Religious Affect and Personal Happiness: Exploring Connections among University Students in Karachi

Religious Affect and Personal Happiness

Abstract

The present quantitative study aimed to explore the relationship between religious commitment and personal happiness employing convenience sampling among a sample of 123 Muslim male and female students of public and private sector universities f Karachi. The respondents completed the Sahin-Francis Scale of Attitude toward Islam and the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire. The data was analyzed employing descriptive analysis followed by Pearson correlation and One way ANOVA using SPSS. The data reported a high level of religious commitment among the participants with a mean value of 4.53 (SD= .682), and that females are more religious than males(F (1,121) =12.969, p<0.001).  The result indicated that there was a weak positive linear association between the participants’ religiosity and their happiness (r (122) =.213, p =0.018).  No significant difference in religiosity levels among different age groups was found (F (5,117) =1.188, p=0.319).  Further mixed-method studies are recommended across Pakistan within students at all levels of education university level.  Religiosity and happiness courses are recommended  to educate and equip students with purpose of life and equip with skills to cope with mental and psychological  health for their overall well-being.