Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023;6(1):1-20.
doi: 10.1007/s42413-022-00184-4. Epub 2022 Oct 26.

Application of the PERMA Model of Well-being in Undergraduate Students

Melissa K Kovich  1 , Vicki L Simpson  2 , Karen J Foli  2 , Zachary Hass  2   3 , Rhonda G Phillips  1
Affiliations

Application of the PERMA Model of Well-being in Undergraduate Students

Melissa K Kovich et al. Int J Community Wellbeing. 2023.

Abstract

The PERMA model was introduced by Seligman in 2011 to increase and measure well-being. This model defines well-being in terms of Positive Emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishment (PERMA). Mental health concerns are common in undergraduate students and may prevent them from obtaining optimal well-being. The purpose of this study was to test whether all five PERMA elements of well-being could be constructed from items within the 2018 Purdue University Student Experience at a Research University (SERU) survey. Using confirmatory factor analysis, all five PERMA constructs were supported and demonstrated good model fit statistics. A second order PERMA well-being construct was built and demonstrated adequate model fit with RMSEA = 0.04. All five constructs were significant at p < .001. Accomplishment had the highest factor loading (0.76) and Meaning had the lowest factor loading (0.25). Results for this study support use of well-being theory in the context of undergraduate students and provides enhanced understanding of well-being characteristics in this population.

Keywords: College students; Higher education; PERMA; Positive psychology; Well-being.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of InterestThe authors have no relevant financial or competing interests to disclose.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Final PERMA model. Note. Covariances of the error terms are not shown in the figure
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. American College Health Association. (2017). National college health assessment II: Reference group executive summary fall 2017. https://www.acha.org/documents/ncha/ncha-II_fall_2017_reference_group_ex.... Accessed 7 Apr 2020
    1. American Psychiatric Association. (2018). What is mental illness?https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/what-is-mental-illness
    1. Awang M, Kutty F, Ahmad A. Perceived social support and well being: First-year student experience in university. International Education Studies. 2014;7(13):261–270. doi: 10.5539/ies.v7n13p261. - DOI
    1. Bentler P, Chou C. Practical issues in structural modeling. Sociological Methods & Research. 1987;16(1):78–117. doi: 10.1177/0049124187016001004. - DOI
    1. Berger JB, Milem JF. The impact of community service involvement on three measures of undergraduate self-concept. NASPA Journal. 2002;40(1):85–103. doi: 10.2202/1949-6605.1190. - DOI

LinkOut - more resources