Optimism and happiness in undergraduate students: Cognitive flexibility and adjustment to university life as mediators

Abstract

In accordance with the goal of the positive psychology approach, this study was designed to build an understanding of the relationships among optimism, cognitive flexibility, adjustment to university life and happiness by proposing a multiple mediation model. A total of 386 undergraduates (64% female and 36% male) between 18-22 years participated in the study. The participants were recruited from a small university in Turkey. The Life Orientation Test, Cognitive Flexibility Inventory, University Life Scale, and Oxford Happiness Questionnaire Short Form were utilized as measures. The results showed that optimism, cognitive flexibility, adjustment to university life, and happiness positively correlated. The findings from the mediational analyses also indicated that the serial multiple mediation of cognitive flexibility and adjustment to university life in the hypothetical model was statistically significant and explained approximately 50% of the variance in happiness.