A Proposed Model to Explain Happiness in College Students: The Roles of Perceived Parenting Styles, Emotional Self-Efficacy, and Forgiveness

This study aimed to explore the effects of perceived parenting styles (e.g., mother and father involvement, mother and father strict control) on the happiness of college students. The study also investigated the mediating roles of emotional self-efficacy and forgiveness (i.e., forgiveness of self, others, and situations) in this relationship. The form consisting of 123 survey items was voluntarily filled out by 386 college students. A path analysis was carried out in the study. Some of the core findings are as follows. Mother and father involvement had positive direct effects on happiness. In addition, both mother and father involvement indirectly affected happiness via emotional self-efficacy. Increase in parental involvement led to an increase in emotional self-efficacy, and high emotional self-efficacy contributed to higher happiness. Regarding strict control, neither mothers’ nor fathers’ parenting had significant direct or indirect effect on happiness. Improvements in forgiveness of self were related to the gender of the parents. On the other hand, improvements in forgiveness of others and situations were related to the type of parenting style. Forgiveness of self was only affected by maternal behaviors. Forgiveness of others was affected by mother and father involvement, while forgiveness of situations was affected by mother and father strict control. However, none of the dimensions of forgiveness had a mediating role in the impact of parenting styles on happiness among college students.