Social Support, Spirituality and Psychological Wellbeing of Working Students

Abstract

Some people have better psychological wellbeing than others; thus, they are more functioning individuals. On the other hand, working students are confronted with a variety of challenges that may affect their psychological wellbeing. The purpose of the study was to determine the relationship of social support and spirituality to the psychological wellbeing of working students. This descriptive-correlational research utilized 302 conveniently sampled college working students from three sectarian institutions in Luzon, Philippines. An expert-validated four-part questionnaire was used to gather data. Data were analyzed using Predictive Analysis Software (PASW). Based on the findings, the respondents had a low social support yet, they were highly spiritual. They also had a moderately high psychological wellbeing. Social support and spirituality were significantly related to all the dimensions of the psychological wellbeing of the respondents. On the other hand, there was no significant difference on all the dimensions of psychological wellbeing when age, sex, and length of stay were considered. Moreover, dormitory dean’s support was a significant predictor of the respondents’ psychological well-being in terms of self-acceptance, purpose in life, environmental mastery, and positive relations with others while support from friends/peers was a significant predictor of the respondents’ psychological wellbeing in terms of purpose in life. Finally, spirituality was a significant predictor of the respondents’ psychological wellbeing in terms of self-acceptance, personal growth, purpose in life, environmental mastery, autonomy, and positive relations with others regardless of age, sex, and length of stay. It is recommended that a replicate study be done among non-working students and/or non-sectarian institutions.