Life Satisfaction: The Role of Happiness and Optimism Among Young Adults

: The concept of life satisfaction (LS) refers to how people express their emotions, sentiments (moods), and perspectives on their foreseeable futures (Ritter, 2003). A typical definition of optimism is the propensity to hope for the best and see the positive side of situations (Schneider & Carver, 1985). Happiness is described as the perception of advancing toward important life objectives and having good emotional feelings more frequently than unhappy ones (Tkach & Lyubomirsky, 2006). This study attempted to assess young persons' levels of life satisfaction, optimism, and happiness. Methods: Through the use of purposive sampling approaches, the study involved 120 young individuals between the ages of 18 and 24, 60 of whom were female and 60 of whom were male. Data were gathered using the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire (Michael Agryel & Peter Hills 2002), Life Orientation Test (Carver, 2013), and Satisfaction With Life Scales (Dinner, Emmons, Larsen & Griffin in 1985). The one-way ANOVA, mean, standard deviation, and Pearson product-moment correlation were used to evaluate the data. Result: The study's findings indicate that young people' levels of life satisfaction, optimism, and happiness are similar regardless of gender. Happiness and life satisfaction among young adults have a substantial positive correlation, while optimism and life satisfaction among young adults also have a large positive correlation.


Introduction
Life satisfaction (LS) is a term used to describe how people communicate their feelings, sentiments (moods), and perspectives on their potential futures (Ritter, 2003).However, personal happiness is a highly personalised emotion that is influenced by each person's own life experiences, perspectives, beliefs, and values (Haybron,2013).Although pleasure that exists when we focus on the present moment is happiness that exists when we focus on the present moment, contentment with life is happiness that comes when we focus on the big picture of our lives (Snyder, Lopez & Pedrotti, 2010).We view it as relevant since it is based on our cognitive evaluations.Each individual experiences happiness differently, and it can be challenging to describe it since what makes one person happy may not make another person happy (Laengle & Wurm, 2016).A condition of mind is life contentment.It is a kind of evaluative assessment.This expression refers to both "contentment" and "enjoyment."It therefore includes both cognitive and emotional evaluations.Life satisfaction might come and go, but it can also remain over time.Life satisfaction is characterized as a person's level of optimism towards the overall quality of his or her life.Another way to say it is, "How much money does the man make and do you enjoy the life he/she leads?" (Swayam ,2011).Typically, optimism is defined as a way of thinking that expects the best and views things positively (Schneider & Carver ,1985).The broad conviction that one will often experience positive rather than negative experiences in life is what is meant by optimism (Carver,1985).Numerous studies have shown a strong correlation between optimism and pessimism and life happiness (Sirgy, 2012).A manner of being, feeling, and doing that encourages individuals to reach their objectives and feel good about themselves is optimism (Lightman, 2004).One trait that all optimistic individuals share is their ability to rapidly refocus their attention from negative situations or occurrences to the things in their lives that make them happy and joyful (Rizzo, 2015).There are2 more ways that optimism may be beneficial.First of all, it frequently improves mood, preventing anxiety and sadness.Second, it promotes perseverance in the face of challenges, which may lead to greater achievement (Christensen, Martin & Smyth, 2004).Pessimists are persons who doubt their ability to accomplish worthwhile goals, discourage others, and foresee only negative outcomes (Gruman, Schneider & Coutts, 2016).Pessimism also makes it harder to achieve goals, causes more stress, and harms or ends relationships.In addition, whereas optimists perceive opportunities among challenges, pessimists generally see hurdles amid opportunities (Luke, 2009).Happiness, also known as subjective well-being in psychology, is a state of emotional well-being that a person might feel at a specific moment when lovely things happen, or in a more general sense when they feel good about their lives and accomplishments as a whole.Happiness (like sorrow, fear, and fury) and other positive emotions may discern between good and harmful emotions (such as affection, excitement, and interest).This emotion typically occurs coupled with one specific facial expression, the grin.Happiness is defined as the positive feelings we experience when engaging in pleasurable everyday activities.All of these positive feelings contribute to our happiness, including pleasure, consolation, gratitude, hope, and inspiration.The core tenet of positive psychology is the idea of happiness.The perception of making progress toward important life goals and experiencing more happy emotional experiences than negative ones are the two criteria for happiness (Tkach & Lyubomirsky, 2006).

Definitions of key terms
Life satisfaction (LS) is the process by which people communicate their feelings, sentiments (moods), and perspectives about their potential futures (Ritter,2003).Typically, optimism is defined as a way of thinking that expects the best and views things positively (Schneider & Carver ,1985).Happiness is described as having more positive feelings than negative feelings and believing that one is making progress toward important life goals (Tkach & Lyubomirsky, 2006).

Relevance of the study/Rationale
This study aims to investigate, evaluate, and document the link between optimism and life satisfaction.It takes fulfillment to live and enjoy a healthy life.The society will gain from this study's illumination of the relationship between young people' optimism, happiness, and life satisfaction.The researcher found that there has been little research done in this area and that there is a research gap on this issue after reviewing the literature.As a result, the researcher is making an effort to do study on this subject with the intention of enhancing the quality of life and wellbeing of society.

