Level of life satisfaction among students in Nis and Kosovska Mitrovica

Abstract

Life satisfaction and feeling of happiness are key indicators of subjective well-being (Diner & Seligman). The main objective of this study was to determine possible differences in the level of life satisfaction among the students in Nis and Kosovska Mitrovica. The study included 167 students of both sexes, 90 respondents from Kosovska Mitrovica, while 77 of the examined studied at the University of Nis. We used standardised Diener's scale (survey) which measures satisfaction with life as a process of cognitive judgment. The questionnaire was filled out individually. It consiseds of five claims in respect of which the respondent made evaluations using a seven-point scale, ranging from clear disagreement to a clear agreement. IBM SPSS Statistics 21.0. was used for data processing. T-test for independent samples was used to compare the level of life satisfaction of students at the two universities, while the influence of gender and age of students in the degree of life satisfaction was explored by a two-factor analysis of variance. Students were divided into three age groups (group 1: up to 21 years of age; group 2: 22-26 years of age and group 3: 27 and over).We have shown that there was a statistically significant difference in the level of life satisfaction among respondents who were studying in Kosovska Mitrovica (M=19.82, SD=4.893) and Nis (M=24.17, SD=4.689); t(165)=5,833, p=0.01. A big influence of the environment on the level of life satisfaction of students (eta squared=0.171) was found. The interaction between sex and age groups was not statistically significant, F(2,161)=1.03, p=0.36. A statistically significant separate effect of students' age was found F(2,161)=13.22, p=0.01. This impact was large (partial eta squared=0.14). Subsequent comparisons using Tukey's range test showed that the mean value of the results in the age group up to 21 years of age (M = 23.68, SD = 4.69) was significantly different from those in the group of 22 to 26 years of age (M = 19.95, SD = 5.51) and those 27 or more years (M = 19.33, SD = 5.48). The 22-26 age group was not significantly different from the 27+ age group. Separate effects of gender, F (1.161)=2.19, p=0.14, did not reach statistical significance. Observing isolated female population, there was a statistically significant decrease of the observed characteristics, ranging from groups of up to 21 years old (M=23.52, SD=4.63) over the group 22-26 years old (M=19.96, SD=5.05), to the 27+ age group of (M=17.00, SD=2.52). The highest level of life satisfaction was observed in the male group of the youngest students (M=24.04, SD=4.88), while there was not a significant difference between the 22-26 age group (M=19.94, SD=5.13) and the 27+ age group (M=20.82, SD=6.4). We can say that the students of the University of Nis are significantly more satisfied with life than their colleagues in Kosovska Mitrovica, and that there are no significant differences in observed characteristics between the sexes. The most satisfied were the youngest students of both sexes, while the least satisfied were students older than 27. The data raise a number of other topics, in the first place the necessity of looking at the overall socio-economic conditions in which young people live and work in Kosovo. Especially worrying is the increase in life dissatisfaction in female population during the study as another reason to doubt the equality of women in society.