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© Journal of the Indian Academy of Applied Psychology

January 2014, Vol.40, No.1, 62-69.

Happiness, Quality of Sleep and Academic Achievement among

University Undergraduates

Zainab Mushtaq, Saba Ghayas, and Sadia Niazi

University of Sargodha, Sargodha, Pakistan
The present study was aimed at exploring the relationship among happiness, quality
of sleep and academic achievement. The convenient sample of the study consisted
of 214 undergraduates, taken from the University of Sargodha. An equal number of
boys and girls were the participants of the study. Pittsburg sleep quality index and
Oxford happiness questionnaire were administered on the sample to measure
quality of sleep and happiness respectively. The CGPA of the participants was taken
as an index of academic achievement. Linear regression analysis revealed that
happiness predicted the quality of sleep. Stepwise regression analysis revealed
that subjective sleep quality subscale of Pittsburg sleep quality index appeared as
the only significant predictor of happiness while other subscales were excluded
from the model. Though academic achievement was not correlated with quality of
sleep and happiness, the subscale of quality of sleep, i.e. use of sleep medication,
appeared as the only significant predictor of academic achievement. The results of
the present study can be fruitful for further academic studies. Limitations of the study
and suggestions for further researches have been discussed.
Keywords: Happiness; Quality of sleep; Academic achievement

Happiness is often defined as a psychological
state, following a sense of gratification regarding
important human desires or needs (Diener, 1984).
It also reflects how much one likes his life or the
extent to which an individual would prefer to be
involved in positive behaviors such as gratitude,
appreciation and altruistic behavior. Happiness
plays a very important role in aspects of physical,
psychological, cognitive and social life. It helps
in eliminating the effect of Negative emotions such
as anger and fear etc. (Norlander, Johansson &
Bood, 2005). A growing interest in positive
psychology has led researchers to work on several
aspects of life which are linked with the level of
happiness. One of the important issues is the
quality of sleep in students, which furthermore
influences their academic achievements.
Sleep is an essential element of proper life
and its appropriate level is necessary for balanced
and healthy life. It is commonly observed that the
sleep has relationship with emotions, wellbeing,
anxiety, fatigue, stress, mental disturbance etc
(Lack, 1988; Post, 2005; Thoits & Hewitt, 2001;
Zammit, 1988). Napping during the day has also
been proved to be related with the happiness level
in a person and it was demonstrated that sleep
and happiness are positively correlated with each
other (Luo & Inoue, 2000). Carter (201 0) has
purposed that helping the kids to get more sleep
can increase not only their happiness level but
also creativity level.
Scott (2012) stated that quality sleep is
essential for physical and emotional health as
well as personal productivity of work. According
to Scott, stress consists of negative emotions
and is the source of sleep deprivation and
disturbance. Another research has supported this
claim, signifying that positive affect makes
significant incremental contributions to prediction
of sleep quality (Watson, 2001 ). In Pakistan, ljaz
(2008) conducted research on the relationship
between quality of sleep and happiness among
students. She identified that there was a
significant relationship between happiness and
quality of sleep.
Leitner (2009) conducted research on a