Self-esteem and Life Satisfaction as Predictors of General Health: A Study of College Student Smokers and Non-Smokers

The purpose of this research paper was to measure the relationship between self-esteem, life satisfaction, and general health among college student smokers and non-smokers. The study quantitatively used data from different educational institutes and colleges in the Faridabad – Haryana, India area using simple random sampling. The sheet for Personal Information, General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12) (Goldberg and Williams, 1978), Self-Esteem Inventory (SEI) (Coopersmith, 1967), and Life Satisfaction Scale (LSS) (Alam and Srivastava, 2001) were used among 207 college students, out of which 97 were smoker participants. The results of this study indicate that non-smoker and smoker groups have a similar level of general health. Non-smoker and smoker participants are at almost equal levels of life satisfaction. The findings provide evidence that total self-esteem is a very strong predictor of general health among the non-smoker group. Social satisfaction and total self-esteem are strong predictors of general health among the smoker group.