Stress and happiness of high and low academic achieving Indonesian college students

• Main Author: Lazar, Fransiskus Laka
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2004
• Subjects: Stress (Psychology); Happiness; Indonesian students
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_masteral/3152
• Institution: De La Salle University

This study examines whether there are significant differences between the low and high academic achievers scores on stress and happiness scales. The subjects of the study were 200 first year college students who were 100 low academic achievers (low GPA) and 100 high academic achievers (high GPA) from Widya Mandira University in Kupang, Indonesia. Two instruments were used to gather the data: the East Asian Student Stress Inventory (EASSI) and the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire (OHQ). Grade point averages (GPA) provided the measure of sample population of academic achievement. The t-test analysis was used at .05 level of significance in order to determine the significant difference between low and high academic achievers scores on stress and happiness. Results of the individual interview were used to verify quantitative results and also to give meaning to the analysis of the results. The findings of this study pointed out that low academic achievers tended to experience more stress than high academic achievers, whereas high academic achievers had the tendency to be happier than their low academic achiever counterparts. High academic achievers were more optimistic, confident and satisfied with their performance whereas low academic achievers tended to give up easily when faced with concerns related to families, friends and schools. Moreover, results showed that all of the interviewed respondents experienced stress and happiness but their effect on self and academic achievement differed.