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THE ROLE OF ART IN THE WELL-BEING OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS FROM THE CZECH REPUBLIC, ITALY AND SLOVENIA
Abstract
This study investigates the relationship between art engagement and the well-being of high school students from the Czech Republic, Italy and Slovenia. The research is based on data from a questionnaire survey conducted in high schools in those three countries. Five pieces of information were gathered from the students which included: life satisfaction (happiness), self-reported physical health, weekly time spent doing artistic activities, weekly time spent reading and information concerning students ability to perceive beauty. The sample consists of 3,841 students from 11 Czech, 8 Italian and 12 Slovenian schools. On average, Slovenians read less than the students from the other two countries and Italians are more capable of perceiving beauty. The analysis was conducted using ordinal logistic regression models. The results show a positive relation between art time and happiness in Italy and Slovenia. Reading is not related to happiness in any of the countries. On the other hand, there is a positive relation between the ability to perceive beauty and happiness in the Czech Republic and Slovenia. The same or similar results apply to the relation of art and the ability to perceive beauty with self-reported physical health. The discovered connections provide substantial evidence that artistic activities are a significant positive aspect of students well-being. The described differences tell us that the role, importance and function of art are different in different cultural backgrounds. Therefore, when trying to improve teenagers quality of life by engagement in artistic activities, the whole cultural and social context should be taken into account.
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