The happiness equation: Exploring the influence of extracurricular involvement and peer relationships among young adults

Introduction

In context to increasing academic pressure and evolving social landscapes, understanding the factors contributing to the happiness of young adults is crucial. Young adults adapt to the demands of academic achievements, extracurricular activities and social relationships in pursuit of happiness and personal fulfillment. This paper explores how engagement in non-academic activities, alongside social interactions with peers, contributes to young adults' happiness and psychological well-being. For the purpose of this study, extracurricular activities are defined as activities outside of the formal curriculum that may or may not contribute to academic grades (Groccia, 2018) [19] . These activities encompassing arts, sports, community service, and other engagements, plays a vital role in holistic personal development (Larson, 1999; Verma, 1999) [29] . Research suggests extracurricular participation as a form of behavioral, alongside cognitive and emotional engagement, collectively enhances academic performance and overall development (Wang, 2012; Fredricks, 2006; Anjum, 2021; Ishiguro et al., 2023) [6,16,20,46] . Simultaneously, peer relationships crucial to young adults', help in identity formation, self-concept development and fostering a sense of social belonging impacting overall happiness (Zhang & Qin, 2023; Tabassum et al., 2024) [41,48] . However, in today's fast paced lifestyle along with a hustle driven competitive environment young adults' may find it challenging to prioritize extracurricular activities and peer relationships potentially developing a feeling of overwhelm. According to the All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE, 2022), around 4.33 crore students are enrolled in higher education with an increase in Gross Enrollment Ratio to 28.4, from 27.3 in 2020-21 and 23.7 in 2014-15, emphasizing the growing need for epistemological changes in current higher educational framework. Recent studies illustrate the importance of extracurricular involvement, with Bhattacharyya et al. (2023) [9] highlighting the psychological benefits of students' active engagement in extracurriculars. Velagapaly and Bolla (2023) [45] identified a strong positive correlation (r = 0.706, P<0.05) between mental health and academic performance, emphasizing the role of self and social recovery mechanisms in student well-being. Similarly, Kumar et al. (2022) [26] explored determinants of happiness among nursing students, recognizing significant associations between happiness and elements like monthly family income, choice of course, and engagement in physical activities. The existing educational framework like National Education Policy (NEP, 2020) also highlights the need for integrating curricular and extracurricular activities for holistic student development. The theoretical concepts such as Broaden and Build Theory (Fredrickson, 2001) [17] further www.extensionjournal.com discuss the implications of positive emotions on long term personal resources, like social connection and psychological resilience. This in turn broadens individuals' thought-action repertoires, which today can be cultivated through extracurricular participation and supportive peer relationships. This study aims to examine the influence of non-academic activities like extracurriculars and peer relationships on the happiness of young adults in the context of Indian higher education.

Material and Methods

To objectively measure the relationship between extracurricular activities, peer relationships, and happiness among young adults a quantitative research design was adopted. This approach facilitated the use of statistical analyses to identify and quantify the relationship. Grounded in the Broaden and Build Theory (Fredrickson, 2001) [17] , the research framework posited that participation in extracurricular activities and positive peer relationships would be positively associated with happiness. Purposive sampling method was employed for participants selection in study from two universities of Haryana and Uttarakhand, chosen for their diverse student populations. This approach allowed for the inclusion of participants with a range of extracurricular experiences and peer relationships. The sample consisted of 240 undergraduate students aged 18 to 21 years. The inclusion criteria for the study was valid enrollment in undergraduate courses of the university and voluntary consent to participate.

It was ensured to maintain diversity across academic streams, gender, and socio-economic backgrounds. The data was collected over a period of two months using both physical surveys and digital forms (Google forms) to accommodate accessibility and convenience of participants. Each performa included a proper description about the purpose of the study and consent forms along with which proper confidentiality and anonymity of participants were maintained to ensure ethical considerations. The primary dependent variable was happiness, measured using the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire. Independent variables included demographic factors (age, gender, socioeconomic status), level of extracurricular involvement and quality of peer relationships. For the purpose of data collection following tools were used: Oxford Happiness Questionnaire (Argyle & Hills, 2002) [7]: This is a validated scale consisting of 29 items designed to assess an individual's personal happiness and on a range of psychological and life satisfaction related statements. The responses were recorded on a six-point Likert scale ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree. The Oxford Happiness Questionnaire (Argyle & Hills, 2002) [7] has been used in numerous recent studies examining happiness and wellbeing among Indian populations (Kumar et al., 2022; Rao et al.,2023; Kumar et al.,2023) [26,27,37] .