Review of Literature
College students' levels of stress and life satisfaction were evaluated by Civitci (2015).According to the findings, a college student's sense of belonging is particularly crucial for reducing stress and enhancing life happiness.Lin (2010) evaluated the association between optimism and life satisfaction for patients waiting or not waiting for kidney transplantation.The findings showed that everyone had good optimism, which was strongly correlated with their level of life happiness.A study on the prediction of happiness based on family communication patterns with resilience as a mediating factor was undertaken by F. Khormaee and AB.Akbari in 2015.186 high school students from Shiraz city (95 females and 91 men) were chosen as participants using the multi-stage cluster sampling approach.Data were gathered using the Family Communication Patterns Scale (Koerner & Fitzpatrik, 2002), the Resilience Scale (Conner & Davidson, 2003), and the Oxford Happiness Scale (Hills & Argyle, 2001).The findings indicated a strong connection between family communication styles, resilience, and happiness.

Problem
Do young adults' levels of life satisfaction, optimism, and happiness change significantly depending on their gender, and how do happiness and optimism relate to life satisfaction?

Aim
To investigate the degree of life satisfaction, optimism, and happiness among young adult across their gender and the link between the variables.

Objectives 1.
To investigate the link between optimism and life satisfaction in young adults.2. To investigate the link between young people' happiness and life satisfaction.3. To research the link between youthful optimism and contentment.4. To comprehend the variations in life satisfaction, optimism, and happiness among young people of both sexes.

Hypothesis
1. Young adults of various genders will not have significantly varied levels of life satisfaction.2. Young adults of various genders won't have much of a difference in their optimism.3. Young adults of different genders will not be significantly happier than each other.4. Happiness and optimism among young adults will not significantly correlate.5.Among young individuals, there won't be a meaningful connection between happiness and life satisfaction.6. Young people' optimism and life satisfaction will not be significantly correlated.

Research Design
A between-group research design was used in this quantitative study to examine gender differences in the variables and see whether there was a relationship between life satisfaction and optimism in young people.

Research sample
The study used a type of deliberate sampling.120 young people between the ages of 18 and 24 from various districts in Kerala made up the study sample, 60 of whom were female and 60 of whom were male.Regarding gender, religion, family structure, and place of residence, the sample is representative of a wide variety.

Tools
The following tools were administered individually to collect required data.

Personal data sheet
It includes the participants' names, ages, genders, dates of birth, marital statuses, types of families, and occupations.Table 1 shows the average and standard deviation for men and women in terms of contentment, optimism, and life satisfaction.Men and women rate their overall life happiness at 16.667 and 15.7167, respectively.According to the research, males are happier with their life than women are.Men and women score on optimism on average at 35.2500 and 36.26667,respectively.The results show that women are more upbeat than males.Men and women score on the happiness scale, respectively, at 119.0667 and 123.1667.According to the study, women experience greater levels of happiness than men do.With the use of one way ANOVA, these hypotheses were examined.
Life Satisfaction: The Role of Happiness and Optimism Among Young Adults e 18 According to null hypothesis 1, young adults of various genders will not have significantly different levels of life satisfaction.The outcome indicates that the Sig.value is.356, which is higher than 0.05.The null hypothesis is thus accepted.According to null hypothesis 2, there won't be a discernible difference in the level of optimism among young people of various genders.The outcome indicates that the Sig.value is.217, which is higher than 0.05.The null hypothesis is thus accepted.According to null hypothesis 3, there won't be a significant difference in young adults' levels of happiness based on their gender.The outcome indicates that the Sig.value is.166, which is higher than 0.05.The null hypothesis is thus accepted.With the help of the Pearson correlation coefficient, this theory was verified.The correlation coefficient between optimism and life satisfaction is -.256, and the corresponding significant value is 0.05, which is significant, according to the findings.As a result, hypothesis 4 is disproved.Young folks' life satisfaction and optimism are significantly correlated.According to the findings, there is a -.357 correlation co-efficient between life satisfaction and happiness, with a significant value of 0.000 at the 0.05 level of significance.As a result, hypothesis 5 is disproved.Among young individuals, Happiness and life satisfaction are significantly correlated.The outcome indicates that optimism and happiness have a negative correlation co-efficient of -.217, with a significant value value of 0.017 at the 0.05 level of significance.As a result, hypothesis 6 is disproved.Among young individuals, there is a considerable connection between optimism and happiness.

Summary and Conclusion
Life satisfaction is defined as the manner in which people communicate their sentiments, emotions, and perspectives on their future prospects (LS).The tendency to expect the best and see the bright side of things is a common expression of optimism.The existence of more positive than negative affective sensations, as well as the conviction that one is making progress toward important life objectives, are what constitute happiness.The purpose of the study was to determine how content, upbeat, and happy young individuals are with their life.In this investigation, a purposeful sampling technique was adopted.Out of 120 participants, there were 60 males and 60 women that made up the study's sample.The population was evenly represented in the sample.
Utilizing was used to administrate to the subjects.Sociodemographic information, the Life Orientation Test (Carver, 2013), the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire, and the Satisfaction With Life Scales (Dinner, Emmons, Larsen & Griffin, 1985) (MichaelAgryel&PeterHills2002).One-way ANOVA and Pearson's correlation were used for the data analysis.

Table 1 ,
Mean, standard deviation and standard errors on life satisfaction, optimism and happiness in young adults of different genders.

Table 2
shows the one way ANOVA on Life Satisfaction, Optimism and Happiness in young adults of different genders.