Academic correlates of Taiwanese senior high school students' happiness

This study examined the relation between academic factors and senior high school students' general happiness using a nationally representative sample of 11,061 11th graders in Taiwan. Pearson correlation analyses indicated that English teacher-perceived academic performance, mathematics teacher-perceived academic performance, teacher academic support, classmate academic support, organizational processes, and school satisfaction were positively related to students' general happiness,while disturbance in class was negatively related. Regression analysis found that objective academic achievement, mathematics teacher-perceived academic achievement, classmate academic support, disturbance in class, organizational processes, and most importantly, students' overall appraisals of their own happiness with school helped predict students' general happiness, account for 18.4% of the total variance. Among these variables, objective academic achievement and disturbance in class were negatively associated with general happiness. Some of the study's findings are consistent with those in the literature and some extend established accounts, while others point to future research directions.