Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
ISSN -2244-5382
Editorial Board
Paul V. Hilario, Ph.D., RGC, RP
Editor in Chief
Alicia Karen C. Alcantara
Associate Editors
Roshelle S. Macatugob
Associate Editors
Editorial Board Members
Augustina Sulastri, Ph.D
Universitas Katolik Soegijapranata, Indonesia
Margaret Sanapo, Ph.D
Ritsumeikan University, Japan
Roann Ramos, Ph.D
RWTH University Hospital, Aachen, Germany
Created Annually by
FOREWORD
This issue includes the work of eighteen undergraduate students and their
faculty co-authors of the Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Bachelor of
Science in Psychology for the Academic Year 2015 2016.
The topics reflect the varied research interests and focus of the students and
their advisers. Volume I includes both Experimental, and Mixed-Method
studies
The articles were written following the latest APA (American Psychological
Association) format.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
With our sincerest gratitude, we, the graduating students of the Psychology
Department Class 2016, would like to thank the following:
To Dean Paul Hilario PhD, RGC, RP, RPm, Prof. Rodelando Ocampo, MA, Prof.
Fatima Bullecer, MAEd, RGC, Prof. Juli-ann Alonzo, MS, RN, and Prof. Eva
Castronuevo, MS, RGC, RP, RPm for their patience and unceasing mentorship that
encouraged us to strive for excellence during the completion of our study and attain
the highest possible standards set by the department,
To all the participants who devoted their time and helped us with our data
gathering,
To our families and friends, for their undying support and understanding that
sustained us throughout this challenging but fulfilling journey,
To the Bedan Community, for nurturing our work values, keeping us grounded as
Christ centered individuals and standing as a constant reminder of St. Benedicts
philosophyOra et Labora,
To God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the source of our strength and
inspiration, making all things possible not only in our college life but in all the
aspects of our lives.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Dental Aesthetic and Self Confidence
among Filipino Adolescents
ALARCON, Glen Paula
Ocampo, Rodelando
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Everyone has their own opinion on what they think is attractive. What is attractive is
usually influenced by the people they surround themselves with. The influence may come from
their close friends, or through the people they look up to, can affect their perception of what is
attractive. Thus, having their own standards, people tend to squirm at the sight of what they
perceive is attractive to them. Thats where the term beauty premium is coined. When people
squirm at the presence of an attractive individual, they tend to just agree, they couldnt think
straight (Rosenblat, 2008).
Modern society made people conscious of what they look like, making the generation
today focus more on what is popular this is because media influences the self-confidence of an
individual's perception to a higher degree about what is attractive. They feature what are the most
popular trends of the season. With that, people try to change their appearance based on the trends
up to date, while judged by others who did them wrongly. Some people try so hard to turn into
perfection that the society draws, by turning into cosmetic surgery. People who have money go
under the needle to reform or fix a part of their body. (Sung, 2005)
One of the things they look at the mirror is their face then their mouth (Van Der Geld,
2007). Not everyone is blessed with a perfect occlusion. They find dissatisfaction with their teeth
or malocclusion. Many desire to whiten and have better alignment of their teeth.
Self confidence is very important in every aspect in life, especially in becoming
successful. There are a lot of factors which can alter ones self confidence. Someone with strong
understanding and perception of ones ability cannot be put down easily. However, those who
have low self confidence can be put down easily. Individuals comparing themselves to someone
they perceive is better than them may decrease their self confidence. Some upgrade their material
things like in gadgets, cars, clothes and etc. While others focus on their physical appearance like
on their hair, nose, in makeup and dental aesthetics.
A study on the association of dental caries and weight status was conducted to Filipino
children to investigate the association between the variables. The results were that underweight
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children were more associated with socioeconomic and demographic conditions. However,
underweight and dental caries are public health issues that affect children in important phases of
development. (Heinrich-Weltzien, Monse, Benzian, Heinrich & Kromeyer-Hauschild, 2012)
Cultural belief, values and practices are often intertwined with the causes of diverse oral
health. However, no adequate literature supports these cultural beliefs and practices. A research
on different literatures throughout different ethnic groups was conducted by Butani, Weintraub
& Barker. In the Philippines, very little published information about oral health beliefs or
practices was available. A finding in which that parents (mostly the mother) fear dental
treatment without anesthesia and personal negative experiences in the dental office prevented
them from seeking care for their children. Among the people in poverty line, the cost is the most
common reason for not seeking professional dental care. (Butani, Weintraub & Barker, 2008)
Schools can provide health promotion in the most influential stages of childrens lives.
(Kwan, Petersen, Pine & Borutta, 2005) With that, schools are enabling children to develop
lifelong sustainable attitudes and skills. A study by Kwan, Petersen, Pine & Borutta (2005)
focused on the global need of the importance of promoting oral health in schools. They also
talked about the effects of poor oral health. It can affect the children's quality of life, their
performance at school and their success in the later year. Petersen, Bourgeois, Ogawa,
Estupinan-Day & Ndiaye described the influence of major sociobehavioral risk factors in oral
health. Due to poor living conditions, the major risk factors relate to unhealthy lifestyle.
To find out if dental aesthetics is a factor for low self- confidence in Filipino adolescents.
Studies have conducted series of interview and questionnaire that focus on what are the factors
that they dislike in their dental appearance. To assess the psychosocial impact of dental
aesthetics on the emotional state of an individual, the mean values of Dental Self-Confidence
were compared. This study will focus on dental aesthetic and self confidence. Will there be a
need to reform a persons dental appearance to build his self confidence. If an individual will
perform better after a treatment has been done on them and will they gain more self confidence.
How can someone cope with their inability to get the treatments they want for the betterment of
their dental appearance.
Dental Aesthetics
Dental Aesthetic is having a sense of the beautiful of to the teeth. It is being concerned
with appearance of your teeth. A study aimed to evaluate opinions of a group of professionals
and a group of lay people, with or without cleft lip or palate, regarding the facial appearance of
patients treated for orofacial clefting. The results showed that the lay people with a cleft rated
facial aesthetics with significantly higher and had a low perceived need for further treatment then
lay people without a cleft. While professionals rated facial aesthetics significantly lower and also
had a lower perception of need for further treatment. (Foo, 2011)
In Brazil, the daily life of school children was assessed to test the association between
aesthetic impact due to malocclusion and biopsychosocial variables. Marques (2006) concluded
that the aesthetic impact of malocclusion significantly affects the quality of life of school
children.
Self Confidence
Self-Confidence is a feeling or belief in your powers and abilities. Those very feelings
and beliefs about an individual can have a clear and direct impact on our outward actions. Agou
(2008) examined the relationship between self esteem and oral health related quality of life. He
found out that the impact of malocclusion on quality of life is substantial in children with low
self esteem. In the oral health related quality of life, self esteem is an important factor.
Students who had received orthodontic treatment had a higher self-confidence than those
who had not undergone treatment. Those students who had great self perceived need for
treatment were those who demonstrated a greater negative self evaluation of their own aesthetics.
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Dissatisfaction with dental appearance is a strong predictor for low self confidence. Students
with low self esteem were those who avoided smiling to hide their teeth, having being teased
about the appearance of their teeth and believed that having straight teeth improved ones
popularity and success in life. (Badran, 2010)
Most patients in this study were not satisfied with their dental appearance with a greater
percentage of females expressing dissatisfaction than males. Unhappiness with tooth color and
feelings of having protruding teeth also had a significant negative influence on patient
satisfaction with general dental appearance. (Tin-Oo, Saddki & Hassan, 2011)
Synthesis
When faced with someone attractive or someone who theyre attracted to, some people
squirm and loss focus. All of a sudden, their self confidence goes down. Individuals tend to
compare themselves to someone who is successful and attractive. Cultural beliefs and
socioeconomic and demographic conditions can affect a persons dental health. A cultural belief
in the Philippines is when a parent has fears of going to the dentist. This fear is passed over to
their offspring. Thus, there is little knowledge on dental health. For the people in the poverty
line, the price of an appointment is the common reason for not seeking dental care.
Aesthetic is an important issue todays society. It is used to define ones character, ability
and worth. People want to look our best to feel better about ourselves. Not everyone is
guaranteed a perfect set of occlusion. General appearance, tooth color and tooth alignment are
the factors which individuals are mostly concerned with the dental aesthetic. Dental aesthetic is
the appearance of ones occlusion, (Marques, 2006). Self Confidence is a feeling or belief in
your powers and abilities. Those very feelings and beliefs about oneself can have a clear and
direct impact on our outward actions. Students with low self esteem avoided smiling to hide their
teeth. Children were teased because of their malocclusion. (Badran, 2010)
Adolescents tend to be strongly concerned about their body image. Thus, plays an
important role in psychological and social adjustment and educational success, (De Paula,
Santos, Da Silva, Nunes, and Leles, 2009). Hence, the aim of this study was compare the effect
of malocclusion, quality of life and self image on the psychosocial impact of dental aesthetics in
a sample of adolescents. Does an individual who underwent treatment have higher self
confidence than an individual who had not had a treatment? Is there a difference between an
individual who had undergone a treatment and who had not? Is the person with treatment more
proud of their teeth than the person who didn't have a treatment? Does the appearance of their
dental occlusion affect their self confidence? Are they conscious with the appearance of their
teeth? Does it matter in their future endeavors?
Method
Research Design
The researcher used a mixed method research design. With this method, the researcher
can focus on real life conceptual understanding, multi-level perspectives and cultural influences.
A mixed method design integrates or combines qualitative and quantitative data to maximize the
strengths and minimizing their weaknesses. According to Creswell (2015), mixed methods
research provides strengths that offset the weaknesses of both qualitative and quantitative
research. The researcher will connect the data by analyzing the dataset (quantitative survey) and
analyzing the data from the qualitative questions.
Participants and Sampling
The researcher targeted 319 male and female Filipino adolescent respondents. The
selected participants were those who have undergone treatments, such as cleaning, dental fillings
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or braces, from their dentist and those who did not. Participants were asked if they have gone to
the dentist.
The sampling method of the research is the purposive sample method. This is a type of
sampling that is characterized as the judgmental sample. It selects based on the knowledge of the
population. The subjects are selected because their characteristics and/or knowledge are
qualified.
Instrument
The material used in the study is the Psychosocial Impact of Dental Aesthetics
Questionnaire (PIDAQ). The Psychosocial Impact of Dental Aesthetics Questionnaire (PIDAQ)
is a tool which gives very valuable information on aspects of the oral health-related quality of
life. This self rating instrument was designed to assess the psychosocial impact of dental
aesthetics in adolescents. The version used in this study contained four items on demographic
information regarding name, age and gender. Twenty-eight items were clustered into five main
groups; groups IIV were based on the four factors of Klages et al. (2006) and group V included
six questions on general beliefs regarding dental aesthetics. Group I focuses on dental self
confidence, group II is about social impact, group III tackles psychological impact and group IV
is aesthetic concerns. Sample questions included: I am proud of my teeth and I am satisfied
with the appearance of my teeth. The questionnaire provided qualitative and quantitative
questions. PIDAQ is a likert scale questionnaire with interview questions.
