Social Wellbeing of Graduates: Exploring African Migrants’ Perspectives in the United Arab Emirates
Assistant Professor of Psychology, College of Arts and Sciences, Abu Dhabi University, UAE
Ghanem Al Bustami
Professor of Development & Education Psychology, College of Arts and Sciences, Abu Dhabi University, UAE.
Ejoke Ufuoma Patience
Research fellow, University of The Free State, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Humanities, Bloemfontein.
Mary George Varghese
Visiting Assistant Professor of Psychology, College of Arts and Sciences, Abu Dhabi University, UAE.
Edwin Duplessis
University of the Free State, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Humanities, Bloemfontein, South Africa
Rania Al Dweik
Assistant Professor of Public health, College of Health Sciences, Abu Dhabi University, UAE
Abstract
The “National Program for Happiness and Wellbeing” was launched by the government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE)[1] to initiate wellbeing, happiness, and positivity in the citizens’ lifestyles, thereby making the UAE among the top-five happiest countries in the world. Taking care of people’s needs by fostering their mental, emotional, and physical health is known as taking care of their wellbeing. This paper analyzes the meaning in life and the sources of meaning that predict the social wellbeing of African migrant students. The data were collected through an online survey submitted to a randomly selected sample of 400 students from five different universities across the UAE. Bivariate correlation considering each of the five dimensions of wellbeing was performed with the same predictors. The results confirm that most of the explanatory variables significantly correlated with the category of wellbeing. The findings of this research will encourage policymakers in the UAE to consider these inputs and to introduce the required initiatives to meet their vision of becoming one of the top‑five happiest countries in the world.