*Anna Ong Wen Huey, Ong Moon Lim and Low Chee Seong

Abstract: Happiness is a key component of well-being, particularly among emerging adults undergoing significant developmental transitions. Despite growing international research on well-being, limited empirical studies have examined how family relationships, spirituality, and resilience jointly contribute to happiness among Malaysian emerging adults. This study examined the relationships among family relationships, spirituality, resilience, and happiness, and explored the mediating role of resilience. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 175 Malaysian emerging adults using validated self-report measures. Results show that both family relationships and spirituality were positively associated with happiness. Among the dimensions of spirituality, only self-discovery was positively associated with resilience. Mediation analysis, following Baron and Kenny’s procedure, indicate that resilience partially mediated the association between self-discovery and happiness but did not mediate the association between family relationships and happiness, suggesting a direct association. These findings highlight the importance of self-discovery and positive family relationships in promoting well-being among Malaysian emerging adults and offer implications for practitioners, educators, and policymakers.

Keywords: Family relationships, happiness, spirituality, resilience, Malaysia