I Am Happy Because My Classmates Are Happy: Class Well-Being Predicts Individual Student Well-Being

• In Event: Roundtable Session 41
  In Roundtable Session: The Social Emotional Climate in Schools

Abstract

We examined how aggregate well-being (the average well-being of students in a classroom) measured at Time 1 predicted students' subsequent well-being at Time 2 even after controlling for prior levels of well-being. Filipino secondary school students (N=676) drawn from 19 classrooms answered questionnaires assessing their life satisfaction, positive affect, and negative affect during the beginning and towards the end of the school year. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to analyze the data. Results indicated that students who were in classes with higher levels of life satisfaction and positive affect were more likely to have higher levels of life satisfaction and positive affect themselves. Findings have implications for the role of social contagion in the spread of student well-being.

Author

• Ronnel Bornasal King, The Hong Kong Institute of Education