May I have some more time to play, please? : An Exploration of Javanese Indonesian Children’s Happiness

Abstract

Happiness was defined as a positive emotional state that is subjectively perceived individuals. This study is aimed to identify what factors which contribute to child’s happiness in Java, Indonesia. This research is very important considering the concept of happiness from a child's perspective is rarely studied. This study used an open ended question to 51 young Javanese Indonesian children 3-5 year-old and they answered individually. Children were asked a single question “what makes you happy most?”. The study was done in Java, Indonesia. The data were screened by using content analysis for the presence of statement revealing factors or source perceived as contributing to child happiness. The result showed that the most response mentioned by Javanese children is: have more time to play and given toys. This response was followed by other responses such as food and drink, hobbies, learning activity in school, indoor and outdoor activity in leisure time, material things, and people. In addition to the result, this study also found  that age and gender differences in what children perceive to make them happy. This result is clearly different from western study result. The study confirms a theory on the child development about the importance of daily interactions in children usual context.

Keywords: children, happiness, age, gender.