Undergraduate Students' Experiences and Perceptions of Subjective Well-Being during a Global Pandemic in an Online World

Abstract

This quantitative study focuses on how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected undergraduate students’ perceptions of their subjective well-being as well as what it means to live the ‘good life’. For this research, we examined how the various online and offline leisure activities participants engaged in may have altered these perceptions. This is better understood by using the theoretical lens of symbolic interactionism and its focus on the meaning-making process. By using an online survey we collected responses from 19 undergraduate students from McMaster University. According to our findings, undergraduate students spend more time online during the pandemic than they had previously. Responses indicated that offline leisure activities were better able to enhance subjective well-being than online leisure activities. Perceptions of the good life were also most often perceived as correlated with spending time with friends and/or family. This research may provide insight into the ways current university environments and social support services can be improved within the unique context of a global pandemic.