Procedures
The researcher printed out hard copies of the questionnaire. Then it is distributed to
different groups of students that ranges from 13-19 years old. The questionnaires were given out
to high school and college students. Filipino adolescents around Muntinlupa City were chosen
through purposive sampling. The researcher selected male and female adolescents students in
the schools in Muntinlupa city by using the purposive sampling method. Then, asked them if
they were willing to participate and answer the survey questionnaire. The researcher informed
the target participants if they would participate in a survey. After the participants have approved
the procedures, the scales were given to them and they were instructed to respond to each of the
item as honestly as possible. Then, the researcher double checked the questionnaires that were
given back by the participants. A total of 319 questionnaires came back. Lastly, the researcher
then tallied all the results of the survey and analyzed the data that were gathered through the
whole survey. Participation was voluntary. Respondents were told that they can refuse to finish
answering the survey-questionnaire if they feel like doing so: however, none of them failed to
finish the questionnaires. Confidentiality of the information gathered most especially of their
names was assured to the participants.
Data Analysis
In analyzing the results of the study, the researcher used simple frequency count and
percentages. The collected data for the first part of the questionnaire was analyzed by using
paired sample t test. Paired sample t-test is a statistical technique that is used to compare two
population means in the case of two samples that are correlated. It is a comparison of two
different methods of measurement or two different treatments where the measurements/
treatments are applied to the same subjects. The researcher will also use the IOTN as the
researcher's reference for measuring dental aesthetics. The researcher used the qualitative results
to support and explain the quantitative results. Descriptive statistics was also used to describe the
basic features of the data collected in a study.
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Results
Research Question No. 1: Is there a significant difference in self-confidence between
respondents who underwent dental aesthetic treatment from respondents who did not?
Table 1: frequency of people who didn't had treatments or had treatments
As shown from above, 59.52% of the respondents undergone treatments in regards with
their dental health. The 40.48% had not gone to a dentist for any kind of treatment to fix or
improve their dental aesthetic.
For the results for Group I: Dental Aesthetics, the P-value of all questions are greater than
the alpha (P>.05). I conclude that the null hypothesis is accepted. There is a statistically
significantly difference to show that answers of individuals who had undergone treatment are
different.
Research Question No. 2: Does the appearance of their dental occlusion affect their selfconfidence?
Patients Belief
Another part of the questionnaire, the respondents were asked qualitative questions. This
special part of the questionnaire asked the respondents who have had treatments what they felt or
opinion after the treatment. Patients belief is a part of the questionnaire that asked the
respondents their opinion whether the appearance of the teeth have a significant effect on general
appearance. The first question asked if the treatment affected their life in any way. The treatment
they underwent greatly affected their life. They think now they look more presentable. Some had
said that having braces made them more confident as a person. The treatment boosted their
confidence and self esteem. While those who were undergoing their treatment said that with
every visit to the dentist, they get better and better in terms of self confidence. There are those
who are excited for the finished outcome of their treatment. Others said that they improvements
occurred like eating better and smiling better. However, there are others who are more
comfortable with speaking and less conscious and insecure. Some respondents became more
sociable and got a lot of good compliments.
While others were happy with the results, it is not the same with the rest. One respondent
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said that it didn't affect his life. Some they found it hard to eat while going through the treatment.
Another one said that it was costly. While another one said that it hurt so much that they claims
that it gave a trauma.
The second question was how they feel about having dental treatment done. Majority of
the respondents were happy after they underwent with whatever treatment they underwent. Many
were relieved, satisfied and happy. A lot felt more confident, comfortable, clean and good.
However, some got hassled with the treatment because it was painful.
Research Question No. 3: Are they conscious with the appearance of their teeth?
General Appearance
The third question a lot had answered that it does have a significant effect on general
appearance. One has answered that he believes that teeth can highly affect a persons appearance
and having nice teeth can boost your appearance. Another answered that yes because it shows
how you care about your mouth hygiene. It promotes that you are neat and clean and that you
take care of yourself. Another said that being confident in smiling is a good way to pass
positivity. Also, people tend to have more confidence if they have straight and beautiful teeth.
They smile often or even always. They are not afraid to show off their beautiful smile. One
believes that having beautiful teeth is a sign of a person having good hygiene. It makes you look
more presentable and self caring and conscious. Whether you have a good set of teeth may affect
the persons confidence. It contributes to the general appearance of a person because it can be
considered to be one of the great assets of a person. Another answered that even though it isn't
obvious; they think that it has this subconscious effect.
They are those who said that it does not promote dental health. Some had answered that it
is not significant. Imperfections are not something to be ashamed but with society today, we are
judged by appearance. While some had answered no, they still believe that somehow it is still
significant.
Dental Health
The fourth question is if it can promote dental health. A lot had answered that it is a
peg for how people take care of themselves. It shows that your teeth are healthy and you have
well maintained oral hygiene. One answered that it can make other people conscious of what
their teeth looks like and therefore making people feel like they also need to take care of their
own teeth.
Research Question No. 4: Does it matter in their future endeavors?
Career
The fifth question is if it can promote career. While a lot have answered yes, not all have
supported their answers. A good number of respondents answered that they gained confidence
with the straight and beautiful teeth. Yes, especially if you are a tourism student. It promotes
good and proper appearance. It can attract attention if you have a beautiful smile. It can reflect
on your hygiene and self grooming which can influence a job application or how your boss or
colleagues view your health keeping habits. Since appearance is what they see first, it does affect
the promotion of social success. Another participant answered with they are just being realistic
and because employers opt for general appearance when it comes to accepting employees. It is
very important when you aim for the entertainment industry. It makes you presentable which
makes you worthy of a good career and presentable.
They are those who answered that it does not because the main focus of a career
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excluding modeling is skill and that does not correlate with teeth appearance. Our teeth do not
define who we become in our chosen career. Your career is determined by your work ethics
performance and your hard work. Unless the people who hire you are judgmental, then it matters.
One answered that you need skill not beauty, but you need to look decent. A good personality is
what matters. Having intelligence and presentation can promote your career.
Social success
The sixth question is it can promote social success. You can socialize better if you have
confidence in your smile. Having straight and beautiful teeth, you can freely show your smile to
others without bothering what they might think. One answered yes because that is how our
society sees it these days but when is appearance not going to matter. It can bring you higher
poise than others while you are speaking. It creates a better appearance which can possibly boost
someones social success. It makes people look somewhat attractive despite their discrepancy. A
participant answers that unfortunately yes, it is in human nature to judge others based on their
appearance. A better appearance can always be beneficial in any situation.
Others have answered that it does not and it depends on the confidence of the person.
Whats important is the personality of a person. It is your confidence and attitude skills that are
important. As long as you are confident and have a pleasing charming personality is equal to
public relations skills. Its how you work and it depends upon your skills and determination in
socializing and general appearance does not help completely at all.
Conclusion and Recommendation
Dental aesthetics has an effect on people's confidence. People will say that beauty is in
the eye of the beholder or looks doesnt matter. However, whatever people will say, looks affect
a person subconsciously. Knowing that you look good or presentable puts a person at ease. It
lessens the stress of how a person will conduct themselves. Those who had undergone
orthodontic treatment had a higher self confidence than those who had not undergone treatment.
There is a statistically significantly difference to show that answers of individuals who had
undergone treatment are different.
As the study was completed, it has come to the interest of the researcher that it would be
better if the questionnaire is translated into Tagalog. Like other studies, PIDAQ is translated into
their language to test their reliability and validity.
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Zacharias (2013) argued students often complained of teacher's positive feedback of generally
and mostly in contradictory to student ideas.
Self-Regulation
Kelley, Wagner & Heatherton (2015) stated that self-regulation permits people to control
their thoughts, behaviors, emotions and desires, and it also includes a balance between the
strength of an impulse and an individual's ability to restrain the desired behavior. When learning
becomes self-regulated, the more students take control over their learning and the less dependent
on external support when they are assigned in regulatory activities (Zimmerman & Schunk,
2008). Baumeister, Gailliot, DeWall & Oaten (2006) said that regular exercises of selfregulation can make huge improvements that will make people less vulnerable. Elliot (2006)
stated that approach motivation is a part of self-regulation and energization of behavior. The
study of Hagger, Wood, Stiff & Chatzisarantis (2010) found that self-regulation is an important
element of psychosocial theories of exercise behavior and lack of self-regulatory skills are
related to low adherence to health-related exercise while presenting a strength-energy model of
self-control as an explanation of self-regulation in exercise, further said that it also provides
original research and aimed at understanding exercise behavior while helping develop
recommendations for exercise.
Synthesis
Most of the self-regulation and positive feedback studies are school and student related.
The articles showed that positive feedback was always involved when it comes to school-related
activities. Self-regulation helps people to improve skills and abilities and reach their goals
(Baumeister et al, 2006; Zimmerman & Schunk 2008; Hagger et al, 2010). Positive feedback is
commonly used for generalization of people (Zacharias, 2013), but most say that positive
feedback really improves an individual's performance (Gibbs & Simpson 2004; Badger et al,
2006; Schelfhout et al, 2004; Mahony & Poulos 2008; Zhao 2010).
The current study inquires on knowing the following: What is the control group and
experimental group's level of self-regulation in terms of the pretest and posttest results? What is
the difference between the control group and experimental groups level of self-regulation in
terms of their pretest and posttest results? What is the effect of positive feedback on the level of
self-regulation of the experimental group?
Method
Research Design
The researcher used a quantitative two-group quasi-experimental design. It was used to
test an experimental factor which is the positive feedback that is subjected to be given as
treatment with a factor which is self-regulation that is kept constant and it is a series of actions
and carefully observed results to learn about that certain goal; both groups were pretested and
post tested, the only difference was that one group was administered with a treatment (Heffner,
2015). It suited the topic because it helped discovered that the two groups were different after the
agenda of the researcher.
Participants and Sampling
The subjects of the study were selected on the basis of some criterion: who have a low
level of self-regulation and do not engage much in exercising with 30 participants were all
maritime transportation college students on the same school, in which they are recognized in the
Status of Maritime Higher Education Institutions for SY 2015-2016 located in Las Pias City
chosen by the use of purposive sampling which consists of 15 male and 15 female with ages
ranging from 17-19 years old.
17
Instruments
The study used the Exercise Self-Regulation Questionnaire (ESRQ) developed by Deci &
Ryan (2004). The ESRQ is a Likert type which accommodated of 16 scaled items. Research has
established that the measure had the respondents ability to self-regulate their learning
environments and the questions about why students do various physical related behaviors. Its
validity had established the other aspects related to the ESRQ (self-evaluation, task strategies,
help seeking, time management, goal setting and environment structuring). Scoring states
negative numbers reflected that an individual is extrinsically motivated for change: (e.g. External
Regulation = -2, Introjected Regulation = -1) while the positive numbers reflected that intrinsic
motivation is primarily involved in an individuals behavior: (e.g. Identified Regulation = 1,
Intrinsic Regulation = 2). The average Cronbachs alpha for those who are extrinsically
motivated for change is = .79. The average Cronbachs alpha for the intrinsically motivated in
behavior is = .90. The ESRQ Scoring: Extrinsically motivated = -8.5, thus the mean is
calculated low in level of self-regulation if the score range is high and it is calculated high in
level of self-regulation if the score range is low. Intrinsically motivated = 11.3, thus the mean is
calculated high in level of self-regulation if the score range is high and it is calculated low in
level of self-regulation if the score range is low.
Procedures
I. Pretest
First, the researcher made sure that the room was adequate for the experiment and the
Exercise Self-Regulation Questionnaire was distributed to 60 subjects from different sections.
The subjects answered The Exercise Self-Regulation Questionnaire. Then, the researcher
instructed the 60 subjects that they can use their first name or alias on the questionnaire. After
finishing the test, the researcher collected the questionnaires to know who among the subjects
were qualified to participate in the research. All of the 30 qualified and selected subjects were
given instructions and assigned whether they will be on the control group or experimental group.
Lastly, the researcher oriented and assured that the subjects were willing to do the experiment.
