RELATIONSHIP AMONG LIFE SATISFACTION, SELF-ESTEEM, AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN PAKISTAN

Purpose of the study: This research study explores the relationship between life satisfaction, self-esteem, and academic performance of university students. Methodology: A quantitative approach was used to explore the relationship among life satisfaction, self-esteem, and academic performance of university students. In this study, a survey method was employed to collect quantitative data on life satisfaction, self-esteem, and academic performance from 575 students studying in three different public universities of Punjab (Pakistan). A self-esteem scale as a survey instrument initially developed by Rosenberg (1965) and a life satisfaction scale developed by Gilligan and Huebner (2002) were used to collect data. A third scale was developed by the researchers to measure the students’ academic performance. The assembled data were statistically examined using descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation by using SPSS 20th Version. Results: Findings of the study reveal that the level of life satisfaction among university students is comparatively higher than the presence of self-esteem and academic performance. Findings of the study show significant positive associations of university students’ academic performance with their life satisfaction and self-esteem. Applications of this study: This study helps strengthen the factors that promote university students’ academic


INTRODUCTION
Satisfaction with life is essential if an individual wants to handle challenging situations and circumstances and even to get benefits from them (Ammar et al., 2020;Casagrande et al., 2020). Participation in social activities is a must for a person's life satisfaction (Nguyen et al., 2020;Zhang & Ma, 2020). Life satisfaction is an outcome achieved by the people through comparing what they possess and what they desire to possess (Altay & Avci, 2009). Life satisfaction is a significant element of academic performance. The students with a high level of life satisfaction exhibit greater flexibility and are less futile in facing academic hindrances. In contrast, students' low level of life satisfaction upsets their concentration and weakens their performance in the classroom. From the students' point of view, satisfaction implies that an individual is advancing towards significant life ambitions (Arias, 2004). Life satisfaction has a substantial relationship with student's classroom performance. In Midwestern University, the students who are contented and satisfied with their lives show higher performance than those who have a low level of satisfaction with life (Rode et al., 2005). College students who have a high level of life satisfaction are more satisfied with their educational engagements (Duffy et al., 2012). In the absence of mental strain, life satisfaction is considered a substantial element of educational experiences and attainments among university students (Antaramian, 2015). Life satisfaction is also connected with less educational anxiety, greater academic self-efficacy, higher perceived advancement towards achieving objectives, and constructive educational expectations (O'Sullivan, 2011). The boys and girls aged 15-17 years show an increase in life satisfaction when they move from school to successive academic paths. An increase in life satisfaction during puberty helps tackle critical academic problems such as handling different resources, educational issues, and locating an appropriate subsequent academic path whereas youth having low satisfaction with life tends to escape difficulties and cultivate an undesirable outlook towards academic life. Therefore, stable satisfaction with life may have credit for youth to preserve longer in dealing with school-related challenges (Salmela-Aro & Tuominen-Soini, 2010). There is a significant positive link between life satisfaction and positive emotional experiences such as contented, pleasant, good, joyful, and happy but a significant negative link exists between life satisfaction and negative emotional experiences such as angry, bad, afraid, sad, and unpleasant across all age groups (Jovanović & Joshanloo, 2021). A large number of negative life events are correlated with lower satisfaction with life. However, the value of correlation is small (r = -.12). In the same way, life satisfaction is lower among the individuals who have a combination of low positive emotional experiences, and low negative emotional experiences but facing a high number of negative life events (Lazić et al., 2019).
However, Zakaria and Halim (2017) found no significant association between academic performance and satisfaction with life among talented and exceptional students. Civitci and Civitci (2015) identified that people with low social judgement orientation have high satisfaction with life than those who have high social justice orientation. The researchers further explained that social comparison affects satisfaction with life as humans possess the capability to assess their own lives by comparing their particular circumstances with other people's circumstances. Similarly, Lyubomirsky et al. (2001) revealed that students with low life satisfaction get influenced more negatively by the outcomes of social comparison than those with high life satisfaction. In contrast, some studies conducted in the perspectives of Malaysia revealed that people with a high level of life satisfaction are highly indulged in material abuse, criminal misconduct, and suicidal inclinations (Amat & Mahmud, 2009). A significant study conducted by Gilman and Huebner (2006) showed that Malaysian students attending both public and private universities suffer from serious 'alexithymia' in which students feel difficulty in comprehending, handling, and articulating emotions and alexithymia would lead to several psychiatric disorders.
Self-esteem is considered an important constituent of good psychological health and has drawn numerous investigators' attention in recent years. Self-esteem is a rational and enthusiastic judgment of oneself. Rational means individuals are leading in the accuracy, being truthfully and directly responsive of their strengths, weaknesses, and all involving. Individuals generally have excellent judgment about the person they observe (Schiraldi, 2007). Self-esteem is based on an individual's self-judgment and a collection of his/her perception of traits and capabilities (Flouri, 2006). It grows and changes throughout the individuals' lives as they construct an image of themselves through their experiences with various people and actions. The experiences the individuals gain during their infancy period play a central role in the formation of their basic self-esteem. When the individuals develop their successes/failures and how they are handled by different people of the community including immediate family members, instructors, mentors, religious experts, and their peers all participate in establishing their basic self-esteem (Yaratan & Yucesoylu, 2010). Self-esteem is a complicated and multi-dimensional conception frequently used in place of self-assessment (Baumeister et al., 2003). Self-esteem, in its nature, is a particular concept based on individual perception and evaluation. It is an emotional, operational, and descriptive sign of healthiness and well-being. It is also an indicator of explaining human behaviour (Martín-Albo et al., 2007). Self-esteem indicates the social approval and acceptance of an individual in a group and the sense of group association. It may change under the power of temperament, and the struggle invests into the work (Leary, 2003). The younger students (3 rd & 4 th grade) with depressive and nervous signs have a lower level of selfesteem and quality of life when compare to normal groups of the same age while the older students (5 th & 6 th grade) scored lower on self-esteem and quality of life than the younger students (3 rd & 4 th grade). For gender differences, girl students report lower self-esteem and quality of life than male students. Recognizing depressive and nervous students at an early phase and motivating them to acquire coping strategies may be significant to promote areas essential for students' wellbeing (Martinsen et al., 2021). Likewise, higher academic stress and physical and psychological mistreatment of parents or other relatives in the home are key risk factors associated with students' low self-esteem. Moreover, self-esteem has links with educational stress, anxiety, and depression that significantly influence students' quality of life and cause suicidal ideation. Some web-based or school-based facilities should be provided to students to promote their self-esteem and skills for treating educational stress (Nguyen et al., 2019).
