Perception of life and stress in undergraduate students of Chulalongkorn University

Abstract

Background: There are few studies about the perception of life in Thai students much fewer than those done internationally. It is generally believed that people who understand the perception of life tend to handle stress better than those who do not. Understanding the perception of life helps one reach full potential development, which contributes to advancement of the country.

Objectives: To study the perception of life and stress in undergraduate students of Chulalongkorn University.

Method: A total of 427 undergraduate students in Faculty of Education, Faculty of Psychology, Faculty of Architecture, Chulalongkorn University were recruited after signing their informed consent forms. They were requested to complete 4 questionnaires, namely:

1) Personal information questionnaire;

2) Perception in Life (PIL) and Seeking of Noetic Goals (SONG) ;

3 )Suanprung Stress Test - 22 (SPST – 22) a revision version by PaKawat Wongthai and Chaichana Nimnuan; and,

4) Stress Sources Questionnaire. The following data analysis methods are applied, namely —

             1) descriptive statistics to explain the basics of the sample by using frequency, percent, average and standard deviation;

             2 ) Chi – square;

             3) mean SD

Results: Most students had low stress level (42.2%) to moderate level (38.9%). Students with high level of perception of life are higher than students with low level of perception of life. Related factors of perception of life were low stress, understanding the lesson, class schedules were appropriate no contradiction with family, satisfied with homes, having a group of friends or closed friends.

Conclusion: Most of Chulalongkorn University’s undergraduate students have high perception of life. Relevant agencies should provide support and encouragement to them via education and activities. And also help the students who have severe stress level.