HAPPINESS AND ITS ASSOCIATED FACTORS AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN MALAYSIA: A SCOPING REVIEW

Abstract

Happiness is important because it influences many facets of university students’ lives. This scoping review aims to describe the happiness and the factors associated with it among university students in Malaysia. This review uses a framework suggested by Arksey and O’Malley. EBSCOhost, ScienceDirect, and Scopus databases were used to search for published articles from 2000 to 2026. A total of 766 titles were extracted from electronic databases. Only 10 papers were selected for review after applying the inclusion criteria. Following analysis, happiness was found to be associated with psychological and psychosocial factors (social skills, psychological well-being attributes, mattering to others, problem-solving, parental home involvement, life satisfaction, perceived social support, social relationships, religiosity, and religious commitment). In addition, sociodemographic variables such as gender, religion, field of study, and socioeconomic status were associated with university students’ happiness. Institutional and academic factors (conducive environment of students’ hostel, perceived safety, competency and friendliness of lecturers, infrastructure, support, and online teaching and learning) are the predictors of university students’ happiness. This review serves as a foundation for studies on the happiness of Malaysian university students. It benefits the university authorities and student development affairs in planning effective programs for students’ psychological well-being.