Self Acceptance and Happiness : A Study on Gender Differences Among School Teachers

Self acceptance is the first step towards expressing love for the self. When we are expressing love then we are likely to experience happiness and fulfillment. Self –acceptance aids in developing better understanding not only towards oneself but the society in general making one more productive and happy. Happiness is a state of mind or feeling characterized by contentment, love, satisfaction, pleasure, or joy. Gender has been found to play an important role on self-acceptance and happiness independently. However, there is dearth of available literature on studying the effect of gender cumulatively on both self acceptance and happiness. Keeping this in mind the present study attempts to investigate the effect of gender on self-acceptance and happiness among the school teachers. The sample consisted of 100 private school teachers (50 males and 50 females) from private schools of Chandigarh. Self-Acceptance Scale and Oxford Happiness Inventory were administered. The results indicated that a significant gender difference on the dimensions self acceptance and happiness among school teachers was found; where females were found to be higher on both the dimensions than the male teachers. The present study also discusses some strategies for enhancing self acceptance among teachers aiding in enhancing their happiness and productivity.