ERIC Number: EJ1022205
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2013-Mar
Pages: 7
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0146-3934
EISSN: N/A
Relations among Autonomy, Attribution Style, and Happiness in College Students
O'Donnell, Susan L.; Chang, Kelly B.; Miller, Kristen S.
College Student Journal, v47 n1 p228-234 Mar 2013
Research suggests that a personal sense of autonomy supports individuals' success in a variety of domains, but information regarding these processes remains unclear. This paper attempts to establish a link between personal autonomy and cognitive processes, in the form of attributions for success and failure, in establishing a sense of subjective well-being, or happiness. One hundred and forty-one, primarily white (57%), college students (69% female) ranging in age from 17-27 ("M" = 18.8) responded to a series of questionnaires. Using bootstrapping analysis, autonomy was revealed to mediate attribution styles related to happiness, "CI" = 0.05-0.31; the reverse was also true, "CI" = 0.14-0.86, suggesting that these two processes are bidirectional. It may be that happiness relies, at least in part, on both a sense of control and a positive explanatory style for events in one's life.
Descriptors: College Students, Psychological Patterns, Personal Autonomy, Attribution Theory, Cognitive Processes, Correlation, Well Being, Student Attitudes, Questionnaires, Measures (Individuals), Regression (Statistics)
Project Innovation, Inc. P.O. Box 8508 Spring Hill Station, Mobile, AL 36689-0508. Tel: 251-343-1878; Fax: 251-343-1878; Web site: http://www.projectinnovation.biz/csj.html
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: Attribution Style Questionnaire
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A