The Feeling of Happiness among academically Gifted students at the Tobruk Center for Gifted students

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the level of perceived happiness among academically gifted students at the Tobruk Centre for Gifted Students, in the light of specific variables (gender and grade level). The researcher adopted the descriptive methodological approach using a comprehensive survey method. Data collection was conducted using a 30-item happiness scale developed by Jamal Shafiq Ahmad, following the verification of the scale's psychometric properties—specifically validity and reliability—it was administered to the entire target population, consisting of 73 gifted male and female students at the Tobruk Centre for Gifted Students during the 2025/2026 academic year. Utilizing descriptive statistics, the findings revealed high levels of subjective well-being among the gifted students across all scale items and subscales. Notably, Item 9 ("I feel happy performing my religious obligations") registered the highest mean score of well-being among the participants. Furthermore, the results indicated statistically significant differences in well-being scores based on gender, favouring female students, as well as across grade levels (seventh, eighth, and ninth grades), favouring eighth-grade students. Additionally, the ranking of the subjective well-being dimensions varied by gender; for male students, the dimensions were ordered as follows: Family Happiness, Health and Satisfaction, and Leisure Time. For female students, the order was Family Happiness, Leisure time, and Health and Satisfaction. Regarding grade level, the ranking for both seventh and eighth-grade students was Family Happiness, Leisure Time, then Health and Satisfaction, whereas for ninth-grade students, the dimensions ranked as Family Happiness, Health and Satisfaction, and Leisure time.