Measuring Gen Y’s Attitude toward Perceived Happiness at Workplace from Undergraduates Perspective in North Cyprus Universities

Abstract

The main objective of this paper is to measure Generation Y (Gen Y) attitude toward perceived
Happiness at Workplace (HAW) in North Cyprus Universities (NCUs). The differences in their
perceptions toward perceived HAW is evaluated on the basis of gender, class standing, college, and
nationality within the context of NCUs. This paper adopted five paradigms Positive emotion,
Engagement, Relations, Meaning, and Achievement (PERMA) Model.
In primary quantitative data collection, a questionnaire was developed and shared with a randomly
selected sample of 170 respondents who included students in Girne American University (GAU) with
20 students for interviews.
The study findings indicate that the identified paradigms of the PERMA model are essential in Gen Y
attitudes in their HAW with the most critical aspects being Engagement, Achievement, Positive
emotion, Relations, and Meaning sequentially. Additionally, regarding study findings on Gen Y’s
perceptions towards HAW, it is evident that there lack significant statistical differences between the
Gen Y’s perceptions towards HAW attributes to their characteristics of gender, class standing, and
nationality. Nevertheless, the study findings demonstrate that there is a significant statistical
difference between Gen Y perceptions toward HAW that are attributed to College environment. In
regard to recommendations, this study suggests the need for NCUs stakeholders and employers to set
strategies for developing employability skills for Gen Y. Additionally; it is recommended that
supervisors ought to be flexible in their professional style to Gen Y workers.