II. Experiment Procedure
Engagement in exercise without positive feedback
First, the researcher instructed the 15 participants that they can use their first name and/or
alias on the questionnaire. The subjects were instructed to add the researcher on their Facebook
accounts & for assurance the researcher provided a piece of paper to where the subjects wrote
their Facebook accounts and can only be unfriended when the researcher instructed that the
subjects can do it. Then, the researcher taught the subjects personally an arm & leg stretching
techniques to avoid muscle pains and also the proper exercises which were given 13mins. & 30
secs. to try and do the 3 simple exercises which were jumping jacks, lunges (left & right, 30 secs.
each), and squats. When the subjects got the proper exercise and were told to stop, the subjects
were instructed that the exercise should be performed 1 min. per exercise with a 30-second break
interval on each shift of exercise and it had to be 3 sets for their remaining 7 days to do it.
Thereafter, the researcher instructed the subjects about the follow-up through Facebook for the
remaining 7 days regarding their exercise. After giving the last instructions, the researcher would
be thankful for the participation of the subjects.
Engagement in exercise with positive feedback
First, the researcher instructed the 15 subjects that they can use their first name and/or
alias on the questionnaire. The subjects were instructed to add the researcher to their Facebook
18
accounts & for assurance the researcher provided a piece of paper to where the subjects wrote
their Facebook accounts and can only be unfriended when the researcher instructed that the
subjects can do it. Then, the researcher taught the subjects personally an arm & leg stretching
techniques to avoid muscle pains and also the proper exercises which were given 13mins. & 30
secs. to try and do the 3 simple exercises which were jumping jacks, lunges (left & right, 30 secs.
each), and squats. When the subjects got the proper exercise, the researcher gave positive
feedbacks on the group and was told to stop, the subjects were instructed that the exercise should
be performed 1 min. per exercise with a 30-second break interval on each shift of exercise and it
had to be 3 sets for their remaining 7 days to do it. Thereafter, the researcher instructed the
subjects about the follow-up through Facebook for the remaining 7 days regarding their exercise.
After giving the last instructions, the researcher would be thankful for the participation of the
subjects.
III. Posttest
First, the researcher met with the 15 subjects of the experimental group and went with the
same procedure with an intervention for all of the subjects. After performing the exercises, the
researcher gave the last positive feedback that the subjects will receive and gave The Exercise
Self-Regulatory Questionnaires in which they answered the questionnaires. All the answered
questionnaires by the subjects were collected and they were instructed to unfriend the researcher
to have privacy again. Then, the researcher met with the 15 subjects of the control group and
went with the same procedure. After performing the exercises, the researcher gave the Exercise
Self-Regulatory Questionnaires in which they answered the questionnaires. Thereafter, the
researcher collected the answered questionnaires by the subjects and the subjects were instructed
to unfriend the researcher to have their privacy again. After the last procedure on both groups,
the researcher gathered all the 30 subjects & thanked the subjects for participating and gave
snacks to show the researcher's appreciation.
Statistical Analysis
The data gathered were analyzed using Mean, Relative Autonomy Index (RAI) and
Independent T-test. Mean was used in calculating the subjects level of self-regulation style
where it shows what kind is an individual's dominant at (engagement in exercise without positive
feedback and engagement in exercise with positive feedback) by averaging the responses to each
of the subscale item and compared the difference between the results. Relative Autonomy Index
(RAI) was used for the analyses of scores by calculating the individual's subscale scores.
Independent T-test was used to compare means between two groups where there is a significant
difference between the control and experimental groups level of self-regulation in terms of their
pretest and posttest results. Dependent T-test was used to know if positive feedback has
significant effect on the control and experimental groups level of self-regulation.
19
Results/Discussion
This section shows the data results, interpretation and discussion of the findings.
What is the control group and experimental group's level of self-regulation in terms of the
pretest and posttest results?
Table 1 shows the control group's pretest results with a mean score of x = -8.59, and a
standard deviation of SD = 0.28 and the experimental group's pretest results with a mean score of
x = -8.62, and a standard deviation of SD = 0.26. These pretest results indicate low level of selfregulation of the two groups, implying that in the context of exercising, the two groups are
comparable. These posttest results reveal a mean score of x = -8.28, and a standard deviation of
SD = 1.51, for the control group, and a mean score of x = 6.46, and a standard deviation of SD =
1.23 for the experimental group.
These pretest results of both groups is explained by the results of the study of Hagger et
al (2010) self-regulation in exercise behavior that lack of self-regulatory skills are connected
with low adherence to health-related exercise. These posttest results of the two groups show that
the treatment, which is the positive feedback is effective. When learning becomes self-regulated,
more students take control over their learning and the less dependent on external support when
they are assigned to engage in regulatory activities (Zimmerman & Schunk, 2004).
What is the difference between the control group and experimental group's level of selfregulation in terms of the pretest and posttest results?
Table 2 shows the control group and experimental groups results with a mean difference
of x = .026, and a p-value of 0.396, which is not significant at 0.05 at level of significance. These
results indicate that the two groups are homogenous and are therefore comparable. On the other
hand, the posttest results reveal a mean difference of x = 14, and a p-value of .000, which is
significant at 0.05 at level of significance for the control and experimental group. These results
indicate that there was a difference between the two groups after giving the treatment which is
positive feedback.
After giving the intervention in form of positive feedback, the comparison between the
means showed a significant difference, suggesting that, the intervention indeed has an effect on
20
the participants level of self-regulation. Baumeister et al (2006) were correct in saying that
regular exercises of self-regulation can greatly make improvements by making people less
vulnerable. These posttest results of control and experimental group was supported by the results
of the study conducted by Gibbs & Simpson (2004) which showed that if students receive
positive feedback often and regularly, it will enable better monitoring and self regulation of the
student progress.
What is the effect of positive feedback on the level of self-regulation of the experimental
group?
Table 3 shows the control group's pretest and posttest results with a mean difference of x
= .313, and implies that the group who didnt receive any treatment which is the positive
feedback has no significant effects on the control groups self-regulation. Furthermore, the table
3 also shows the experimental group's pretest and posttest results with a mean difference of x =
.000, and implies that positive feedback has a significant effect on the experimental groups selfregulation.
Deliberating that the control group's self-regulation is still low in the posttest results
while after giving the experimental group a treatment, their level of self-regulation increased,
gaining a p-value of 0.000, which is significant at 0.05 (even at 0.01). These significant results
indicate that positive feedback has an effect on the experimental groups level of self-regulation.
Positive feedback enables better monitoring and self-regulation (Gibbs and Simpson, 2004).
Discussion
As what is previously stated, the two groups were homogenous in terms of the pretest
results, making them worthy of comparing. The control group and experimental groups selfregulation were both low in terms of their pretest and posttest results. It proved the study of Zhao
(2010) that the learners used more teacher than peer feedback. Due to the knowledge of the
subjects that the researcher was older, the intervention which is positive feedback gave more
wake or effect on the subjects performance. Positive feedback improves not only the learning
but also teaching and facilitating between schools and universities (Poulos & Mahony, 2008).
Both the control and experimental groups pretest showed that it is in the level of low in
self-regulation while in the posttest, the control groups level of self-regulation is still in the level
of low in level of self-regulation and after giving the experimental group a treatment which is
positive feedback, it showed that the level of self-regulation from low became high.
Conclusion and Recommendation
Positive feedback is one of the great sources for individuals who are doing a lot of task
that needs to be done properly. It is also a great source of improving one's focus on the given
task and it helps the one who's responsible for the task to give more time on doing his or her
work appropriately. Positive feedback is really helpful information to an individual who wants to
improve the performance level or quality of his/her own work.
The participants of the experimental group who were given positive feedback improved
21
their self-regulation and achieved a high level of it compared to the participants of the control
group who were not given self-regulation did not improved so they achieved a low body image
level only. The control and experimental group showed a significant difference after giving the
treatment. The use of positive feedback to improve the self-regulation of an individual is
effective.
The researcher recommends that if the young adults have low in level of self-regulation,
there should be at least one self-regulation they may have without them actually aware of like in
the way of how they handle their academics, right time on eating, and if there are other situations
they are focused on.
Positive feedback can improve an individual's performance because it would help them to
strive for more and reach the goal that they needed to achieve. This is a great way to improve an
individual's abilities by delivering positive feedback to an individual to increase the performance
and quality of work. Receiving a positive feedback also improves an individual's self-regulation,
and self-regulation is a huge help for an individual's achievements to be easier in the future.
Future researchers should find more participants for the study and if the future
researchers want to be careful, the laboratory is the proper setting to conduct the study to avoid
extraneous variables. It is also a must to make sure that the young adults should not be taking
physical education classes or simply not doing any exercise at all.
References:
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Increase Regulatory Success, and How Depletion Moderates the Effects of Traits on
Behavior. In Journal of Personality. 74(6), 1,773-1,082
Deci, E. L. & Ryan, R. M. (2004). The Exercise Self-Regulation Questionnaire. ESRQ.
Elliot, A. (2006). The Hierarchical Model of Approach-Avoidance Motivation. Motivation and
Emotion, 30(2), 111-116
Gibbs, G. & Simpson, C. (2004). Conditions Under Which Assessment Supports Students
Learning. Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, 3(1), 3-31
Hagger, M., Wood, C., et al (2010). Self-Regulation and Self-Control in Exercise: The
Strength-Energy Model. International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 3(1),
Heffner, C. (2015). Quasi-Experimental Design. Retrieved from http://allpsych.com/research
methods/quasi-experimental design/
Marques, De Gucht, Leal & Maes (2014). Effects of a Self-Regulation Based Physical Activity
Program (The "4-STEPS") for Unexplained Chronic Fatigue: A Randomized Control
Trial. International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 22, 187-196
Muraven et al (2006). Self-Regulation and Depletion of Limited Resources: Does Self-Control
Resemble a Muscle?. Psychological Bulletin, 123(2), 247-259
Poulos, A., & Mahony, M. J. (2008). Effectiveness of Feedback: The Students Perspective.
Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 33(2), 143-15
Schelfhout, W., Dochy, F., et al (2004). The Use of Self, Peer and Teacher Assessment as a
Feedback System in a Learning Environment Aimed at Fostering Skills of Cooperation in
an Entrepreneurial Context. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 29(2),
Sirois, F. (2015). A Self-Regulation Resource Model of Self-Compassion and Health Behavior
Intentions in Emerging Adults. Preventive Medicine Reports, 2, 218-222
Quasi. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved August 09, 2015, from Dictionary.com
website: http://dictionary.reference.cin/browse/quasi
Zacharias, N. T. (2013). Teacher and Student Attitude Toward Teacher Feedback. RELC Journal
A Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 38(1), 38-52
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Zhao, H. (2010). Investigating Learners Use and Understanding of Peer and Teacher Feedback
on Writing: A Comparative Study in a Chinese English Writing Classroom. Assessing
Writing, 15(1), 3-17
Zimmerman, B. & Schunk, D. (2008). Self-Regulating Intellectual Process and Outcomes: A
Social Cognitive Perspective. Motivation, Emotion, and Cognition. Integrative
Perspectives on Intellectual Functioning and Development, 22(3), 323-349
23
of one nineteen-year-old man, his obsession with taking the perfect self-portrait resulted in his
snapping two hundred photographs of himself every day in its quest. When his perception of
perfection was found unattainable, he was driven to attempt suicide. Many have different views
about this phenomenon which makes it a very interesting topic to tackle.
Several studies have examined the association between the usage of social networking
sites and narcissism. "Narcissism refers to a personality trait reflecting a grandiose and inflated
self-concept" (Buffardi and Campbell, 2008).