Students may like to continue a positive passion for self-esteem and life satisfaction because they possess the wish of high-quality living for them. Many researchers convey positive effects of self-esteem on the students' academic life. Self-esteem and educational performance predict an increase in life satisfaction both in boys and girls aged 15-17 years. The higher the self-esteem and the higher the educational performance, the higher the life satisfaction among the boys and girls during a shift to subsequent educational paths (Salmela-Aro & Tuominen-Soini, 2010). Self-esteem may help in the accomplishment of academic goals. Teachers can involve the self-esteem and life satisfaction of their students in the accomplishment of their academic goals. Di Domenico and Fournier (2015) reported that the student's academic achievements and performances are very important determinants of their careers. Requirement of excellent performance in academic achievement provides better job opportunities after the completion of their studies. Several studies highlighted that global self-esteem is associated with life satisfaction (Patel et al., 2018;Williams et al., 2018;Zuffianò et al., 2018). Similarly, a high level of self-esteem is linked with increased life satisfaction. Global self-esteem is a stronger predictor of life satisfaction, from 7% to 14% among nursing students (Kupcewicz et al., 2020). The students' positive routine matters, physical appearance, and self-esteem are the signs of life satisfaction among Spanish students (Zuffianò et al., 2018). Patel et al. (2018) conducted a study on Indian students and found that self-esteem has a substantial impact on Indian students' life satisfaction.
A study conducted by Saadat et al. (2012) on the association of self-esteem and learning achievement between male and female students demonstrated significant gender differences in the level of self-esteem. Male students achieve higher scores than female students in family self-esteem. Both family self-esteem and educational self-esteem have a significant positive association with students' academic performance. The students who have high self-esteem are better in their involvement and performance in different academic accomplishments such as co-curricular activities, games, and competitions. These students are also associated with their networks and contacts, meet and talk to other school students and teachers, and willing to visit the school administrator in the school. D'Mello et al. (2018) also identified that a gender difference exists between male and female students in self-esteem. Female students possess more self-esteem than male students. But, self-esteem has no significant association with students' academic performance. The study suggested that there might some other causes that are responsible for students' poor academic performance. Similarly, Pasha and Munaf (2013) explored the relationship between different indicators of self-esteem and adjustment and found that self-esteem is statistically significantly associated with overall adjustment among university students. However, the strongest association exists between self-esteem and academic adjustment. Rubie-Davies et al. (2004) proposed that selfesteem is an excellent approach to increase students' academic performance. Different dimensions of self-esteem are significantly correlated with the students' academic outcomes. However, all the dimensions of self-esteem are not directly related to students' academic outcomes but are facilitated by affective and motivational factors (Kärchner et al., 2021). Self-esteem is highly associated with students' academic performance. The higher the values of self-esteem, the higher the values of educational outcome. The home environment plays a key role in enhancing self-esteem among the students. If the home environment of the youth is conducive, their self-esteem is improved and they become self-reliant enough to resolve their issues and encounter the adversities and trials in a stress-free way (Cheema & Bhardwaj, 2021). All the aspects of academic self-esteem are indirectly associated with the educational performance of the students except failure or success (Ahmadi, 2020).
Academic performance is an essential tool to realize the achievements or scarcity of academic activities and tasks that a particular student is supposed to finish in a specific period (Rivkin et al., 2005). Academic performance is substantial for students as they cope with school scores; they might undergo specific personal, institutional, and population-level issues (Needham et al., 2004). At the personal level, weak performance originates from immediate problematic behaviours and ultimately goes to school failure. It can also disturb the academic and occupational paths of the youth up to mature age (Crosnoe, 2002). At the institutional level, low achievement problems may generate anarchy, lawlessness and weaken all institutional targets (Steinberg et al., 1996). At the population level, academic failure can cause extreme variations in a specific population ratio when correlating between achievement and the growth of human capital (Mirowsky & Ross, 2017). The executive functioning skills (including cognitive flexibility, working memory, and inhibitory control) provide a base for learning achievement specifically and significantly contribute to mathematics learning and mathematics problem solving (Zelazo & Carlson, 2020). Similarly, executive functions including planning, inhibition, working memory, and cognitive flexibility significantly predict academic performance among normal growing students (r = 0.365) (Cortés Pascual et al., 2019). School students with weak academic performance and attainments are unable to graduate from their schools (Suh et al., 2007), less capable of performing well in colleges (Geiser & Santelices, 2007), and less engage in suitable employment and achieve success (Kittelsen Røberg & Helland, 2017).
Previous research demonstrates that the scientific study of the relationships among university students' life satisfaction, self-esteem, and academic performance has not been given due attention by the researchers (Ng et al., 2015). Students' academic performance gets affected by different factors, including a low level of life satisfaction and self-esteem. Life satisfaction and self-esteem are based on different aspects which influence the students' life satisfaction and happiness at the university level. These aspects may include students' personal and social relations with peers and teachers (Ye et al., 2012). It is a prerequisite to investigate students' these personal and social aspects. Determinants of the students' academic performance, the role of students' life satisfaction, and their self-esteem are not yet examined in the Pakistani context.

