Abstract
This study examined the moderating effect of self-esteem on the relationship between optimism and life satisfaction in final year university students. A correlational survey design was utilized. Two hundred and twenty-three university final year students of a Nigerian university consisting of 124 males and 99 females aged 24.67±2.56 participated in the study. Data were collected with a structured self-report questionnaire containing satisfaction with life scale (α = .82), Rosenberg self-esteem scale (α = .86), and life orientation test – revised (α = .79). Data were analyzed with SPSS v.23 at 0.05 significant level. Self-esteem significantly moderated the relationship between optimism and life satisfaction as indicated by a significant increase in proportion of the variance in life satisfaction when the interaction term between optimism and self-esteem was added to the regression model [ΔR2 = .03, ΔF (1, 219) = 7.26, p < .008, b = .188, t(220) = 2.69, p < .01]. It was concluded that the predictive impact of optimism on life satisfaction of university final year students is enhanced by their self-esteem; thus, students should be exposed to environment and program that promotes the development of high self-esteem and optimistic life orientation to enhance their well-being.
Highlights
Academic years of university come with various changes and demands, and as study years progress, students are faced with an increase in mental stress as they take both a retrospective view and a prospective view of their academic achievement and challenges to come
Self-esteem significantly moderated the relationship between optimism and life satisfaction as indicated by a significant increase in proportion of the variance in life satisfaction when the interaction term between optimism and self-esteem was added to the regression model [ΔR2 = .03, ΔF (1, 219) = 7.26, p < .008, b = .188, t(220) = 2.69, p < .01]
It was concluded that the predictive impact of optimism on life satisfaction of university final year students is enhanced by their self-esteem; students should be exposed to environment and program that promotes the development of high self-esteem and optimistic life orientation to enhance their well-being
Summary
Academic years of university come with various changes and demands, and as study years progress, students are faced with an increase in mental stress as they take both a retrospective view and a prospective view of their academic achievement and challenges to come This experience, is expected to have a significant impact on the overall well-being and subjective component of an individual’s quality of life measure by life satisfaction of the students (sentence needs attention). A lot of findings on positive psychological constructs among higher learners are available in the public domain, the majority if these studies focused on first-year students and attempt to address issues of adjusting to the new school environment In this regard, there is a paucity of findings on the well-being of students in the latter years of studies, studies addressing the impact of self-esteem in explaining the relationship between optimism and life satisfaction among the Nigerian populace. We intended to find out if students’ sense of positive worth (self-esteem) optimizes or inhibit the relationship between optimism and life satisfaction
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