Qualitative Analysis of Students’ Experiences of Happiness: A Phenomenological Study

Introduction: Happiness is the amount of positive value that a person considers it for him/herself. Happiness is the common goal of all human beings; so that all human efforts will be done to get it, and it has changed to an important issue in human life at recent decades. Present study aimed to assess students&#۳۹; experiences of happiness phenomenon in Iran University of Medical Sciences, Iran. Method: This qualitative study was done in ۲۰۱۵ using phenomenological method. The number of participants was ۱۲; the data were collected through semi-structured interviews, and analyzed using Colaizzi ۷-step technique. Results: After considering and analyzing the data, ۲۱۹ themes, ۱۰ subthemes, and ۳ main themes were extracted. The main categories included "goals achievement", "social ties", and "the ravages of life". Participants gained happiness through the process of social life and meanwhile declared basic individual efforts to achieve desires and happiness. They also suffered from some ravages and life destructive changes such as inappropriate welfare status, and encountered uncertain future. Conclusion: Considering particular importance of social aspect of gaining happiness, and the effect of welfare status on it, preparing appropriate educational policy for students and planning to improve their economic conditions to increase happiness are of great importance.

Keywords:

Happiness , Phenomenology , Students