THE PRESENT STUDY
The current study focuses on providing investigations into university students' self-esteem and life satisfaction as these may associate with students' academic success. To achieve this objective, the researchers traced out the prevalence of self-esteem and examined the level of life satisfaction among the students studying in public universities of Punjab province. They also investigated their academic performance in the classrooms. The findings of the study will help in strengthening the factors that promote university students' academic performance. Thus, the study answers the following research questions: 1. What is the level of life satisfaction among the university students in Punjab?
2. To what extent, self-esteem prevails among university students in Punjab? 3. What is the level of academic performance among university students in Punjab? 4. What are the relationships among life satisfaction, self-esteem, and academic performance of university students?
To answer the research questions of this study, the following hypotheses were formulated: H 1 : There would be a significant correlation between life satisfaction, self-esteem, and academic performance of the students of sampled universities.

H 2 :
There are significant differences in the female and male students' life satisfaction, self-esteem, and academic performance.

METHODOLOGY
The present study was descriptive and founded a broad scientific investigation focused on the Punjab province of Pakistan. Three public sector universities, including The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Government College University Faisalabad, and the University of Sargodha, were selected randomly for the study. From these universities, four faculties, including Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, Management Sciences, and Arts and Humanities, were selected as a sample. One department from each faculty and a total of four departments from each university were selected randomly for the study.
A sample of 575 male and female students studying in the final year of their respective Masters and BS programs was selected through multi-phase sampling techniques. In the first phase, three public sector universities were selected through a simple random sampling technique. Four faculties from each selected university were selected in the second phase of the inquiry. Four departments from each selected faculty were selected randomly in the third phase of the sampling, and 50 students from each selected department were selected randomly in the fourth phase of the sampling.

