@2024 Afarand., IRAN

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ISSN: 0000-0000    Iranian Journal of Isaar Studies 2017;1(1):29-34

Background
…. [1, 2] Happiness motivates individuals, increases their awareness, strengthens their creativity, and facilitates their social relations [3]. … [4].
Previous Studies
Cheng and Furnham [5] expressed that married individuals had higher levels of happiness, compared to single people. In addition, studies have revealed no significant relationship between different races in terms of level of happiness [4, 6]. Psychological factors, which have significant and positive association with happiness, include personality and its dimensions [5-7], optimism and attitude [8], psychological well-being [4, 9], and satisfaction with life. In terms of physical resources, most studies have been devoted to health [10, 11], exercise [12, 13], and other variables, such as eating, drinking, and resting [14]. Social factors for happiness include success [15], social interactions and friendships, family, love, and intimacy [16]. Other factors affecting happiness are faith, solid religious beliefs, and performing religious rituals [17]. … [18].
Aim(s)
The present study was conducted to evaluate the level of happiness and its related personality factors in veterans of Iran.
Research type
This was a descriptive and survey research.
Research society, place and time
This study was conducted in 2012 on Iranian veterans, freed prisoners of war and their spouses, as well as wives of martyrs, whose names were registered in the Martyrs and Veterans Affairs Foundation in provinces of Iran.
Sampling method and number
In total, 1135 individuals were selected through disproportionate stratified quota sampling (based on minimum sample size in correlational studies).
Used devices&materials
In this study, data collection was carried out using demographic questionnaire (including age, gender, marital status, occupational status, educational level, and type of disability) completed through a structured interview. Other tools of the research included: Oxford Happiness Questionnaire: this scale is a well-known self-evaluation tool, mostly applied in studies that evaluate happiness. Initially, Argyle and Lu designed this questionnaire in 1991, which was revised and developed in 1995 by Argyle et al. [19, 20]. Reliability and validity of this questionnaire has been assessed by various studies. Argyle et al. [20] confirmed the reliability of this questionnaire at Cronbach's alpha of 0.90 in a research performed on 347 samples [21, 22]. NEO Personality Inventory-Revised (NEO PI-R): this questionnaire assessed the five main characteristics through short phrases when distinctive measurement of personal aspects is not desired [23, 24]. This 44-item questionnaire items is scored on a 5-point scale (completely disagree=1 to completely agree=5). However, some of the items are reversely scored in this questionnaire. Voluntary Activities Questionnaire: this questionnaire consists of 26 voluntary and intentional activities, which according to Lyubomirsky et al. [25] are one of the important factors of happiness, providing 40% of happiness in an individual. Reliability of this questionnaire was confirmed at the Cronbach's alpha of 0.89. Statistical Analysis: Data analysis was performed in SPSS version 18 using one-way analysis of variance (to compare the scores of happiness in different groups of veterans), Pearson’s correlation coefficient (for evaluation of the happiness correlation with other factors), and stepwise regression (to detect the ability to predict happiness through the evaluated indicators).
Findings by Text
In this research, the mean age of the participants was 46.99±7.52 years. In addition, 56.5% of the subjects were female and 86.7% were married. Moreover, 6.8% of the participants were illiterate, 37.9% had elementary education, 36.9% had high school diploma, 14.4% had BSc, and only 3.3% had MSc. The mean score of happiness was 39.75±15.21 in all samples, where the lowest score was related to the spouses of martyrs (38.52±15.21) and the highest score was observed in the spouses of freed prisoners of war (42.27±14.37, p>0.05). In Oxford scale, the lowest and highest scores of happiness were in Kermanshah (34.32±15.56) and Gilan (45.07±14.10) provinces, respectively. There was a significant correlation observed between happiness and age (r=0.06; p<0.05), educational level (r=0.22; p<0.001), monthly outcome (r=–0.16; p<0.001), voluntary activities (r=0.57; p<0.001), physical health (r=0.4; p<0.05), and mental health (r=0.48; p<0.05). Meanwhile, no significant relationship was found between happiness and variables of gender and marital status. Moreover, a positive and significant correlation was observed between voluntary activities and happiness (r=0.57; p<0.01). Among the voluntary activities, items with the highest level of association with happiness were having goals in life (r=0.46), persistent following up of goals (r=0.44), engaging in favorite activities (r=0.4), and family devotions (r=0.4). On the other hand, using the Internet and satellites (r=0.18), going to cinema (r=0.16), and listening to music (r=0.15) had the lowest relationship with happiness. Furthermore, a significant correlation was found between personality dimensions (i.e., neuroticism, extroversion, conscientiousness, compatibleness, and agreeableness) and happiness, which is represented in Table 1.
Main comparison to the similar studies
According to the results of the present research, no significant relationship was observed between happiness and variables of gender and marital status, which is consistent with some studies [8, 14, 26] and inconsistent with the research by Kovama-Hankin et al. [27], in which female subjects were slightly happier compared to male participants. ... [28]. In addition, a positive and significant association was found between age and happiness, in a way that happiness increased by aging in the case group, which is in line with the results obtained by Marzouk and Spiro [28] and Easterlin [26], and inconsistent with the findings of Keis and Anas [29], Neshatdoost et al. [14], and Delafé et al. [30]. ... [31]. The present study also demonstrated a significant and positive relation between educational level and happiness, meaning that the level of happiness increased in individuals with higher educations. These results are incongruence with various studies [4, 29, 32, 33]. Moreover, the results indicated a positive and significant relationship between level of income and happiness; therefore, happiness increased in individuals with higher levels of income [4, 29, 33-39]. According to the results of the present research, the highest and lowest levels of happiness were observed in Gilan and Kermanshah provinces, respectively. Considering the fact that there is a correlation between strong positive feelings and geographical locations of life (green fields, water, and vast landscapes), higher level of happiness can be predicted in these areas [40]. Moreover, the results of the present study revealed a significant association between all-personality dimensions and happiness, which was negative for neuroticism and positive for extroversion, conscientiousness, compatibleness, and agreeableness. In this regard, our findings are consistent with the results of other studies [4, 5, 21, 41-44]. ... [45, 46]. In addition, a positive and significant relationship was found between voluntary activities and happiness, which is in line with other studies [25, 47-55].
Suggestions
None declared by the authors.
Limitations
None declared by the authors.
Conclusions
According to the results of the current research, personality characteristics (neuroticism and extroversion), life conditions (level of outcome), and pleasurable voluntary activities were affected on the level of happiness in veterans of Iran.
Acknowledgments
Hereby, we extend our gratitude to the Authorities of Cultural Research and Deputy of Research and Communication of the Martyrs and Veterans Affairs Foundation. We would also like to thank Mrs. Nazari, Mr. Hosseini and his colleagues in Tehran and other cities, and all individuals who provided insight and expertise that greatly assisted this research.
Conflict of interest
There is no conflict of interest between the authors.
Ethical Permissions
Required permissions were obtained from the Center for Culture and Research and Security of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs Foundation.
Funding Sources
This article was financially supported by the Center for Culture and Research of Vice-Presidency for Research and Cultural Communication of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs Foundation in provinces of Iran.

TABLES and CHARTS

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