This study develops and validates a contextually tailored adaptation of Lyubomirsky’s Person-Activity Fit Diagnostic, specifically engineered to address the unique psychological and academic stressors prevalent in architectural education. Initial exploration using the original 12-activity generic scale among 160 architecture students in Kerala revealed a lack of resonance with the discipline’s creative and spatial demands, necessitating a more nuanced instrument. Employing a multi-phase, mixed-methods research design, qualitative data were first harvested from 75 students across Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka to identify indigenous happiness determinants through thematic analysis. These findings informed the derivation of a specialized 12-item scale, transitioning from generic prompts to discipline-specific interventions such as "nature-inspired indoor spaces" and "architectural sketching tours". Psychometric evaluation of the new instrument demonstrated robust internal consistency, yielding a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.86. Subsequent empirical application to a validation sample of 100 students identified biophilic environments and experiential travel as the highest-ranked "fits" for this cohort. While providing a rigorous foundation for personalized institutional well-being strategies, the study’s cross-sectional nature and regional focus present limitations to broader generalizability.
George et al. (2026) studied this question.