Research Instruments
A Self-Esteem Scale developed by Rosenberg (1965) was adopted by the researchers to measure the self-esteem of university students. Regardless of the wide-ranging variety of instruments that have emerged in the literature, Rosenberg  Gilligan and Huebner (2002) was adopted by the researchers to measure the life satisfaction of university students. The life satisfaction scale comprised of five subscales, including satisfaction with self (five items), satisfaction with family (five items), satisfaction with friends (five items), satisfaction with the university (five items), and satisfaction with the living environment (five items) with a total of 25 items in it. A close-ended scale based on students' classroom performance was developed by the researchers after a considerable review of relevant literature to examine the academic performance of the university students in the classrooms. The scale consists of five subscales, including assignment and classroom tasks (five items), self-managed learning (four items), classroom participation (four items), comprehensions (four items), and learning cooperation and coordination (three items) with a total of 20 items in it. The three scales were developed on a Likert scale based on five points from strongly disagree to strongly agree. The validity of the three scales was established through consulting eight experts in the field.

Data Collection
The data collection process was initiated with the formal approval of the university registrars and subsequently from heads of departments of the selected universities. Enrolment lists of the students studying in the final semesters of BS and MA/MSc programs were obtained from the respective departments. Students were visited during their study hours and requested to fill the survey questionnaires. In total, 620 questionnaires were distributed among the sampled students, and in return, 594 questionnaires were received by the researchers. Out of 594, the 19 questionnaires were found incomplete, and inappropriately filled, and as a result, 575 questionnaires were considered adequate for statistical analysis.
The total sample size consisted of 575 male and female students. Out of the total, 205 (35.7%) from The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, 192 (33.4%) from Government College University Faisalabad, and 178 (30.9%) from the University of Sargodha were selected for the study. Of the 575 students, 165 (28.7%) were taking courses in Social Sciences, 152 (26.4%) in Natural Sciences, 132 (23.0%) in Arts and Humanities, and 126 (21.9%) in Management Sciences. The 336 (58.4%) of the sampled students were females, and 239 (41.6%) were males. The 481 (83.7%) of the sampled students were between the age of 18-22 years. Out of the total students, 329 (57.2%) of the students were living in urban areas, and 246 (42.8%) of the students were living in rural areas.

Data Analysis
The data analysis process started with the recording of the data into a datasheet of the SPSS 20 th version. Cronbach's alpha was applied to measure the internal consistency of the three scales. The three scales demonstrated Cronbach Alpha coefficients of more than .80. Cronbach's alpha is an excellent measure to assess the internal consistency of an instrument. Any value that is more than 0.7 is assumed to be reliable (Cho & Kim, 2015). The attained values of Cronbach alpha exhibited high internal consistency of all the scales and their subscales presented in Tables 1 and 2. The collected data were examined through coding students' responses 1 for 'strongly disagree', 2 for 'disagree', 3 for 'undecided', 4 for 'agree', and 5 for 'strongly agree'. After statistical analysis of collected data, obtained results were presented in tabular format. Subscale scores differ from a minimum of 1 to a maximum of 5 Table 1 shows that the university students demonstrate a moderate level of self-esteem (M = 3.18). The students however report a comparatively higher     An independent-samples t-test is conducted to compare male and female university students for their life satisfaction, self-esteem, and academic performance (Table 3). There is a significant difference in the scores of male students (M = 4.07, SD = 0.367) and female students (M = 3.99, SD = 0.401); t (573) = -2.28, p = .023. These results demonstrate that male students have significantly higher life satisfaction than female students. Similarly, in comparison of male and female university students for their self-esteem, the results indicate that a significant difference exists in the scores of male students (M = 3.23, SD = 0.291) and female students (M = 3.15, SD = 0.296); t (573) = -3.54, p = .000. These results reveal that male students have significantly higher self-esteem than female students. Likewise, in comparison of male and female university students for their academic performance, results show that a significant variation exists in the scores of male students (M = 3.59, SD = 0.339) and female students (M = 3.47, SD = 0.412); t (573) = -3.69, p = .000. These results exhibit that male students have significantly higher academic performance than female students.  Table 4   Findings demonstrate that all the indicators of students' academic performance are significantly correlated with different indicators of their life satisfaction and self-esteem except three associations which are insignificant (Table 5). Pearson correlation coefficients representing associations between students' performance in learning cooperation and coordination and satisfaction with the living environment, and satisfaction with self are insignificant. Likewise, a correlation between the university students' self-esteem and their performance in self-managed learning is also insignificant. However, comparatively the strongest correlation exists between the university students' overall life satisfaction and their performance on assignments and classroom tasks (r = .478). The relationships of the students' overall life satisfaction with other indicators of their academic performance, including self-managed learning, classroom participation, comprehensions, and learning cooperation and coordination are also significantly high. The relationship of the university students' self-esteem with their classroom participation is comparatively higher than the other indicators of academic performance.

