Positive psychology : a positive self facing an adverse world.

Having as a basis the theoretical reference of Positive Psychology, namely the concepts of “satisfaction with life” and “subjective happiness” the purpose of this paper is to contribute to an analysis of variables which are included in this line of research with a sample of students who are attending higher education. The aim is to investigate the relationship between the variables mentioned and the variable “locus of control” in a sample of students attending a course in Social Services (1st Training Cycle) and the masters courses (2nd Training Cycle) in Social Gerontology and Educational Social Intervention. The instruments used in this study are SWLS – Satisfaction with life scale (Pavot & Diener (1993); SHS – Subjective Happiness Scale (Lyubomirsky & Lepper (1999) and Locus of Control Scale (Levenson, 1974). According to the results obtained, it was possible to identify a positive correlation between the Internal Locus of Control and higher levels of Satisfaction with Life, however, the same type of correlation with the variable Subjective happiness was not identified. This last result places the question, which we believe to be worthy of a more in depth analysis on the distinction between the concepts “satisfaction with life” and “subjective happiness”