem which is one of the psychological signifiers of happiness. These studies have put forth that self-esteem is an important precursor of happiness and that it has a positive relationship with happiness (DeNeve & Cooper, 1998; Diener & Diener, 1995; Lyubomirsky & Lepper, 2006). Psychological well-being is another describing important aspects of human functioning ranging from positive relationships, to feelings of competence, to having meaning and purpose in life (Diener et. al., 2010). Whereas the concept of emotional self-efficacy is related to the effective use of emotions by an individual. Emotional selfefficacy is a multidimensional concept and is composed of emotion regulation, understanding the emotions of oneself and others, perception of emotions and use of emotions to support thoughts dimensions (Kirk, Schutte, & Hine, 2008). Another variable of the study is affect balance. Positive affect is defined as enjoying many emotions and moods and negative balance is defined as enjoying less emotions and moods whereas affect balance can be defined as the balance between enjoying and not enjoying the various positive and negative emotions (Diener, 2000; Diener et. al., 2010). The increase of affect balance signifies that the individual experiences negative emotions less and positive emotions more (Diener et. al., 2010). In the light of this inference, affect balance can be thought of as the skill for balancing emotions arising due to negative and positive experiences. Whereas psychological well-being, another exogenous variable of the study, contains the cognitive and affective evaluations of an individual and signifies that he/she is satisfied of the emotions that he/she has less negative emotions and is highly satisfied of life (Diener, Lucas, & Oishi, 2002). Hence, it is anticipated that affect balance and psychological well-being have direct effects on happiness. When the hypothesis model of the study is examined, it is assumed that there will be positive relationships between psychological well-being, emotional self-efficacy and affect balance and that these three variables will have a positive effect on self-esteem and that in addition, psychological wellbeing, affect balance and self-esteem will have positive effects on happiness. Another assumption is that emotional self-efficacy will not have a direct effect on happiness, however it will have an indirect effect on happiness by way of self-esteem. Whereas in the hypothesis model psychological wellbeing, emotional self-efficacy and affect balance are exogenous variables, self-esteem and happiness are endogenous variables. Method Participants The participants of the study are 340 university students currently continuing their educations at the Dokuz Eyll University Buca Faculty of Education in Izmir during the 2011-2012 academic year. Of the participants, 67.9% are female (n= 213), 32.1% are male (n= 109) university students whereas 17.2% are students of pre-school teaching (n= 58), 13.7% are students of Turkish teaching (...truncated)