DISCUSSION
The main aim of the study was to find out the relationships among life satisfaction, self-esteem, and academic performance of university students in Pakistan. The main focus of the study was to trace out the substantial role of life satisfaction and self-esteem in the students' academic performance. The present study found that the level of life satisfaction is high among university students. However, male students demonstrate higher life satisfaction than female students. The study also found that a strong relationship exists between university students' life satisfaction and their academic performance. However, the strongest relationship exists between the university students' life satisfaction and their performance in assignments and classroom tasks. Similarly, the relationships of the students' life satisfaction with other indicators of their academic performance, including self-managed learning, classroom participation, comprehension, and learning cooperation and coordination, are also significantly high. Thus, the study demonstrates that the students' achievement levels are high when they have self-respect and also satisfied with their lives. It implies that the students who are contented and happy with their lives may have positive views about everything in their life including academic duties. The findings of the present study supported the results of Moussa and Ali (2021), who found that the students studying in higher education institutions in UAE have a high level of pleasure and educational success. There is a significant relationship exists between students' pleasure and their educational success. However, the study found no gender differences in the happiness level of male and female students. The results of the present study also  2021) conducted a study on a bidirectional association between individual wellbeing and academic achievement across two time-points during the period of middle-to-late adolescence. Gender differences are found in this bidirectional correlation as boys show no relationships but girls demonstrate relationships. The girls with higher subjective wellbeing at timepoint-1 show higher educational achievement at timepoint-2, whereas higher educational achievement at timepoint-1 is correlated with lower individual wellbeing at timepoint-2. These results demonstrate that the subjective wellbeing of young girls may be substantial for their capabilities to achieve at schools but their educational achievement may affect negatively their well-being. Similarly, Kandemir (2014) also found that when students are satisfied with their lives in terms of their happiness, academic procrastination behaviours decrease among the students. Satisfaction with life or being happy may ease taking the responsibility of academic duties. Similar results were also found by Murshid (2013), who showed that the students' life experiences best predict their university grade point average. Similarly, Antaramian (2015) identified that in the absence of mental stress, life satisfaction is considered a substantial element of educational experiences and attainments among university students. Rode et al. (2005) also found similar results that a substantial relationship exists between life satisfaction and students' classroom performance. In Midwestern University, the students who are contented and satisfied with their overall life tend to show comparatively higher performance than those who have a lower level of satisfaction with life. Similarly, Salmela-Aro and Tuominen-Soini (2010) found that boys and girls aged 15-17 years show an increase in life satisfaction when they move from school to successive academic routes. An increase in life satisfaction during puberty helps tackle critical academic problems such as handling different resources, educational issues, and locating an appropriate subsequent academic route. In contrast, youth having low satisfaction with life tends to escape difficulties and cultivate an undesirable outlook towards academic life. A stable satisfaction with life may have credit for youth to preserve longer in dealing with academic-related challenges. The present study also found an insignificant relationship between university students' satisfaction with self and living environment and their performance in learning cooperation and coordination. These results highlight that no relationship exists between university students' satisfaction with themselves and their living environment and their performance in learning cooperation and coordination. This indicates that students experience a low level of satisfaction with themselves and their living environment and also show comparatively low performance in learning cooperation and coordination. These findings supported the earlier findings that environmental characteristics and life satisfaction contribute to understanding the students' performance. The students who experience academically worse are less satisfied with their academic experience and perform academically low (Pluut et al., 2015). Similar results were also found by Amat and Mahmud (2009), who conducted a study in the perspectives of Malaysia revealed that people with a high level of life satisfaction are highly indulged in material abuse, criminal misconduct, and suicidal inclinations.
The present study found that the prevalence of self-esteem in university students is significantly moderate and demonstrates association with the indicators of students' academic performance. However, the association of the university students' self-esteem with their performance in classroom participation is comparatively higher than its association with other indicators of their academic performance. It means that the self-esteem and personal characteristics of university students influence their academic performance. For gender differences, male students demonstrate higher self-esteem than female students. The major findings of the present study were consistent with the findings of previous inquiries. The results of the present study supported the findings of Cheema and Bhardwaj (2021), who explained that self-esteem is highly associated with student's educational outcomes. The higher the values of selfesteem, the higher the values of educational outcome. The home environment plays a key role in enhancing the selfesteem of the students. If the home environment of the youth is conducive, their self-esteem is improved and they become sufficiently self-reliant to resolve their issues and encounter the adversities and trials in a stress-free way. Similar results were also found by Fuller-Tyszkiewicz et al. (2015) that the student's self-esteem is a determinant of their academic and social behaviors. The study of Liu et al. (2015) also examined the relationships among self-esteem, learning approach, and academic motivation and achievement of the students. The study demonstrated a significant effect of self-esteem on students' academic motivation and performance. Malisuwan et al. (2015) also found similar results that self-esteem leads to critical thinking, which is beneficial for knowledge development and problem-solving capability for further learning. Self-esteem promotes positive thinking, self-respect, social acceptance, and selfencouragement. Similarly, a study conducted by Saadat et al. (2012) on the association of self-esteem and learning achievement between male and female students demonstrated significant gender differences in the level of self-esteem. Male students achieve higher scores than female students in family self-esteem. Both family self-esteem and educational self-esteem have a significant positive association with students' academic performance. The students who have high self-esteem are better in their involvement and performance in different academic accomplishments such as co-curricular activities, games, and competitions. These students are also associated with their networks and contacts, meet and talk to other school students and teachers, and willing to visit the school administrator in the school. The present study also found that university students' self-esteem is not associated with their performance in self-managed learning. The correlation between the university students' self-esteem and their performance in self-managed learning was found insignificant. These results were in line with those of Kärchner et al. (2021) who revealed that different dimensions of self-esteem are significantly correlated with the students' academic outcomes. However, all the dimensions of selfesteem are not directly related to students' academic outcomes but facilitated by affective and motivational factors. Similar results were also found by D'Mello et al. (2018) who identified that self-esteem has no significant association with students' academic performance. Yet, a gender difference exists between male and female students in self-esteem. Female students possess more self-esteem than male students. The study suggested that there might some other causes that are responsible for students' poor academic performance. Self-esteem has been presented as an important predictor of behavior modification in various studies. The results of the current study confirmed the previous findings, as students with moderate self-esteem have better overall and domain-specific adjustment to university life. Similar results were also reported by Pasha and Munaf (2013) who found that self-esteem is statistically significantly associated with overall adjustment among university students. However, the strongest association exists between self-esteem and academic adjustment. Rubie-Davies et al. (2004) proposed that self-esteem is an excellent approach to increase students' academic performance.