Because of the novelty of the selfie very few studies have been made regarding its
influence on individuals. But because of its abrupt popularization many people gave out their
speculation about the said trend. Many writers, psychologist, and bloggers gave out point of
views about what they believe can be the impact of taking and posting of selfies.
Narcissism
In 2008, Buffardi & Campbell examined how narcissism is manifested on a social
networking site. They collected narcissistic personality self-reports from 156 undergraduate
Facebook users. The Web pages of the users were coded for both objective and subjective
content features. Strangers view the web pages and rate their impression of the owner on agentic
traits, communal traits, and narcissism. The results show that in terms of objective criteria on the
Web page, narcissism is related to a measure of Website activity derived from the number of
friends and the number of wall posts (i.e.,messages) posted between friends. However, it was
also found that narcissism is not related to the length of self-description on the Web page. In
terms of the RA coder ratings of Web page written content, narcissism is positively but only
marginally related to self-promoting information about the self and quotes and negatively related
to entertaining quotes. Finally, mediational analyses revealed several Web page content features
that were influential in raters narcissistic impressions of the owners, including quantity of social
interaction, main photo self-promotion, and main photo attractiveness. Implications of the
expression of narcissism in social networking communities are also discussed.
Similarly, Mehdizadeh (2010), also made research examining how narcissism and selfesteem are manifested on the social networking Web site Facebook.com. Self-esteem and
narcissistic personality self-reports were collected from 100 Facebook users at York University.
Participant Web pages were also coded based on self-promotional content features. Correlation
analyses revealed that individuals higher in narcissism and lower in self-esteem were related to
greater online activity as well as some self-promotional content. Gender differences were found
to influence the type of self-promotional content presented by individual Facebook users.
Huling (2011) did a research examining the relationship between online self-disclosure,
grandiose narcissism, vulnerable narcissism, Facebook use, and frequency of status updates in
existing self-report measures among respondents of 381 college students. Positive correlations
were found between vulnerable narcissism and Facebook status updates and also in Facebook
use and online self-disclosure. But no correlations were found between grandiose narcissism and
Facebook status updates; self-disclosure; and vulnerable narcissism and self-disclosure. It was
also found that on Facebook college women did not score higher in self-disclosure than men.
Additional testing also found a correlation between vulnerable narcissism and Facebook use.
Based on the findings the research it did not yield all the expected results. Out of the five
hypotheses, three of the hypothesis results were not significant, one hypothesis found the
opposite of the predicted correlation direction to be true, with only one resulting in a correlation
in the predicted direction. Results were said to be impacted due to the low reliability of the
instrument since supportive hypotheses results may be suspect due to low reliability. Therefore, a
more valid instrument for vulnerable narcissism should be used when measuring the correlations
between narcissisms, Facebook use and self-disclosure. Results were negatively affected by the
25
established grandiose narcissism scale failing reliability testing, thus it was suggested that in the
future, the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI) should be used.
McKinney, Kelly, & Duran (2012) made a study that viewed social networking sites as a
tool for communication and maintaining relationships, examining whether providing information
about oneself reflects positive attitude about sharing such information with one's social network,
rather than reflecting narcissism. A questionnaire was completed by 233 undergraduate students.
Results indicate that attitude toward being open about sharing information about oneself was
significantly related to frequency of using Facebook and twitter to provide self-focused updates.
Higher levels of narcissism were associated with a larger number of Facebook friends and with
the number of self-focused "tweets" an individual sends.
Recently, Alloway, Runac, Qureshi, and Kemp (2014) made a study investigating the
relationship among the following in adults: use of a highly popular social networking site
Facebook, empathy, and narcissism. The findings indicated that some Facebook activities, such
as chatting, were linked to aspects of empathic concern, such as higher levels of Perspective
taking in males. The Photo feature in Facebook was also linked to better ability to place
themselves in fictional situations. For only the females, viewing videos was associated with the
extent to which they could identify with someones distress. The data also indicated that certain
aspects of Facebook use, such as the photo feature, were linked to narcissism. However, the
overall pattern of findings suggests that social media is primarily a tool for staying connected,
than for self-promotion.
Selfie
Taslim and Rezwan (2013) made a study that analyses selfie and its relationship with an
individual's identity and existence in cyber reality. Another goal of their study is to conceptualize
the extreme representation of the self as well as the detached of the self and body through selfie.
Their paper, a qualitative and slightly quantitative research, studied every point critically with
theoretical justification. One description of selfie that they made is that Selfie is usually a closeup headshot in a tight framing. Some selfie captures ones head and at least a fraction of the
upper part of his/her body. Some selfies are even taken with covering the whole body or a part of
body to show a new clothing, or newly modified/decorated organ (six pack, bosom, nails, hairs,
legs etc.) or clothing/ornaments. Exposing these particular things/organs is an attempt to create
an image to the others; an image which can become an expression of self to the others. One
purpose of selfie mentioned in the study is Selfie is an attempt to replicating and appropriating
own image for the others which powerfully allow the subject (or the author) consciously or
unconsciously to control / manipulate / improvise / create / operate the discourse. What could
be a bigger way for a narcissist to celebrate and express their self than this?
Nguyen (2014) made a study exploring how female users identify the act of uploading
selfies as an expression of external affirmation or as an act of empowerment in terms of
redefining beauty standards that are reinforced in society. It also attempted to provide a
foundation for understanding the selfie phenomenon and its relationship of self-worth in young
women from the usage of Instagram. Nguyen utilized qualitative research method using
interview questions which were open-ended and structured. The sample consisted of eleven
participants. It is shown in the results of this study that the usage of Instagram to share selfies has
a minimal impact on their perceived sense of self-worth. Participants demonstrated strong
capability to develop a more in-depth understanding of self-awareness and what makes life
meaningful for them. Nguyen mentioned in the study that the results cannot be generalized for
everyone as the sample for the study is only a small portion of the population and does not fully
represent all women who might use Instagram on a daily basis and have a higher number of
selfies shared to their online network. The study merely provides a jumping off point for the
26
topic of selfies, more research should be done about selfies on a global level as it is relevant to
all individuals and is a constantly evolving trend that does not seem to slow down anytime soon.
Some recent studies about selfie were made by Williams & Marquez (2015). In their
study they provided a sociological analysis of selfie interpreting them as a social tool that can be
used in producing and consuming racial and gender identities. They used semi-structured
interviews with 40 social media users. Their research found out that women and men engage in
the conspicuous presumption of experiences differently. Moreover, both White women and men
have a noteworthy aversion to selfies, whereas Black and Latino women and men generally
approve of selfies. And, as Williams (2014) initial research originally found, Black and Latino
respondents produce selfies in much higher quantities than White selfie takers. Adding gender
analysis, it was found that Black and Latino women and men may have divergent motivations in
their presumption of selfies and in their acceptance of selfie taking. Concerning race, the initial
study contained a more detailed discussion about selfie presumption as an act of self-defense, but
it also lacks a comparison of respondents answers and their actual posting behaviors.
Synthesis
Our world today is dominated by social media and digital interactive interface which
allows us to imbed a part of ourselves in social networking sites (SNS). Due to technological
innovation the internet has been able to provide us with an easier way to interact with each other
and share information about ourselves through countless ways. In return SNS became the
speculation of study for many researchers.
The different studies in the related literature have shown us the association of narcissism
and SNS usage. The studies made by Buffardi and Campbell (2008), Mehdizadeh (2010),
Huling (2011), McKinney, Kelly, & Duran (2012) all produced similar results stating that there
is an association between narcissism and website activity used specifically the number of friends,
wall posts, and the number of self-focused "tweets" an individual sends. Evidently their research
has not tackled the selfie phenomenon which is todays hottest trend and that is what this
research will try to unravel.
This research aims to find out if there is an association between the selfie behavior and
the narcissism of an individual. The purpose of this study is to analyze the selfie behavior of
individuals and to see if it has an association with narcissistic behavior. Since most research only
tackles on narcissism and social networking sites usage the researcher wishes to concentrate
specifically on selfie behavior and narcissism. The study examines the following research
problems: first, what is the level of selfie behavior among respondents? Second, what is the
narcissism measured among respondents? Third, is there a significant relationship between the
level of selfie behavior and the narcissism measured among the respondents?
Method
Research Design
Descriptive correlational research was used in this study. The researcher measured the
selfie behavior of the respondents then was correlated to narcissism, for supporting data the
researcher also monitored the selfie activity of the respondents (number of posted selfies). The
result of the correlation will describe the relationship of both variables.
Participants
The sampling procedure used was Purposive Sampling. There were 100 females across
Facebook and Instagram ages 12-24 years old who qualified for the research. Participants had a
habit of uploading about 70 selfie photos per week which was not necessarily done with one
27
social networking account and have spent at least 8 hours using social networking sites.
Research Instruments
The Narcissistic Personality Inventory was used to measure narcissism of the
respondents. The NPI was developed by Raskin and Hall (1979) for the measurement of
narcissism as a personality trait in social psychological research. It is based on the definition of
narcissistic personality disorder found in the DSM-III, but is not a diagnostic tool for NPD and
instead measures subclinical or normal expressions of narcissism. Because the NPI was
originally based on DSM criteria for NPD, there has been much research on its factor structure.
The test consists of forty pairs of statements. Cronbach's alpha for the NPI is .83 which renders
high internal consistency.
The NPI measures narcissism as a continuous variable and there is no specific cut off
score for which a person would be considered a clinical narcissist (Foster & Campbell, 2007).
According to Raskin & Hall (1979), Raskin & Terry (1988), NPI-40 scores of 11 to 15 is
generally found in normal population. NPI-40 Scores found in between 16 and 20 are said to be
borderline. Those respondents who have NPI-40 score in excess of 20 are considered to be
having a highly Narcissistic Personality.
The NPI is 40-item scale, each item is composed of 2 statements in which the test taker
will have to choose which among the 2 statements they can identify themselves the most. The
following responses are considered to be narcissistic: 1a, 2a, 3a, 4b, 5b, 6a, 7b, 8a, 9b, 10b, 11a,
12a, 13a, 14a, 15b, 16a, 17b, 18b, 19b, 20b, 21a, 22b, 23b, 24a, 25a, 26a, 27a, 28b, 29a, 30a,
31a, 32b, 33a, 34a, 35b, 36a, 37a, 38a, 39a, 40b. Each narcissistic response is worth one point.
The total NPI score is the sum of narcissistic responses.
A survey questionnaire was used to determine the participants. The questionnaire is selfmade by the researcher which consists of demographic questions. The Selfie Survey was used to
measure the selfie behavior of the respondents. The selfie survey was designed by Pinatacan
(2015), to measure selfie behavior it consists of 20 items supported by closed-ended questions
answerable by Yes or No. The researcher also observed the profiles or social media accounts
of the respondents and kept a record of the selfie activity (number of selfies uploaded) of all
respondents. The Level Category for Selfie behavior is as follows: The Scores that range from 17
- 20 is Above Average; 13 - 16 is High Average; 9 12 is Average; 5 8 is Low Average; and 0
4 is Below Average.
Procedures
The sampling procedure used is Non-probability sampling specifically Purposive
Sampling. Respondents were selected based from the criteria that they are uploading photos not
necessarily on a daily basis but are uploading about 70 photos per week.
First, the researcher, used social networking sites to search for users who uploaded about
70 selfie photos per week. The photos uploaded were quantified by the combined number of
photos uploaded on Facebook and Instagram. The idea of quantifying it on a daily basis is not a
reliable process because there may be days that they will not open their Facebook or their
Instagram account.
