Self-efficacy and its relationship with satisfaction with life and happiness among university students

Abstract

This study set out to examine the relationship between self-efficacy and satisfaction with life and happiness among university students in South Africa. The sample comprised 334 students (female = 222, male = 112, black = 96%, mean age = 23 years). The students completed a general self-efficacy scale, the satisfaction with life scale and the subjective happiness scale. Data were analysed utilising regression approaches to predict students’ satisfaction with life and happiness from self-efficacy. The results revealed higher self-efficacy scores to predict both higher satisfaction with life and happiness in both males and females. Self-efficacy seems to facilitate both satisfaction with life and happiness in general.