The Effectiveness Of Positive Education On Students' Academic Well-Being, Self-Efficacy And Hope

Abstract

Introduction & Objective: Positive psychology and positivist education have been considered in psychological research in recent decades as well as in various institutions such as schools and organizations and its beneficial effects have been confirmed. In this study, researchers sought to investigate the effectiveness of positive education on academic well-being, academic self-efficacy and academic Hope of students.

Method: The method of this research is quasi-experimental (pre-test, post-test and follow-up) with a control group. The statistical population of the study was all students of Zanjan Farhangian university in the academic year 2020-21 that 60 of them were selected by purposive sampling method and randomly assigned to the control and experimental groups (thirty people in each group). Research instruments included the Academic Well-Being Questionnaire (AWBQ), the Academic Self-Efficacy Scale, and the Academic Hope Scale. The experimental group received 8 sessions of 90-minute positive education (two sessions per week) for two months and the control group did not receive any intervention during this period. Data were analyzed using analysis of covariance and SPSS-23 software.

Results: The results showed that positive education had a positive and significant effect on academic well-being, academic self-efficacy and academic hope and these effects were maintained in two months after the intervention (in the follow-up phase) (p <0.05).

Conclusion: Based on the findings, it can be concluded that positive education by emphasizing constructs such as appreciation, meaning, purposefulness, hope, self-esteem, optimism, forgiveness and happiness can be effective in increasing positive psychological states and capital. Therefore, since one of the goals of positive psychology is to create capable institutions. It is recommended that universities play a role in increasing students' academic well-being by applying positive education approaches as well as strengthening their academic self-efficacy and academic hope.