Second, the researcher established a rapport by disclosing the fact that the researcher is
currently doing a research and is in need of respondents then they were asked for their consent if
they are willing to participate in it.
Third, those who are confirmed to be uploading about 70 photos per week and have
agreed to take part in the research were given the participant selfie information sheet. Those who
answered yes to all questions are the only ones chosen as a respondent.
Fourth, the respondents were given Selfie Scale and Narcissistic Personality Inventory
28
AGE
PERCENTAGE
12 - 13
5%
14 - 15
13
13%
16 - 17
27
27%
18 - 19
27
27%
20 - 21
21
21%
22 - 23
6%
24 - 25
1%
TOTAL
100
100%
Table 1 shows the frequency and percentage distribution of respondents and their
corresponding ages. These were the respondents that qualified for the study. As shown in the
table majority of the respondents range from the age 16 21 years old.
Results/Discussion
Table 2. Frequency Interval table for Selfie scale
SCORES
LEVEL
PERCENTAGE
17 20
Above Average
39
39%
13 16
High Average
33
33%
9 12
Average
25
25%
58
Low Average
3%
04
Below Average
0%
Table 2 shows the scores of the respondents on the selfie scale. As shown on the Table,
39 % of respondents scored 17 - 20 which is on the level of above average. About 33% scored 13
- 16 which is high average. 25% of the respondents scored on the average, only 3% scored on the
29
low average, and no respondents scored on below average. These findings suggests that majority
of the respondents have scored above the normal/average which basically mean that the sample
have high selfie behavior.
Table 3. Frequency Interval Table for Narcissistic Personality Inventory
SCORES
NARCISSISM
PERCENTAGE
20 Above
High
18
18%
16 20
Borderline
32
32%
11 15
Normal
40
40%
0 10
Low
10
10%
Table 3 shows the scores on the narcissistic personality inventory. Evident in table 3 that
18% of the respondents scored over 20 which means high narcissistic personality, 32% scored
from 16 - 20 which is said to be borderline, 40% scored from 11 - 15 which is in the range of
normal, and 10% of the sample scored from 0 - 10.
Research Question 1: What is the level of selfie behavior among respondents?
Research Question 2: What is the narcissism measured among respondents?
SCALE
LEVEL
Selfie Behavior
15.01
High Average
16.04
Borderline
Research Question 3: Is there a significant relationship between the level of selfie behavior
and the narcissism measured among the respondents?
Results clearly show that there is a positive correlation between the 2 variables, to justify
this the researcher used Pearson correlation coefficient and it was found out that there was a
positive correlation between the selfie scores (M = 15.01, SD = 3.43) and NPI scores (M =
16.04, SD = 4.27) , r = 0.84, P-Value < .00001, n = 100 significant at p < 0.01. The value of r
which is 0.84 suggests a strong positive correlation between the variables.
The mean score of the respondents Selfie behavior is 15.01 which denotes that the selfie
behavior of this sample is on the high average level. This suggests a high selfie activity meaning
that most of the respondents post selfies frequently. In the measurement of the narcissism of
the respondents the mean score in the NPI is 16.04 which are under borderline narcissism.
The result of the Pearson r which is .84 suggests a strong positive correlation indicating
that there is a definite relationship between the variables. This means that there is a positive
relationship between the level of selfie behavior and the measured narcissism, in which as one
variable increase the other variable has the tendency to also increase. Based on the scatter plot it
30
can be described that there is a positive linear relationship between the 2 variables.
The findings in this study are somewhat consistent with the other studies mentioned in
the related literatures although with some apparent distinctions. It was evident in the study by
Buffardi and Campbell that narcissism is related to website activity which was derived from
quantity of friends and wall posts, they also found that narcissism is positively but only
marginally related to self-promoting information about the self. This is also the case in the study
of Mehdizadeh (2010) where results show that Correlation analyses revealed that individuals
higher in narcissism and lower in self-esteem were related to greater online activity as well as
some self-promotional content.
In the study of Huling (2011) it was shown that positive correlations were found between
vulnerable narcissism and Facebook status updates and also in Facebook use and online selfdisclosure. McKinney et al., (2012) found that higher levels of narcissism were associated with a
larger number of Facebook friends and with the number of self-focused "tweets" an individual
sends. Also, the data in the study of Alloway et al., (2014) indicates that certain aspects of
Facebook use, such as the photo feature, were linked to narcissism.
To summarize, all these studies denotes that there is a strong correlation between
narcissism and the following variables: social networking website/online activity (specifically
number of friends and wall posts) and self-promoting information (status updates and selffocused tweets). Selfie in particular is a website activity as justified by its oxford definition and
an act of self-promotion as described by Taslim and Rezwan (2013) in their study stating that
"Some selfies are even taken with covering the whole body or a part of body to show a new
clothing, or newly modified/decorated organ or clothing/ornaments. Exposing these particular
things/organs is an attempt to create an image to the others; an image which can become an
expression of self to the others. The apparent distinction between this study and those of the
past is, previous studies focuses on the association of narcissism and social networking sites,
which then doesn't include selfie yet. So this study aims to focus primarily on the selfie
phenomenon and its correlation with narcissism.
Conclusion and Recommendation
Based on the results of this study, the following conclusions were made. There is a
positive linear correlation between selfie behavior and the narcissism among females. The
findings of this research can provide information regarding the selfie phenomenon. It can also
backup the results of the previous studies mentioned in the review of related literature, which
states the association of Online/Website Activity and Narcissism.
Since the research method used was correlation analysis no data about causality can be
given. It is not stated that selfie behavior or activity is what causes the narcissism among the
female respondents or vice-versa. But given the results of this research we can conclude that
there is an explicit link or a relationship between these variables. Further research is necessary in
order to fully comprehend both these variables.
The researcher recommends future studies to look more into the concepts of selfie and
narcissism. Other researchers also should attempt additional understanding of these variables,
use different research designs and use different instruments in collecting results. The results of
this research should not be generalized among the world population of females since only
Filipinas comprises the respondents. It is recommendable that future studies gather more
participants and include male in their study since this one only focused primarily on females.
31
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33
Kim & Lee 2012). Counseling is considered as one of the professions with high levels of
emotional engagement (Cho, Kissinger, Lee & Ogle, 2010) and several researches (Briet,
Brouwers, & Naring, 2006) have reported that high levels of emotional engagement are directly
related to high levels of burnout symptoms. For counselors, burnout means the failure to perform
clinical tasks appropriately because of personal discouragement, apathy, and emotional and
physical drain (Lee, Baker, Cho, Heckathorn, Holland, Newgent, & Wallace, 2007). It was also
discovered that guidance counselors/facilitators experienced emotional exhaustion (EE),
depersonalization (DP), and reduced personal achievement (PA) respectively, with extent to
burnout (Dyquiangco & Magac, 2012).
Emotional Exhaustion
Emotional exhaustion is central in burnout syndrome (Kuikka, Nevalainen, Pitkl, &
Torppa, 2015) for it involves depletion of mental energy and resources (Harris, 2015). A study
made by Ausserhofer, De Geest, Dhaini, Kunz, Schwendimann, Simon, & Ziga (2015) found
out that emotional exhaustion (24.2%) were the most frequent self-reported physical and mental
health and that it was associated with increased workload, lack of job preparation, conflict with
other health professionals and lack of recognition and inversely associated with leadership.
Emotional exhaustion is also common among general practitioners and it was associated with
longer working history, having committed a medical error, and feelings of isolation at work
(Kuikka, Nevalainen, Pitkl, & Torppa, 2015).
Depersonalization
A study by Macdonald, Wang & Wei (2015) found that social cynicism was the primary
contributor to depersonalization. Depersonalization transpires when a person attempts to create
emotional distance between themselves and others (Cook, 2015). Clinicians with higher levels of
depersonalization were more likely to report that burnout affects how staff works with
consumers (Firmin, Flanagan, Salyers, & Rollins, 2015). However, with the decrease in the mean
of depersonalization, employee's relationship with coworkers and those receiving services were
reported to improve (Dogonchi, Lael-monfared, Tehrani, & Vahedian-Shahroodi, 2015).
Reduced Personal Achievement
The third component of burnout, which is reduced personal accomplishment, is an
erosion of an individual's sense of effectiveness (Cook, 2015) which happens when a person
feels that his or her performance is not associated with success (Leiter &Maslach, 2005). Studies
show that lower decisional authority, lower coworker support, less frequent difficult patient
interactions but greater discomfort with difficult patient interactions predicted lower personal
accomplishment (Jesse, Abouljoud, Hogan, & Eshelman, 2015). However, a high level of
coordination may not only reduce emotional exhaustion and depersonalization, but it also may
impact the third component of burnout in that it may have a positive impact on the personal
accomplishment of the individual (Yashwant Advani, Jagdale, Kumar Garg, & Kumar, 2005).
Coping Strategies
Counselors spend most of their time learning how to take care of others, with relatively
little attention given to care for the self. Research suggests that self-care strategies including
processing with peers, survivor, spirituality, exercise, spending time with the family (Killian,
2008) and recognition for burnout symptoms are said to be necessary for counselors to
effectively care for their clients, as well as themselves (Black, Frick, Thompson, 2014). Also
addressed specific means of professional and personal sustenance such as maximizing
experiences of professional success and balancing wellness through ones career (Grier, Hanson,
& Skovholt, 2001). In tandem with previous studies, research indicates that counselor burnout
may be related to two types of resources: internal resources as well as external resources.
Regarding internal factors, various types of counselors psychological resources can be
considered such as self-awareness, stress coping skill, and cognitive emotion regulation can help
35
prevent counselor burnout (Park & Joo, 2012; Yoon & Chung, 2009) while external factors such
as environmental or organizational resources also have relevance in buffering counselors
burnout. A study by Lee, Lee, Loc & Wallace (2010) indicated that self-distraction and behavior
disengagement coping strategies mediated the relationships between 3 job stress variables
(workload, role conflict, and job ambiguity) and burnout. Although venting and humor coping
strategies positively moderated the relationship between role ambiguity and burnout, active
coping strategies negatively moderated the relationship between workload and burnout. Many
researchers (Bakker, Demerouti, Janssen, Jonge & Schaufeli, 2001; Agut, Peir & Salanova,
2005; Feij & Taris, 2004) have contended that external job resources like autonomy, social
support, and positive performance feedback may prompt work engagement. Although a study by
Altmaier, Ross & Russell (2012) stated that social support from supervisors and colleagues was
associated with lower levels of burnout but did not serve a buffering function. Furthermore, these
external resources have been proven to buffer burnout (Lee, Lee & Puig, 2012).
Synthesis
Counselor wellness has a direct impact on the quality of services clients receive, but little
is known about the overall wellness of counselors (Lawson, 2011). Grier, Hanson & Skovholt
(2004) described high tough hazards, which are characteristics professionals in the helping
field make in order for them to become more susceptible to burnout. These hazards challenges
counselors personal wellness and highlight the need for supportive environments, an ongoing
assessment for their own wellness as well as strategies for resilience (Lawson & Venart, 2005). It
is the reason why the researcher would like to focus on the process that counselors go through,
particularly school counselors, with regards to burnout. Occupational burnout is something that
has been studied by researchers, but there are very few local studies conducted that examined
how guidance counselors cope with the challenges that they experience within their workplace
and as to where they seek for any professional help, therefore the researcher would like to further
examine on such. The present study may be useful for counselors to know what places them at
risk of burnout and to equip them with a range of coping strategies to address their own personal
needs. It is also beneficial for psychology students who plan to pursue a counseling career in the
future. It is for them to be knowledgeable about the responsibilities and to prepare them for any
challenges that they may encounter.
