Happiness, Life Satisfaction, Resiliency and Social Support in Students with Dyslexia

ABSTRACT

Many people with dyslexia experience numerous failures in their lifetime. This can reduce their life satisfaction and the sense of happiness. However, external support and one’s personal resources, for example resiliency, aid in dealing with difficult situations. Our study verified the importance of resiliency and perceived social support for the level of life satisfaction and the sense of happiness in Polish students with and without dyslexia, studying at both state and non-state universities. We used the Cantril Self-Anchoring Scale, SHI-PL Questionnaire, Resiliency Scale, and Social Support Questionnaire. The results showed that students with dyslexia demonstrated lower levels of: life satisfaction, positive emotions, resiliency, perceived/expected emotional and practical support, and general social support. The difference in happiness remained at the level of a statistical trend. Therefore, we conclude that dyslexia may be treated a risk factor in terms of happiness and life satisfaction in young adults.

KEYWORDS:

• Adults
• dyslexia
• happiness
• higher education
• life satisfaction
• personal resources
• resiliency
• social support