Premium
What counts as happiness for young people: A qualitative study
Author(s) -
Sutton Cordelia
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
children and society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.538
H-Index - 58
eISSN - 1099-0860
pISSN - 0951-0605
DOI - 10.1111/chso.12387
Subject(s) - happiness , qualitative research , constructivist grounded theory , psychology , social psychology , grounded theory , developmental psychology , sociology , social science
Limited research exists on young people's own views on their happiness, with research dominated by adult‐led, quantitative well‐being studies. This article discusses a qualitative study on young people's happiness which draws on both Psychology and Childhood and Youth Studies. In all, 42 young people completed writings and a new method of ‘happiness maps’, together with discussion groups and interviews, which were analysed within a constructivist grounded theory approach. Happiness is revealed as wide‐ranging, complex, and individually variable. Family and friends were important, but these relationships were qualified and contingent in how they contributed to happiness. Importantly, discussions of happiness also incorporated unhappiness.