The study was conducted to understand the relationship among university students’ interest in horticulture, psychological well-being and social development and the influence of measured variables. In order to collect data, the surveys were executed by convenience sampling on university students attending four-year universities in Daegu and Gyeongbuk regions of South Korea during the period from July 3 to July 17, 2016. A total of 307 survey results which measured the university students’ interest in horticulture, psychological well-being and social development were analyzed. The results showed that there are differences in the interest in horticulture, psychological well-being, and social development depending on the students’ general characteristics. According to the results analyzed by t-test and one-way ANOVA, the interest in horticulture depending on gender, religion, academic marks, family life satisfaction and school life satisfaction had significant differences showing high interest for the students with religion, good academic marks, high family life satisfaction and school life satisfaction as well as female students. Psychological well-being showed significant differences in academic marks, family life satisfaction and school life satisfaction, while social development displayed significant differences in gender, grade, academic marks, family life satisfaction and school life satisfaction. According to the results analyzed by correlation analysis, there was a significant correlation among university students’ interest in horticulture, psychological well-being and sociality development. Furthermore, regression analysis verified that university students’ interest in horticulture has a positive influence on psychological well-being and social development. The results of this study implies that university students with a higher interest in horticulture have higher levels of psychological well-being and social development.

• Na Hee Lee(Department of Horticultural Design, Daegu Future College, 38607, South Korea)
• Byung Jin Choi(Faculty of Environment Horticulture and Landscaping, Catholic University of Daegu, 38430, South Korea)
• Suk Young Yun(Faculty of Environment Horticulture and Landscaping, Catholic University of Daegu, 38430, South Korea) Corresponding author
• Sung Hyang Lee(Department of Floral Design, The Graduate School of Design, Catholic University of Daegu, 38430, South Korea)