Happiness among tourism students: a study on the effect of demographic variables on happiness

ABSTRACT

This study investigated tourism students’ levels of happiness and their associations with demographics. A questionnaire was administered to 302 tourism students in Turkey. Data were collected using the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire-Short Form (OHQ-SF) and personal information form. The students’ happiness was moderate. The reliability of the OHQ-SF was found to be sufficient. Through factor analysis, one dimension was obtained from the happiness scale. Gender, status of those participating in sports, and its weekly frequency were significantly related to happiness. However, class, department, working status, social media usage, number of siblings, spending status, whether their parents were alive, and were together or separated were not significantly related to happiness.

KEYWORDS:

• Happiness
• tourism schools
• tourism students
• OHQ-SF
• Turkey

Acknowledgments

An earlier version of this article was presented as a paper at the 4th International Tourism Congress in Eskişehir, Turkey, 16-19 October 2019.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Boran Toker

Boran Toker is an associate professor in the Serik Faculty of Business, Akdeniz University, Antalya, Turkey. He received his master’s and Ph.D. degrees in tourism from Dokuz Eylül University, İzmir, Turkey. Dr. Toker’s main areas of work are tourism management, organizational behaviour, and human resources management.

M. Bahadır Kalıpçı

M. Bahadır Kalıpçı is a lecturer in the Manavgat Vocational School, Akdeniz University, Antalya, Turkey. He gained his master’s degree in hotel management, and is continuing his Ph.D. degree in tourism. Prior to his academic career, he worked in the tourism industry. His research interests are in tourism management, organizational behaviour, and travel agencies.