Self-developed

Questionnaire: A self-developed questionnaire was used to assess extracurricular activities and peer relationships. The extracurricular activities section included items on frequency and types of extracurricular participation (arts, sports, community service, academic clubs, etc.), time spent weekly, and perceived impact on skill enhancement and academic growth. The peer relationship section consisted of items related to the quality of peer interactions, number of close friendships, social support, and perceived emotional comfort derived from peer groups. The questionnaire was pilot tested on a small group of students for clarity and consistency and revised based on feedback to improve comprehensiveness and reliability. Data were analysed using SPSS version 16. Descriptive statistics including frequencies, percentages, means, and standard deviations were calculated to summarize demographic information. Independent samples t-tests were used to compare happiness scores between gender groups and one-way ANOVA were used to examine differences in www.extensionjournal.com happiness across levels of extracurricular involvement. Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated to assess relationships between extracurricular activities, peer relations, and happiness scores. Missing data were handled using listwise deletion. Assumptions of normality and homogeneity of variance were checked before conducting parametric tests. Around 41.25% of participants had one sibling, 38.33% had two and 20.42% had three or more. The ordinal position depicted a variation as well 36.67% were first-born, 37.50% were second, and 25.83% were third or beyond. Further the family type analysis elucidated 77.50% nuclear families and 22.50% joint families. The Family size whereas varied, with 40.42% having 3-4 members, 41.67% with 4-7 members, and 17.50% with more than 7 members. Regarding monthly family income, 20% of participants reported an income up to 25,000 INR, 30% between 25,000-50,000 INR, and 50% above INR 50,000. These demographics depict variations reinstating diversity among samples, allowing for an examination of how socioeconomic status relates to happiness levels.

Results

Demographic and socio-economic profile of young adults

Assessment of Happiness among Young Adults

While the overall results were somewhat similar, slight state wise differences were observed. In Uttarakhand 40.00% of respondents described themselves as rather happy in Haryana it was 41.67%. Conversely, a slightly higher percentage in Haryana reported themselves as being not happy (13.33%), which was 10.83% of respondents in Uttarakhand. A significant proportion of respondents in both the states were identified as somewhat or moderately happy (47.08% overall). The characterization of being moderately happy highlights the vulnerability of this group to stressors and negative emotions, while also experiencing positive emotions. This is the group that presents potential scope for interventions aimed at enhancing wellbeing and promoting a transition to higher levels of happiness. Understanding the factors that differentiate this group from the 'rather happy' group serves as a crucial point of exploration for subsequent analyses.

Distribution of Academic, Extracurricular, and Peer

Relationship Variables: Table 3 presents the distribution of academic performance, extracurricular activity involvement, www.extensionjournal.com and quality of peer relationships among respondents from Uttarakhand and Haryana. A significant variation was observed across these variables which are critical in understanding their relationship with levels of happiness. A notable proportion of participants reported high academic performance (57.50%), with significant differences between states (69.17% in Uttarakhand; 45.83% in Haryana). These differences may reflect systematic academic build ups of the educational systems of both the states. Literature suggests that academic performance is strongly positively correlated with happiness when accompanied with motivation (Alteneiji et al., 2023) [5] .

Relationships between Happiness and Academic factors, extracurricular involvement, and Peer Relationship

This section presents an analysis of the relationship between happiness and academic performance, peer relationships, and extracurricular involvement among 240 undergraduate students. Chi square tests, Pearson correlations and mean comparisons were conducted to quantify these associations in order to identify key predictors of overall happiness. The chi square analysis revealed that participants with lower academic performance (9 to 14) had a lower happiness scores, with 20% falling into this category (χ2=4.139**,p<0.05). While the respondents with higher academic performance (57.50%) were aligned with better happiness scores. Although academic behaviour with not so significant results still presented better trends of good academic behaviour towards higher happiness scores. An overall analysis of academic scores reflected a strong association ((χ2=2.477**,p<0.05) of academic achievements with happiness, as 41.67% of participants with high overall academic performance reported higher happiness scores. On the contrary, academic performance exhibited a weak but statistically significant positive correlation with happiness (r= 0.23*, p<0.05) suggesting a thorough subsequent analysis for further studies. Participants with high extracurricular involvement, regardless of showing positive association with levels of happiness, did not come out as a statistically significant predictor (χ2=13.887,p<0.05) with chi square analysis. On the other hand the correlation analysis presented a statistically significant positive correlation between extracurricular involvement and happiness (r= 0.27*, p<0.05). Although extracurricular involvement did not emerge as a stronger factor with respect to this study, other research highlights its cruciality in influencing overall happiness and wellbeing of young adults (Naorem & Meitei, 2023) [33] . Chi square analysis exhibited a strong positive association between quality of peer relationship and happiness (χ2=8.959**,p<0.05) while it was not found statistically significant in correlation analysis (r= 0.14, p<0.05). Furthermore, extracurricular activity engagement demonstrated a consistent upward trends, with mean scores increasing from 2.52 in the not happy group to 4.52 in the happy group, alongside a significant variance (F=3.46*). These findings highlighted the complicated yet progressive associations between social, academic variables and happiness levels among young adults. This reinforces the necessity for comprehensive, quantitative research strategies in higher education environments.