The present study explores the following research questions: 1) What are the guidance
counselors burnout risk levels based on the three areas: emotional exhaustion (EE),
depersonalization (DP), and reduced personal accomplishment (PA)? 2) What are the common
challenges that guidance counselors experience from their work? 3) What are the coping
strategies utilized by guidance counselors to address their own problems? And 4) what are their
experiences in availing professional help?
Method
Research Design
A Mixed Method Design was used, more specifically the Sequential Explanatory Design,
where a researcher first collects and analyzes core quantitative data used to explain or predict
phenomena. This is followed by collection and analysis of in-depth information through the use
of qualitative tradition to explain those statistical results by exploring participants views in more
depth (Kielhofner, 2006; Creswell, 2005).
Participants
A purposive sampling method was used in obtaining the representative sample of the
target population, who are practicing guidance counselors here in the Philippines. A total of 53
guidance counselors, 41 female and 12 male counselors, ages 20 to 55 years old, from various
educational institutions who were at 1 to 29 years of practice were given the survey
36
questionnaires, followed by the collection and analysis of qualitative data coming from 4
guidance counselors who were also part of the total sample and who had obtained a high score in
one of the areas of the Maslach Burnout Inventory, as a supplement for the quantitative results.
Instruments
Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). The MBI by Christina Maslach, Susan Jackson &
Michael Leiter (1986) is the most common assessed tool in order to know whether you are at risk
of burnout. There are 22 statements looking at the participants feelings and attitudes which
require a quantitative response on a scale of 7. This questionnaire captures three dimensions of
burnout: Cronbach alpha ratings of 0.90 for emotional exhaustion (EE), 0.76 for
depersonalization (DP), and 0.76 for personal accomplishment (PA) on a 7-point Likert Scale
(0=Never, 6=Everyday). Time periods of a few weeks (.60-.82), 3 months and 1 year (0.54-0.60)
were used for the reliability.
Burnout Factors Checklist. The researcher made a fifteen (15) item checklist that was
checked and approved by the thesis adviser, which contains some of the common challenges that
counselors experience from their work.
Coping Strategies. The researcher used the Coping Strategies Questionnaire by Sandy
Williams, Pauline K. Arnold & Jennifer N. Mills (2005). There were six subscales in the
questionnaire: spiritual, adaptive physical, non-adaptive physical, adaptive emotional, nonadaptive emotional and cognitive coping strategies which were rated on a 5-point Likert Scale
(1=Never, 2=Occasionally, 3=Often, 4=Usually, 5= Always). Each subscales contains 3
questions for spiritual, 6 for adaptive physical, 4 for non-adaptive physical, 3 for adaptive
emotional, 4 for non-adaptive emotional and 6 for cognitive.
Semi-structured Interview Guide. The researcher had prepared a list of questions which
was checked and approved by the adviser and was covered by 4 guidance counselors who scored
high in one of the areas of the MBI. The instrument focuses on the challenges experienced by the
guidance counselors as well as the ways on how they cope and avail professional help. It
permitted participants to express their views in their own terms and the researcher to explore
particular themes and responses further. In order to assess the effectiveness of the interview, the
researcher had asked permission to record the said interview and transcribed the data gathered
for analysis.
Procedures
Quantitative study
A formal letter of consent, which includes the purpose of the study and explanation on
what the participation entails, were sent to various educational institutions for the guidance
counselors. The researcher had waited for their confirmation and then went back to distribute the
Maslach Burnout Inventory survey questionnaire. The researcher then waited for the counselors
to finish the survey questionnaires, which was done on their convenience, and went back to
collect the survey questionnaires. A total of one hundred thirty three (N=133) surveys were
distributed to various educational institutions but only 53 survey questionnaires were sent back
to the researcher. After that, the researcher then tallied the scores from the MBI. Those who had
obtained a moderate and high score in one of the areas of the MBI were given the Burnout
Factors questionnaire. When those were done, the researcher went back to gather the surveys and
then tallied the scores for the quantitative results.
Qualitative study
After analyzing the results from the quantitative study, a formal letter of consent asking
permission for a follow-up face-to-face interview were sent to ten (N=10) guidance counselors
who had obtained a high score in one of the areas of the Maslach Burnout Inventory. It is for the
researcher to gather in-depth information to further expound the findings from the quantitative
research. The researcher had made a schedule for the interview, which was based on the
37
availability of the counselors. Unfortunately, 6 of the participants had decided not to participate
in the interview due to their busy schedule. The questions asked were based on the semistructured interview guide that the researcher had prepared. The researcher also asked permission
to record the said interview for transcribing and data analysis. After that, the researcher had used
the qualitative results to assist in explaining and interpreting the findings of the quantitative
study.
Results and Discussion
Research Question 1: What is the Guidance Counselors burnout risk levels based on the
three areas: Emotional Exhaustion (EE), Depersonalization (DP), and Reduced Personal
Achievement (PA) ?
Table 1: Frequency Percentage Distribution of the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI)
Area
EE
DP
PA
N=
Low
Frequency
46
39
37
Moderate
Frequency
6
7
10
%
87
74
70
High
%
11
13
19
Frequency
1
7
6
%
2
13
11
53
Table 1 shows the frequency percentage of the burnout risk levels of the guidance
counselors based on the three areas: Emotional Exhaustion (EE), Depersonalization (DP) and
Reduced Personal Achievement (PA). In terms of emotional exhaustion, 87% of the respondents
covered the low level while there is only 2% on high. Seventy-four percent (74%) of the total
number of respondents fall under the low level of depersonalization and 13% on both moderate
and high. Lastly, 70% of the respondents were at low level of reduced personal accomplishment
and 11% on high.
Research Question 2: What are the Most Common Challenges that Guidance Counselors
Experience from their Work?
Table 2: Frequency Percentage Distribution of the Common Challenges
BURNOUT FACTORS
Being assigned to non-counseling duties
Lack of paperwork time
Large student to counselor ratio
Lack of proper resources
Heavy caseloads
Competing priorities
Overwhelming needs of clients
Inadequate salary
Conflict with manager or colleagues
Job role ambiguity
Lack of decision making authority
Lack of recognition
Lack of administrative and peer support
Excessive workload
Negative work environment
N=53
38
Frequency
10
9
8
8
7
7
6
6
3
3
3
2
1
1
1
Percentage
19%
17%
15%
15%
13%
13%
11%
11%
6%
6%
6%
4%
2%
2%
2%
Table 2 shows the most common challenges extracted from the guidance counselors who
had obtained a moderate and high score in one of the areas from the Maslach Burnout Inventory
(MBI). Being assigned to non-counseling duties (19%), lack of paperwork time (17%), large
student to counselor ratio (15%) as well as lack of proper resources (15%) were reported to be
the most frequent challenges that they encounter.
Being assigned to non-counseling duties
Participant A, C, and D shared their experiences when it comes to handling noncounseling duties within their workplace. Both participant A and D had experienced handling
clerical works within their workplace. Quote from participant D I had to sit sa admin, I mean
kapag nandito ako sa baba I need to take phone calls and then admissions. And since hindi siya
part ng services ng guidance and counseling, ako yung mga nag-eentertain ng mga inquiries
ganon. Since participant D shares the same office at the admissions, she was obliged to
entertain phone calls concerning admissions when it is not part of the guidance and counseling
services. Another participant said that Mga clerical works rin marami yon like filing records
and answering phone calls as well. Participant A also experienced answering phone calls from
their office during her early days as a counselor. She also mentioned chaperone during field
trips, proctoring during long tests or exams, hindi naman siya guidance related although may
advantage din naman kasi para ma-experience mo how to deal with children during
examinations so para malaman mo rin ma-observe mo rin sila kung paano sila mag deal during
exams. Participant A used to assist children in field trips and proctor students during exams,
however, she mentioned that doing those things had given her an advantage of knowing how to
deal with children. For me kasi kapag nasa school ka kailangan medyo ano flexible ka and
parang, alam mo yon iooffer mo rin yung service mo even though hindi naman siya guidance
related, willing ka pa rin to help. Moreover, participant A also said that being a counselor
means being willing to give your services to people, even if it is not in line with your work.
Another participant said that In the past, na-assign kami to make newsletters for the school, not
just for the guidance newsletter but for the school na weekly. Simple lang naman siya for grade
school and mga parent orientation program but its not supposed to be our work. The school
had been giving them tasks which are not related to guidance and counseling and they had all
agreed to voice out that they need to prioritize their work, so only then that those non-guidance
related tasks were transferred to other departments.
Heavy caseloads
Every year there would always be challenging cases that guidance counselors encounter.
Both participant A and D had shared that one of the most challenging case that they had ever
handled was the one with suicidal ideation. Quote from participant A From the very beginning
siguro eh yung di pa ako ganon, parang yung knowledge ko and experience ko as a counselor,
parang di ganon ka-enough. Yung mga cases na nahandle ko siguro, pero not here in San Beda
pero yung mga previous workplace. Yung mga challenging cases like yung isa don, yung suicidal
ideation. Tsaka yung cases on clinical setting so parang kasi nga sa school yung background ko,
yung orientation ko, so pag ganong mga clinical like bipolar, yung mga ganon nakahandle ako
so parang its really hard to handle those cases. Another participant said I think medyo bata
pa ako, and medyo difficult yung mga cases na nahandle ko like meron na agad bullying, and
there was this student na, ang hirap kasi maglabel pero suicidal kasi siya mga ganon. Both
participant A and D felt that they were not equipped enough to handle such cases considering
that participant As orientation was more on a school setting rather than clinical while participant
D considers herself young, for the fact that it is only her third year practicing as a counselor, and
yet she was already faced with heavy cases. Both of them had a hard time addressing the need of
their clients with suicidal ideation and cases of bullying because of their lack of knowledge and
experience.
39
Mean
3.33
2.80
2.43
3.33
1.88
3.05
Table 3 shows the analyses for coping strategies employed by guidance counselors who
obtained a high score in one of the areas from the MBI. Having a mean of x= 3.33, the
respondents would often use coping strategies that were emotionally adaptive, which are
intended to improve the persons mood or state of mind: spending time with their pets/animals,
using humor or comedy, and attending professional counseling or other services; as well as
spiritual based strategies such as believing in a power greater than oneself, attending the mass or
place of worship and reflecting on life. In addition, the respondents would occasionally opt for
an emotional non-adaptive type of coping strategy; taking their frustration out on others,
purposefully letting his negative feelings out through emotional outbursts, putting off
assignments for university work, and being purposefully late for appointments or lectures as a
means of avoiding things.
40
Relaxing activities
Participant B and C opt for coping strategies that would relax themselves. Quote from participant
B when I would go out to relax myself and that would be it. Just to relax myself. Ill go out with
my friends, Ill eat out with them, videoke mga ganyan. Day by day, yung coping ko is on a daily
basis. Another participant said relaxing, pag nasstress or naffeel mo na, hindi ko pa naman
naffeel na burnout ako or sobrang stressful. Manageable naman siya in a sense na hindi ko
naffeel, siguro masaya lang din ako sa work ko. Syempre youre dealing with children so mas
nakakabata. And then, yung simpleng mag browse over the net that is one. Yung relaxation, we
usually kasi, may husband and I, nagpapamassage kami twice a month so yon. Both participant
B and C are fond of doing activities that relaxes themselves and makes them forget about their
problem. Participant B considers going out with her friends and doing fun activities like eating
and singing with them as a relaxing activity. It gives her energy and it prepares her for the other
challenges that she may encounter once she gets back from her work. On the other hand,
participant C shared that the stress that she feels at her workplace is manageable, since she loves
dealing with children and it makes her happy. In terms of the coping strategies, browsing over
the internet through social media and going for a massage with her husband twice a month are
the two things that she opt for as a form of relaxation.
