Modernity and subjective well-being in Zimbabwean college students

The study utilized a multiple discrepancy approach to examine modernity as a correlate of subjective well-being in a sample of 110 Zimbabwean college students (44 males; 66 females) aged 24 to 58 years. Measures of subjective well-being covered satisfaction with life, domain of life satisfaction, fr equency of emotional experiences, positive and negative affect. Students ga ve actual and ideal ratings of their subjective well-being and with compari son to their ideal person or desirability. The Zimbabwean college students had positive perceptions of their subjective well-being, although they tend ed to be less happy with their lives as compared to their ideal persons in satisfaction with life, recreation, finances, frequency of emotional experi ence, positive, and negative affect. Students with a higher preference for modernity reported having a higher self-regard, being less fearful, experie ncing more pleasant affect and feeling closer to their ideal life as compar ed to those with a lower endorsement of modernity. Those with a higher pref erence for collectivism reported a higher satisfaction with family. Younger . and female students tended to report being significantly closer to their ideal levels of well-being.