Personal growth initiative in relation to life satisfaction among university students

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the relationship between personal growth initiative constructs which are planfulness, using resources, readiness to changes, and intentional behaviour on satisfaction with life. This study involved respondents comprising of 225 first-year university students. The data were gathered from a set of adapted questionnaire, namely Personal Growth Initiative Scale-II (PGIS-II) to measure university students’ intentional process of personal growth and Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) to measure their life satisfaction. Results showed that there were significant correlations among all four-construct of personal growth initiative and life satisfaction. The personal growth initiative was a significant predictor of which contributed 17.2% variance toward university students’ life satisfaction. The findings give implication that university students with planfulness, using resources, readiness to changes, and intentional behaviour were more likely to experience satisfaction with their life. These elements of intentional growth of university students enable them to guide themselves toward completing their academic life with satisfaction. It is hoped that this study enlightens an understanding on the relationship between personal growth initiative and life satisfaction in the contex of higher educational academic setting in Malaysia.