Abstract:

The purpose of this research was to determine whether resilience and stress coping strategies of university students are significant predictors of their happiness levels. The study group consisted of 300 university students from Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University. As data collection tools, The List of Determining Risk Factors developed by Terzi (2008), Resilience Scale adapted to Turkish by Sarıçam et al. (2012), Coping with Stress Scale developed by Türküm (2002) and Subjective Happiness Scale adapted to Turkish by Akın and Satıcı (2011) were used. In the analysis of the data, Product-Moment Correlation Coefficient, Multiple Linear Regression and Independent Samples t-test methods were employed through SPSS 23 program. According to the results; there was a moderate significant positive relationship between happiness levels of students and strategies to cope with stress. Besides, a moderate significant positive relationship was observed between resilience and the happiness levels of students. When the levels of happiness were examined according to gender, there wasn’t a significant difference between happiness and gender. In conclusion, it was found that resilience and strategies to cope with stress were the significant predictors of the students’ happiness levels; and resilience and strategies to cope with stress contributed significantly to the model. Regarding to the findings of the study, as the level of using strategies to cope with stress increased, the higher level of happiness was seen. The variable that indicated a positive relationship with the levels of happiness was resilience.

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