Levels and Demographic Correlates of Life Satisfaction among African American Undergraduates
Life Satisfaction accounts for the global evaluation of an individual's quality of life according to their own criteria. This has received little research attention in the past, but has in recent years become a topic of great interest. The majority of research on Life Satisfaction has used majority older populations and predominantly white samples. Research that has looked at African American populations finds that determinants of life satisfaction in Whites tend to be different in African Americans. It is important to add to the limited body of research by understanding what relationships exist between demographic variables and different levels of life satisfaction among African American undergraduates.
This research used a questionnaire to collect demographic data, and the Satisfaction With Life Scale to assess the individuals' level of life satisfaction. Data was collected and Pearson's Product Correlation, One Way ANOVA and Tukey's LSD were run. These results do not indicate a statistically significant correlation between the chosen demographic variables and life satisfaction. The results do show that parents' marital status has an impact on African American undergraduates' life satisfaction. Additionally, undergraduates with one or more parents deceased reported statistically lower levels of life satisfaction than individuals whose parents were married and single. These findings show that parent's marital status may affect their children even well into their undergraduate years.
This research used a questionnaire to collect demographic data, and the Satisfaction With Life Scale to assess the individuals' level of life satisfaction. Data was collected and Pearson's Product Correlation, One Way ANOVA and Tukey's LSD were run. These results do not indicate a statistically significant correlation between the chosen demographic variables and life satisfaction. The results do show that parents' marital status has an impact on African American undergraduates' life satisfaction. Additionally, undergraduates with one or more parents deceased reported statistically lower levels of life satisfaction than individuals whose parents were married and single. These findings show that parent's marital status may affect their children even well into their undergraduate years.
School:
University of the Virgin Islands
Department:
Psychology
Research Advisor:
James D. Anderson
Department of Research Advisor:
Educational Policy Studies
Year of Publication:
2008