The Influence of Teacher Teaching Styles on the Subjective Well-being of College Students

Abstract

This study aims to explore the impact of teachers’ teaching styles on the subjective well-being of college students. Through systematic literature analysis, existing research results are summarized. Against the backdrop of deepening higher education reform, enhancing students’ subjective well-being has become one of the core goals of education policies and practices. Research shows that interactive and heuristic teaching styles, such as encouraging participation in discussions, providing feedback, and emotional support, can enhance students’ learning interest, engagement, and sense of belonging, thereby improving their well-being. On the contrary, traditional lecture style and reduce their sense of happiness due to the lack of interaction and personalized attention. This study further analyzed teachers’ teaching styles’ multiple effects and mechanisms on happiness. The results indicate that supportive and interactive teaching styles help enhance students’ autonomy, sense of achievement, and belonging, thereby significantly improving overall well-being. Although teaching methods with robust control can improve grades in the short term, they are not conducive to students’ long-term mental health and happiness. Based on these findings, it is recommended that teachers adopt more interactive and heuristic methods in practice to optimize the classroom environment and enhance students’ positive experiences and happiness. The research provides theoretical support for educators, emphasizing the importance of diverse teaching strategies. In the future, further attention should be paid to the impact of cultural background and individual differences among students on happiness to improve educational practices.