Availment of Professional Help
Any information with regards to their availment of professional help was obtained during
the interview. All of the participants (Participant A, B, C and D) who acquired a high score in
one of the areas of the MBI shared that they have not gone to the point where they would seek
help from a professional from others or outside their workplace. Quote from participant D
Hindi naman ako umabot sa ganong, seeking for professional help. More on nagddistress ako, I
go out with my friends, tapos as much as possible, I dont take my job sa bahay so kailangan dito
lang lahat. Another participant shared the same response. Quote from participant A Kapag
may kailangan akong i-consult siguro with my co-counselors din or colleagues so kumbaga more
on mentoring siya. Di pa naman ako dumating sa time na kinailangan ko mag seek ng
professional help, more on mentoring or consultations lang. Participant A also shared I ask sa
mga colleagues ko na seasoned counselors na and don sa mga nakaexperience ng ganong
cases. Another participant (Participant B) said consultations with co-counselors lang. Hindi
siya session talaga pero parang peer consultation, colleague consultation. Both counselor A
and B would seek help from their co-counselors who had encountered the same case as them. In
line with that, participant C said We would share yung mga cases namin and we talk about it.
Then from there we would get help, tips on how to handle and at the same time helping us also to
cope don sa stress that we undergo. So, among ourselves lang here in the office. But professional
help, usually self-help would be enough. Participant C would also seek help and tips on how to
handle certain cases from their colleagues. She also mentioned that they help each other within
their office through discussions. Self-help, according to her, would somehow be enough in
coping with certain challenges, which agrees to the study made by Killian (2008) which suggest
that self-care strategies including processing with peers, survivor, spirituality, exercise, and
spending time with family are said to be necessary for counselors to effectively care for their
clients, as well as themselves (Black, Frick & Thompson, 2014). All of the counselors reported
that there were no proper counseling sessions or any appointments with other professionals
(psychiatrist, psychologist, etc.) that took place. However, consultations with seasoned
counselors may already be considered as availing professional help since they are asking for tips
and advices from professionals who had experienced the same case as them.
41
44
decision making on what to choose or to follow based on what is present on social media like
Facebook and twitter. On one study conducted by Teunissen, Spijkerman, Prinstein, Cohen,
Engels, & Scholte (2012) showed that, peer influence has been a predictor of willingness to drink
alcohol through adolescents depending on the high status and low status peer group. In relation
to taking selfies, Mascheronni, Vincent & Jimenez (2015) stated that women who takes
provocative selfies are basis of peer pressure by means of being called perfect. Moreover to
Soderstrom (2014) found that active Instagram users especially women showed that the biggest
factor of selfie fascination was to get confirmation.
Self-expression among youth
Self-expression is an idea of one's own personality traits, feelings, or ideas (Kim & Chu,
2011). Self-expression among youth varies in different forms. For instances, some youth use
blogs as their way of self-expression (Argamon, Koppel, Pennebaker, & Schler, 2007) and some
use tattoos as an expression of their uniqueness (Tiggeman &Golder, 2006). Self-expression,
Self-concept and communication overtly influence social media used Sponcil & Gitmu (2012).
In relation to selfie, Murray (2015) said that self-expression became a powerful means of selfie
fascination among women on their teens to early 20s, encouraging them to share their special
moments on their lives. In addition, Nguyen (2014) showed that selfies particularly on women
influences their emotional state, including handling rejection, criticism, comparison to others and
independence. According to Allen (2015) youth who takes selfies reflects duality, insecurity, and
a freedom of expression and communication gap between adolescents and adult and still views
selfie as merely a passing fad.
Selfie behavior among youth
Photos, specifically selfies might actually a reflection of an individual personality. In fact
there were several studies that showed and discussed some influences based on the amount of
selfie takes and even in social media used. For instance, a case of 19 years old student Danny
Bowman develop body dysmorphic disorder and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder due to
excessive selfie takes for more than 200 selfie per day (Aldridge & Harden, 2014). Then again,
Ong, Ang, Ho, Lim, Goh, Lee, & Chua (2011) found that the amount of selfie upload on social
media influences Extraversion and narcissism tendencies. Another study who agreed to that by
(Eftekhar, Fullwood & Morris, 2014) showed that uploaded photos through social media like
Facebook predicted neuroticism and extraversion tendencies. Additionally, the findings of
Sorokowski et al (2015) shows that men are higher to perform narcissistic tendency than women
who take selfies. Their study shows that the link between narcissism and selfie-posting behavior
is comparatively weak among women than men, and provide novel insight into the social
motivations and functions of online social networking. Moreover, Kirschner & Karpinski (2010)
showed that the amount of the time a certain individual is active on social media might actually
result negatively self-concept. Another study, Klein (2013) particularly on the body image of
women from taking selfies and using social media may result from eating disorder among
college female students.
Synthesis
Many of the literature found stated that self-monitoring behavior were most likely to
influence youths behavior (Sher & Thompson, 2007) including handling decisions (Longan,
2014) and also by means of being called perfect (Mascheronni, Vincent & Jimenez, 2015). Then
again, studies about self-expression among youth stated that youth express themselves in various
ways like blogs (Argamon, et. al., 2007), social media sites (Allen, 2015) and even tattoos
(Tiggeman & Golder, 2006). Moreover, literature about selfie mostly talks about its influence on
body image of certain individual (Eftekhar et.al 2014; Ong et. al 2011). For instance, some
46
literature about selfies stated that abusive selfie takes may result to develop body dysmorphic
disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (Aldridge & Harden, 2014) and narcissistic tendency
(Sorokowski et.al 2015).
However, this study deluded into knowing the level of selfie monitoring behavior, selfexpression including the selfie behavior among selected Filipino. Also, this study aimed to
quantify the relationship between self-monitoring behavior and self-expressiveness on the
respondents selfie behavior. Thus, the study would like to answer the following questions: (a)
what is the level of self-monitoring and self-expression among the respondents? (b) What is the
level of selfie behavior among respondents? Lastly, (c) is there a relationship between selfmonitoring and self-expressiveness among the selfie behavior of the respondents?
Method
Research design
The study used correlational design that allows the researcher to clearly and easily see if
there is a relationship between variables (McLeod, 2008). It was used since, it would like to find
out if there is a relationship between self-monitoring behavior and self-expressiveness on youths
selfie behavior on a larger scale of participants. The study used several survey scales for
gathering data more specifically on selected teenagers.
Participants and Sampling
There were teenagers (n=160) who participated throughout the study, females (n=115)
and males (n=45) from Muntinlupa, Las Pias, Paranaque and San Pedro, Laguna. The current
study used purposive sampling technique. Respondents were selected based on the set criteria
which is from age 16-18 years old and must be a selfie taker. In order to be considered as a selfie
taker, respondents must claimed that they take selfie at least once a day or more.
Instrumentation
Question about the level of selfie behavior was included on the survey scale such as, how
often do you take selfies daily? Norms of the question were based on the overall scores of the
participants.
Revised Self-Monitoring Scale. The present study adopts Snyders (1974) SelfMonitoring Scale. The 25 items true or false format scale was revised in order to be appropriate
and understandable by the respondents. It was revised into 14 items 4 point Likert scale from 1
being strongly disagree and 4 being strongly agree. This scale was used to measure youths
behavior on how they conform or behave appropriately in new social situations. The scale
contains 9 positively phrased items and 5 negatively phrased items (reversed score). Sample
items were: Im particularly good at making people like me, for positively phrased and I feel
a bit awkward in a group work for negatively phrased items. Reliability and validity was
presented on the revised scale with a Cronbach Alpha Coefficient of (=.756)
Revised College Self-Expression Scale. The present study adopts Galassi, DeLo, Galassi,
& Basteins (1974) College Self-Expression Scale thus, it was revised in order to be appropriate
and understandable by the respondents. The 50 items Self report inventory was simplified by
reducing the 5 point scale into 4 point scale and reduced it into 19 items which also designed to
measure the level of self-expressiveness of college students. The Scale contains 11 positively
phrased items and 8 negatively items. Sample items were: I easily compliment and praise
others for positively phrased items and I avoid social contact in fear of saying or doing
something wrong for negatively phrased items. Reliability and validity was presented on the
revised scale with a Cronbach Alpha Coefficient of ( .729).
Procedures
First, the researcher looked for qualified participants on different establishments, schools
47
and neighborhoods throughout Muntinlupa, Las Pinas and Paranaque and San Pedro, Laguna. In
order to be consider as a qualified participants, they were first asked about their age and if they
were a selfie taker at least once a day.
Then, all willing participants were informed first upon receiving the printed copies of the
survey questionnaires personally. These several questionnaires includes information about their
selfie behavior, the Revised Self-Monitoring Scale (Snyder, 1974) and Self-Expression scale
(Galassi et.al, 1974).
Data analysis
The present study used Statistical Package for the Social Sciences to analyze the gathered
data. The researcher used frequency distribution to summarize the data that has been gathered. It
is used in order to display the frequency of various outcomes in a sample. After distributing all
data, Pearson correlation was used to analyze all the data. It is used in order to determine the
correlation of Self-monitoring and Self-expression among the selfie behavior of Filipino youth.
Results and Discussion
Research Question 1. What is the level of self-monitoring behavior and self-expressiveness of
the respondents?
This table shows the number of all participants, the mean and the standard deviation of
level of self-monitoring behavior and level of self-expression. This includes the interpretation of
the analyzed data both level of self-monitoring behavior and level of self-expression among the
respondents.
Table 1: Level of Self-monitoring and Self-expression
N
Level
of
self-monitoring
behavior
Level of self-expression
SD
Interpretation
160
34.58
8.29
Moderate
160
46.49
12.72
Moderate
The mean and standard deviation for the self-monitoring behavior among selected
respondents is (x= 34.58, SD=8.29). Moderate result indicates that most of the respondents act
based on what they think that is appropriate and decide on where they feel belong. Still,
moderate result implies that most of the respondents understand the limits of their
appropriateness and belongingness.
On the other hand, the mean and standard deviation of self expressiveness among
respondents is (x=46.49, SD=12.72). The result is also moderate indicating that the respondents
were moderately self-expressive. It is an implication that selected Filipino youth express
themselves only and if they have to.
Sher & Thompson (2007) found that high Self-Monitoring behavior were easily to cope
and appropriately connect into new social connection while low Self-Monitoring behavior are a
kind of person who do tasks independently and doesnt conform. Thus, this suggest that
moderate result is an indication that respondent appropriately connect to find sense of
belongingness into new social situation.
Self-expression among youth varies in many ways. Several studies indicates that blogs
(Argamon, et. al., 2007) and tattoos (Tiggeman & Golder, 2006) are components of selfexpression among youth. Since, many of the participants got a moderate result, level of selfexpressiveness among respondents can be considered adequate, which means that selected
48
Filipino youth these days express themselves only if they have to. Moderate result also indicates
that there is a limitation among the respondents to express themselves in appropriate manner.
This can be compared to Sponcil & Gitmu (2012) statement which says that Self-expression,
Self-concept and Communication overtly influence social media use. In relation to selfie, Allen
(2015) youth who takes selfies reflects duality, insecurity, and a freedom of expression and
communication gap between adolescents and adult and still views selfie as merely a passing fad.
Research Question 2: What is the level of selfie behavior of the respondents?