Discussion

The present study aimed to explore the relationships between happiness and other key variables such as academic performance, peer relationships and extracurricular involvement among young adults in Haryana and Uttarakhand. The findings serve as a means to enhance our understanding of how these factors interact to influence overall happiness in a higher education setting. The results exhibited a significant positive correlation between academic performance and happiness levels. Participants who reported higher academic achievement were more likely to identify as 'rather happy'. This finding aligns with existing literature that suggests academic achievement improves self-esteem and provides a sense of accomplishment which are critical components of overall happiness (Zapata-Lamana et al., 2021; Alam & Mohanty, 2024) [3,50] . However, it is important to note that, while academic achievement is associated with happiness, the relationship is complex. [10,15,24,28] . Academic pressure and stress can also negatively impact wellbeing (Ahad et al., 2021) [1] . It is observed by many researchers that positive life events can also act as the buffer to the impacts of negative events on mental health outcomes such as anxiety and depression (Yarrington et al., 2023) [47] . In the Indian context, prosocial behaviors and strong familial ties have been often found associated with better levels of happiness (Singh et al., 2022) [40] . However, impediments such as academic pressure, social media usage and family conflicts can reduce happiness levels among young adults (Jiang et al., 2022; Alam & Mohanty, 2023; Asici & Sari, 2021) [4,8,22] .

The study also revealed a strong positive association between extracurricular participation and happiness. It was observed that respondents with higher levels of extracurricular involvement reported better happiness levels.

The findings can be supported by Erikson's Psychosocial Development Theory (Munley, 1975) [32] , as engagement in these activities helps in exploring identity (Martín-Talavera et al., 2023) [30] , gaining competence (Cross & Cross, 2017) [13] , and forming meaningful relationships, in turn increasing overall wellbeing. Further Self-Concept Theory elaborates on how participation in extracurricular activities strengthens self-esteem and self-worth, reinforcing a positive self-image (Zhao et al., 2021; Nelson et al., 2024) [34,49] . Participation in such activities also bring along social affinity further enhancing peer and familial relationships in an individuals' life (Cortellazzo et al., 2021) [14] . High quality peer relationships also emerged as the significant predictor of happiness among young adults in this study. It was identified that individuals who reported strong peer relationships experienced greater overall happiness. This finding is consistent with research indicating friendship as a crucial mediator in mitigating stress and enhancing happiness (Alsarrani et al., 2022 [2] ; Reddy, 2023) [38] . Furthermore, it is a necessity of current lifestyle practices to foster healthy peer relationships in educational settings as it provides needed emotional support during formative years of young adulthood (Ulmanen et al., 2024; Chaudhry et al., 2024) [12,44] . Conclusions derived from this study along with existing research, further highlights actionable strategies for enhancing young adults' wellbeing. These insights advocate restructuring conventional educational frameworks to prioritize peer interactions with group projects and mentorship programs. Research by Oddone Paolucci et al.

(2021) [35] demonstrates that mentorship programs not only offer students emotional assistance, motivation, selfdevelopment and gratification but also contribute to overall wellbeing. The can play a crucial role in identifying the importance of balancing self-identity with academic achievements without compromising students' mental health. In context with extracurriculars, institutions should offer diverse programs (sports, arts, clubs) to cultivate skills like leadership, teamwork and time management, which are often linked with better academic performance (Sharma et al., 2023) [39] and improved wellbeing (Mukesh et al., 2023) [31] . Additionally, integration of social emotional learning in curricula will help in strengthening students' ability to form supportive peer networks mediating personal development, career orientation and happiness (Kasikci & Ozhan, 2021; Khanna et al., 2021) [23,25] . In the Indian setting, it is essential to acknowledge the cultural diversity within classrooms and ensure that interventions align with multicultural dimensions of wellbeing and happiness identified in Indian studies (Singh et al., 2022) [40] .

Limitations and Future Directions

While the study provides valuable insights, certain limitations must be acknowledged. Although research design exhibited significant results, causal conclusions would have been better established using a longitudinal research perspective. Such design would have allowed for a deeper understanding of long term influence of peer relationships and extracurricular involvement on happiness.

The sample was limited to universities in Haryana and Uttarakhand. Future research could include rural-urban, socioeconomic and cross-cultural comparisons to improve generalizability, particularly in the diverse context of India. Further the mediating role of academic self-concept, as identified in other studies (Țepordei et al., 2023) [43] could be explored further in Indian setting.

Conclusion

This article presented sufficient evidence regarding the importance of nonacademic involvement and peer relationships in the lives of young adults. The findings indicate that participation in extracurricular activities significantly contributes to improved happiness levels. These insights draw our attention towards reevaluation of our existing academic framework and changes it requires to foster holistic student development. Moreover, while peer relationships did not show a direct correlation with happiness in this dataset, broader literature emphasises its critical role in enhancing overall wellbeing. The study opens new avenues for further exploration on the influence of factors such as gender identities, cultural identities and hopefulness for the future on levels of happiness. It also contributes to a growing body of research that underscores the multifaceted nature of happiness among young adults www.extensionjournal.com and its complex relationship with social dynamics. Substantiating the correlation between non academic engagements and happiness, it further provides empirical evidence to support integration of non academic pursuits in educational curricula. In broader context, these findings echo the sentiments of young adults seeking changes in their academic environments to foster overall wellbeing. By prioritizing academic engagement alongside academic achievements, educational institutions can create environments conducive to holistic development and improved happiness levels among young adults.

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