Kesejahteraan Subjektif, Orientasi Matlamat Kendiri, Keagamaan dan Hubungannya Dengan Pencapaian Akademik dan Penyertaan Sekolah di Kalangan Remaja

The crisis of truancy, discipline violation and academic achievement differences between various ethnics are making hot issues involving academic achievement and school engagement among adolescents. These issues are believed to be associated with subjective well-being, purpose in life and religiosity issues among adolescents. Hence, the focus of this study is to examine the relationship between subjective well-being (life satisfaction and affective), purpose in life, religiosity with academic achievement and
school engagement among adolescents. This cross-sectional study combined both quantitative method (face to face
questionnaire), document analysis and qualitative method (interview). 390 samples of Form 4 are chosen through multistage cluster stratified sampling. They were from 10
secondary schools in Kota Setar and Kuala Muda districts in Kedah. 22 respondents were semi-structured interviewed. All the data were then analyzed using SPSS 14.0 (t- test,
ANOVA, MANOVA, Multiple Regression and Multiple Hierarchical Regression) and AMOS 6.0 (Structural Equation Modeling). Research findings showed that measurement model, (life satisfaction, affective, purpose in life (Orientasi Matlamat Kendiri), religiosity and school engagement) adapted from the West are suitable to be applied to Malaysian adolescents. Life satisfaction, negative affect, purpose in life, religiosity and school engagement of adolescents are in a moderate level. Correlation analysis accentuates the significant relationship between life
satisfaction, affect, purpose in life, religiosity and school engagement. However, there is no significant relationship with academic achievement. Although the findings revealed that there are significant ethnic differences in subjective well-being, OMK, religiosity,
academic achievement and school engagement, there is no relativity with gender differences. Indian adolescents show the highest score for most of the variable followed
by Malay and Chinese adolescents. However, Chinese adolescents scored the highest for academic achievement.
Regression analysis also showed that research variables contribute more to school engagement than academic achievement. OMK was found to be the best predictor for
academic achievement while school satisfaction is the best predictor for variances of school engagement. Apart from that, Structural Equation Modeling found evidence of
indirect relationship between variables where there are four significant paths between life satisfaction and religiosity, life satisfaction and OMK, OMK and academic achievement and OMK with school engagement. It was found that life satisfaction enhanced OMK and enhanced academic achievement and school engagement. Finally, the data gathered from the interview shows that high achievers are more satisfied with life, have more positive affect than negative affect, have more religious appreciation, have life goals and also show higher tendency to school engagement. One major contribution of this study is the
development of a model which showed indirect relationships between research variables. Implications for shift of paradigm in Malaysian educational system are discussed in the context of academic achievement and school engagement among adolescents.