Interpersonal mattering and students’ friendship quality as predictors of subjective wellbeing

Subjective wellbeing (SWB) refers to one’s subjective assessment of happiness. Studies reported that happiness or SWB is predicted by friendship quality. However, others reported that SWB is strongly predicted by the sense that we matter to others (interpersonal mattering). This non-experimental correlational study aimed to test the hypothesis whether interpersonal mattering is a better predictor of SWB than friendship quality. One-hundred-and-nineteen emerging adults were recruited through convenience-purposive sampling with inclusion criteria includes Malaysian within 18 to 25 years of age. The sample size was gotten through G*Power calculator with .15 effect size, .95 Power, and .05 alpha level. The participants were asked to fill up the mcgill friendship questionnaire-friend’s functions (MFQFF), mattering to others questionnaire (MTOQ), and subjective happiness scale (SHS). We tested the hypotheses that while both friendship quality and interpersonal mattering predict SWB, the latter was the strongest predictor. Results of the multiple regression analyses showed that individuals who feels they matter to others might have higher SWB.