Happiness in university students. Are there differences depending on gender, age, or choice of studies?

The present work deals with the study of happiness on university students, and the possible differences depending on their gender, age and choice of studies that may arise in their subjective perception, derived from an intervention in the classroom based on positive emotions and creativity. We use a quasi-experimental design with pretest and posttest. The sample consisted in 83 university students and Higher Technical Degrees, who were evaluated with the "Subjective Happiness scale of Lyubomirsky and Lepper" (1999) and the "Oxford Happiness Questionnaire of Hills and Argyle" (2002). The results show that there are no significant differences in the perception of happiness depending on gender, age and choice of studies, however, the intervention in positive emotions program was effective and the subjective happiness of the students in the experimental group increased significantly compared to the control group. Happiness has been positively associated to academic success; encourages coping with stressful situations of university life; has positive effects on health and on personal and social well-being, also contributes improving people quality of life. Given the importance of preparing the student for working life and the benefits that positive emotions provide, we support their integrated use in university classrooms.