Relationship between happiness and homesickness among students: structural equation modeling

Abstract

Happiness is an important factor influencing the individual’s mental health. This is especially important for university students which lead to their academic achievement. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between happiness and homesickness. It was descriptive-correlational. 250 university students was selected by using Morgan’s table and random stratified sampling method. The Oxford happiness and the utrecht homesickness questionnaires has been used for data collection. The findings of the study revealed that the measurement model had acceptable validity and reliability. In the second stage, the results revealed that the model fit was adequate. Therefore, homesickness predicted happiness of the students. In the analysis of path coefficients, the results revealed that all the paths were confirmed except for missing friends and adjustment difficulties. The results also confirmed that homesickness differs based on the place of residence of the students and in terms of gender, no difference was found between girls and boys participants. Therefore based on the results of this study, homesickness can predict the students' happiness.