A Study on the Situations of Happiness and Self-Judgment of Happiness Level among Children : A Culture-Specific Approach

아동의 행복 상황 및 판단에 대한 조사 연구 : 문화적 특수성 접근

This study examined children's happy situations and their self-judgment of happiness level. Subjects were 831 children (7-13 years of age). Research findings were that : (1) There were three categories of happy situations : rewards, daily routine activities, non-daily activities/incidents. These categories were subcategorized into personal and relational experiences. Personal experiences gave them greater happiness than relational experiences. (2) The younger children felt happier through relational experiences than older children. (3) Sixty-two percent of the children reported they were happy most of the time. (4) Preschool children answered "I'm happy" more than older children. Sixth grade children answered "I'm happy" least among the entire sample. (5) Academics correlated positively with children's judgment of happiness level; free time correlated negatively with happiness.