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The Relationship Between Hope, Eustress, Self-Efficacy, and Life Satisfaction Among Undergraduates

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Abstract

The construct of eustress was studied alongside hope and self-efficacy, to explore how these constructs are related to life satisfaction among undergraduates. Questionnaires were administered to undergraduates to test the hypotheses that (1) as eustress levels increase, so will life satisfaction levels; (2) when eustress, hope, and self-efficacy are examined together, they will predict life satisfaction better than eustress alone; (3) eustress, hope, and self-efficacy will all be positively correlated with life satisfaction; and (4) self-efficacy will be the most positively correlated with life satisfaction. The results revealed a significant positive correlation between eustress and life satisfaction. A Hierarchical Linear Regression analysis revealed significant results supporting hypotheses 2 and 3, but not hypothesis 4. Results indicated that hope is the best predictor of life satisfaction. The work reported provides a reliable tool for measuring eustress, examines eustress in a new way at the academic level, and provides helpful information about student wellness to college administrators.

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Correspondence to Geraldine O’Sullivan.

Appendices

Appendix A

See Table 1.

Table 1 Demographics

Appendix B

See Table 2.

Table 2 Hope scale

Appendix C

See Table 3.

Table 3 Eustress scale

Appendix D

See Table 4.

Table 4 Self-efficacy scale

Appendix E

See Table 5.

Table 5 Life satisfaction scale

Appendix F

See Table 6.

Table 6 Stress scale

Appendix G

See Table 7.

Table 7 Means and standard deviations for all variables

Appendix H

See Table 8.

Table 8 Correlation matrix for all variables

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O’Sullivan, G. The Relationship Between Hope, Eustress, Self-Efficacy, and Life Satisfaction Among Undergraduates. Soc Indic Res 101, 155–172 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-010-9662-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-010-9662-z

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