Patterns of self-reported happiness and substance use in the context of transliminality

Two hundred psychology undergraduates completed the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire, an expanded version of the Kumar–Pekala Drug-Use Scale, the Revised Transliminality Scale, and an assortment of single-item true/false statements thought to be relevant particularly to transliminality. Based on previous theorizing and research it was predicted that persons scoring high on the Revised Transliminality Scale (1) are more likely to be unhappy, and (2) engage in greater usage of illicit drugs. Only the second of these predictions was upheld. A further aim of this study was to compare the drug use of highly transliminal participants who were happy against those who were unhappy: it was predicted that unhappy high transliminals would report greater use of illicit drugs, and the findings supported this hypothesis. Using the enter method of multiple regression, transliminality and happiness were jointly examined in relation to the drug variables and a number of single-item variables of a mostly negative nature. Happiness was found to correlate negatively with a large number of items (providing some degree of construct validity). The correlations tended to be positive with transliminality, indicating more drug use, more self-destructive behaviors, and a greater tendency to withdraw from excessive stimulation.