Host and Refugee Children’s Definition of Happiness: “Give Me a Room”

Menşure Alkış Küçükaydın ()
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Menşure Alkış Küçükaydın: Necmettin Erbakan University

Child Indicators Research, 2025, vol. 18, issue 3, No 5, 1053-1072

Abstract: Abstract Studies on the happiness of adults and adolescents have been conducted in different cultures and associated with different contexts. However, a limited number of studies have directly examined the meaning that children attribute to happiness. Moreover, the happiness of a refugee group and children in the position of hosting them has yet to be addressed. Therefore, this study investigated the meaning attributed to happiness by Syrian refugees and Turkish children. 207 Syrian children (mean age = 9.73, SD = 0.83) and 204 Turkish children (mean age = 8.90, SD = 0.90) participated in the study. A sentence completion test was used in the study. The data were grouped using codes from previous literature and content analysis. The results showed that Turkish and refugee children reported common variables about happiness. However, while refugee children mostly identified happiness with meeting basic needs, Turkish children talked about a pleasant life. By examining refugee and host children’s perceptions of happiness, the study has reached some conclusions about how refugee crises affect people’s emotional and social well-being.

Keywords: Children; Happiness; Refugee (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1007/s12187-025-10229-7

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