Features of subjective well-being of Russian and Chinese students: A comparative analysis of the problem

Abstract

Introduction. The subjective well-being of students is an important factor affecting academic achievements and professional development. The number of Chinese students studying in Russia is already quite large, and there is a potential for growing cooperation between our countries. Therefore, the study of the subjective well-being of Chinese students in their comparison with Russian students is relevant not only from an academic point of view (as a cross-cultural study of the globalising world), but also from a practical point of view.Aim. The aim of the present research is to theoretically and empirically study the subjective well-being in general and its individual components among Chinese students getting higher education in Russia, in comparison with Russian students there.Methodology and research methods. The methodological principles of the study are activity-based and subject-activity approaches, as well as the principles of consistency and system analysis. The theoretical study was conducted using the bibliographic method. The empirical study used the testing method and methods of statistical data processing.An empirical study was conducted on 392 students of the RUDN. The following psychodiagnostic methods were applied in the study: “Scale of Subjective Well-Being” by A. Perue-Badu (adaptation by M. V. Sokolova), “Questionnaire of Self-Attitude” (V. V. Stolin, S. R. Pantileev), “Oxford Happiness Questionnaire”, “Subjective Assessment of Appearance” (V. A. Labunskaya, E. V. Belugina), and “Scale of Basic Beliefs” by R. Yanov-Bulman (adaptation by O. Kravtsova). The statistical Mann-Whitney U criterion was used for the calculations. The calculations were performed using the IBM SPSS Statistics 23 program.Scientific novelty and results. The scientific novelty and the most significant research results consist in identifying the features of subjective well-being and related personal characteristics of Chinese students studying at Russian universities, in comparison with Russian students there. It was found that most of the indicators of subjective well-being of Chinese students are at a lower level than those of Russian ones. The exception is the parameters “psychoemotional state” and “tension and sensitivity”, for which Chinese students show better scores.Practical significance. The practical significance of this work is that the authors developed the recommendations aimed to improving the indicators of the subjective well-being of Russian and Chinese students studying in Russian universities.