CONCLUSIONS
The current study traces out the level of life satisfaction, the prevalence of self-esteem, and academic performance among university students in Pakistan. The results demonstrate that the level of life satisfaction is high among university students. However, the prevalence of self-esteem among university students is moderately high, and the academic performance of university students is comparatively highly satisfactory. For gender differences, male students demonstrate a high level of life satisfaction, self-esteem, and academic performance than female students.
Regarding relationships among the students' life satisfaction, self-esteem, and academic performance, the study concludes that strong relationships exist among different indicators of life satisfaction and academic performance of university students. However, the strongest relationship exists between the university students' life satisfaction and their performance in assignments and other academic tasks. The relationships of the students' life satisfaction with other indicators of their academic performance, including self-managed learning, classroom participation, comprehension, and learning cooperation and coordination, are also significantly high. However, no relationship exists between university students' satisfaction with self and living environment and their performance in learning cooperation and coordination. The study concludes that a strong relationship exists between self-esteem and students' academic performance. The relationship of the university students' self-esteem with their performance in classroom participation is comparatively higher than its association with other indicators of academic performance. However, no relationship exists between university students' self-esteem and their performance in self-managed learning.

LIMITATION AND STUDY FORWARD
This study was conducted only in the Punjab province of Pakistan. Further research should consider other Pakistani provinces to explore the comprehensive picture of the situation.