This table presents the number of all participants, the mean and the standard deviation of
the level of selfie behavior among the respondents. This includes the interpretation of the
analyzed data of the level of selfie behavior among all the respondents.
Table 2. Level of Selfie Behavior
N
Level of Selfie-behavior
160
6.17
SD
Interpretation
5.02
Moderate
The mean and standard deviation of the selfie behavior of the respondents is (x=6.17,
SD=5.02). Since, many of the participants got an average result, it indicates that selfie behavior
among respondents is still adequate compared to other cases of levels of selfie behavior. Most of
the studies concluded that the level of selfie behavior could harm an individual when it was not
well handled.
There are participants who said that they take almost 20 selfies per day and the lowest is
1 selfie per day but the mean average of selfie takes of the youth are more or less 6 selfies per
day which can be considered as average. Selfies may have a positive effect on certain
individual, it may give confidence and self-esteem but too much may also develop negative
effects like narcissism and Selfie addiction, as in the case of D. Bowman excessively take 200
selfies per day which develop body dysmorphic disorder and obsessive compulsive tendency
(Aldridge & Harden, 2014)
Research Question 3. Is there a significant relationship between Self-monitoring behavior and
self-expressiveness on youths selfie behavior?
This table represents the relationship between Self-monitoring and Selfie behavior. The rvalue, p-value and its interpretation were included to determine the correlation between Selfmonitoring and Selfie behavior among the respondents.
Table 3. Relationship between Self-monitoring and Selfie behavior
Self-Monitoring and
Selfie behavior
r-value
Interpretation
p-value
Interpretation
.540
Moderate
.001
Significant
Table 3 shows that there is a moderate significant relationship between the respondents
self-monitoring behavior and selfie behavior with an r-value =.540 and a p value =.001. This
result indicates that their act of taking selfies are influenced by their peer group.
Several studies agreed towards this result. Soderstrom (2014), found that the biggest
factor of selfie fascination in Instagram is to get confirmation for other people. Findings of
Hoffman (2006) added that teenage years is the time where they find their sense of
belongingness. By taking selfies they were able to fit in within their respective peers because
49
everyone else takes selfies; even vices like smoking Hoffman (2006) and alcoholism Teunissen
(2012) had been influential to youth because they think that they would look cooler, tough and
boost their self-esteem. This study suggested that taking selfies are actions of social conformity
to be accepted by peers.
This table represents the relationship between Self-expression and Selfie behavior. The rvalue, p-value and its interpretation were included to determine the correlation between Selfexpression and Selfie behavior among the respondents.
Table 4. Relationship between Self-expression and selfie behavior
Self-Expression and
Selfie behavior
r-value
Interpretation
p-value
Interpretation
.376
Weak
.001
Significant
36(7), 1257-1267.
Tiggemann, M., & Golder, F. (2006). Tattooing: An expression of uniqueness in the appearance
domain. Body Image, 3(4), 309-315.
Wilson, C. (2014, March) Cities ranked by selfies: where are the most selfie taken?, time,
Retrieved from time.com/selfie-cities-world-ranking/
52
Dual Language Fluency and Math Word Problem Performance of Selected Students
Cruz, Martin Vince
Bullecer, Ma. Fatima
ABSTRACT
The researcher would like to find out whether the usage of mixed language test in problem
solving tests in every Mathematics subject can be useful when presented to a sample of student
participants. With the use of an experimental between-subject design, in order to see whether the
presentation of language affected the scores of the student participants, through purposive
sampling, the researcher gathered 16 college student participant, who are fluent in English or
Filipino has a good math problem solving skill, and a grade of 90 or above on Filipino, English,
and Mathematics. The researcher used a self-made 20-item math problem solving tests in
gathering data for both control condition or the pure language and the experimental condition
or the mixed language. It was found out that fluent-English participants outperformed the fluentFilipino participants on both control and experimental conditions and it was found out that
theres no significant difference between the scores of fluent-Filipino and fluent-English
participants on the experimental condition
Keywords: mathematics, problem-solving, between-subjects design, purposive
sampling, fluent-Filipino, fluent-English, mixed language test.
Language can be affecting mathematical performance throughout the world due to
difference in language being used. As stated by Schleppegrell (2010) every school subject is
constructed in language, but the forms and patterns varies from discipline to discipline, like in
mathematics there are abstract and written concepts. Even if every students are fluent by their
native language or fluent with the use English language, they both get an equal learning
opportunity, but the reality is in order to effectively teach mathematics among students who learn
English as their second language basically needs hard work (Winsor, 2007).
The Philippines has a long history and experience with the bilingual educational system.
However, English as the medium of instruction became a dominant language of instruction in the
Philippine academic setting. This probably affected the performance of the students in every
academic subject. English as a medium of instruction in Mathematics became mandatory with
DECS Order No. 52 during the time of former President Corazon Aquino (Dawe, 2014). In the
Philippines, there are different languages spoken throughout which is referred to as the dialects,
however it causes double-jeopardy among those in the minorities especially when they attempt to
translate the written problem into Filipino and translate it into their own dialect.
Word Problems in Mathematics
Word problems in mathematics are the most commonly used in any forms of
mathematics subjects, that each students must interpret before they are able to compute for the
answers (Langenes, 2011). Word problems often pose a challenge because they require that
students read and comprehend the text of the problem, identify the question that needs to be
answered and finally create and solve a numerical equation (Krick-Morales, 2006).
Solving Math Problems through English Language
As Filipinos we study the English language as our second language but, we may have
difficulties in reading and understanding the content of the problem. Problem solving in
Mathematics involves the process of combination of ones knowledge of sentence structures,
mathematical relations, basic numerical skills and mathematical strategies in order to solve a
mathematics problem presented in sentence or paragraph structure (Griffin & Jitendra, 2009).
Mathematical problem skills requires the ability to read, interpret, and transform the words into
the mathematical form before doing strategies on how to compute for the unknown
53
(Oviedo,2005). Yeo (2009) found that some students have slow progress in solving the problem
due to their inability to translate the problem into a mathematical form. Some students also have
difficulties in solving the problem because they do not comprehend the problem as they found
the problem confusing. With application to what (Yeo, 2009) found out, in the Philippine setting,
especially those who live and study in provinces may find difficulty in translating word problems
into mathematical form due to different dialects around the Philippines. In a both qualitative and
quantitative study among Grade 5 students on translating mathematical word problems into
equations (Dela Cruz & Lapinid, 2014) provided evidences about the study conducted by Yeo
(2009).
Experimental Studies
An experiment conducted by Gerber, Engelbrecht, Harding, and Rogan (2005) among first
year South African calculus students found that on the first group of participants tuition took
place on the native language while on the second group the tuition was in English and even other
languages, and their findings suggests that there were no significant difference of adjustment
means between native and foreign language learners, however there were differences by means
of achievement. Cushen and Wiley (2011) investigated the language experience on a matched set
of insight or problems that provides a diagram or sets of pictures which leads to a shift in
observation of the problem, and non-insight or problems that only contain the mathematical word
problems. The study investigated the influence of language experience on problem solving
performance on a matched set of insight and non-insight problems. It has been found out that
bilinguals have shown advantages on creative problem solving tasks, early bilinguals had an
advantage in terms of cognitive flexibility, and advantages of bilinguals were seen on both sets
of insight and non-insight math problems, while Bernardo and Calleja (2005) made an
experiment on the effect of stating word problems in either Filipino or English. The participants
were asked to answer by the use of either Filipino or English language. Based from the results of
the study bilinguals tend to answer mathematically rather than realistic, successful in answering
through the use of the first language and ironically failed to answer with the use of the second
language. As a part of their study they also found no evidence that the language of the problem
affected the tendency to ignore real-life considerations in modeling word problems in
mathematics, in contrast with the study of Bernardo and Calleja (2005), Abedi, Leon, and
Mirocha (2006) found out that bilinguals do not perform as well as non-bilinguals regardless of
difficulty especially on areas where there is higher language load.
Using English as a Medium of Instruction in Mathematics
Coggins, Kraven, Coates, and Carroll (2007) in their book entitled English Language
Learners in the Mathematics Classroom pointed out that mixing of languages can be used as a
strategy for the discussion between students, however Dominguez (2005) pointed out that
problem solving can provide a reason for students to strive to communicate in a second language.
Maldonado, Empson, and Dominguez (2011) made a point that use of linguistic differences
improves the discussion atmosphere, they also pointed out that it can be used as a resource rather
than as an impediment. Winsor (2007) also pointed out that a student learn a new language and
mathematics effectively when they write to communicate what they have learned, they learn in
groups, and the learning is set in context. As Winsor (2007) pointed out that hard work is needed
to effectively teach mathematics among students who learn English as their second language
Schlepeggrel (2010) stated that it is a challenge to help students to move between everyday
informal ways of construing knowledge and the technical academic ways necessary for advanced
learning.
Qualitative Studies
Vizconde (2006) described the attitude of mathematics and science student teachers
towards the English language and it was found out that the student teachers have difficulties
54
adhering the bilingual education policy, however the participants argued that English is
necessary but Filipino can be used as a support language, contrary to the study of Yanagihara
(2007) in Cebu City found out that scholastic achievement rates for mathematics, science and
English taught in English are low indicating a problem with the medium of instruction.
Camahalan (2006) conducted a study about self-regulated learning among Filipino students
based on Mathematics achievement, Mathematics self-regulated learning, and Mathematics
school grade between young and old as for the groups in the experiment and it was found out that
when students are given opportunities to self-regulate and explicitly taught of self-regulated
learning strategies, academic achievement is more likely to be positively affected. The study
confirmed that students as active agents of their behaviors can be trained to be responsible
learners and thus acquire the goal of life-long education.
Synthesis
The studies presented in the literature review portion of the study have stated that the use
of language interferes with the problem-solving skills of each student, especially when English,
which is learned as a second language, like the majority of nationalities. Different studies have
found contrasting results especially among bilinguals in which there were differences in terms of
achievement as to what Gerber, et. al (2005) found out as opposed to Abedi, et. al (2005)
wherein theres no difference on the way the bilinguals performed regardless of difficulty. Dela
Cruz and Lapinid (2014) studied about the impact of language with regards to translating a word
problem into a mathematical equation. However in the context of this study, to determine the
effect of language in presenting a math problem as opposed to stating it as used by Bernardo and
Calleja (2005) will be used for baseline purposes in the control condition of the study.
The researcher would like to seek answers to the questions: What is the overall level of
proficiency among the fluent-Filipino participants after taking the pure-English problem solving
test? What is the overall level of proficiency among the fluent-English participants after taking
the pure-Filipino problem solving test? What is the overall level of proficiency among the fluentFilipino participants after taking the mixed language test? What is the overall level of proficiency
among the fluent-English participants after taking the mixed language test? Is there a significant
difference between the level of proficiency among fluent-Filipino and fluent-English participants
after taking the mixed language test?
Method
Research Design
The research design applied in this study was an experimental between-subjects design,
wherein there are different groups of participants used in the experiment and those participants of
the study took part in each of the condition of the experiment (Myers & Hansen, 2012). The
research design was used in order to see how does the mixture of language affects the scores of
the participants in a math problem solving test.
Sampling and Participants
Through the use of purposive sampling, the researcher chose 32 college students of San
Beda College Alabang, 16 who are fluent in Filipino and 16 who are fluent in English, and
taking the course MA101(College Algebra), the participants must have a good mathematical
problem solving skills, and have a grade of 90 or higher in English, Filipino, and Mathematics
Instruments
The researcher made use of 2 sets of questionnaire. The first set was for the control
condition wherein there are sets of problem-solving tests written in pure Filipino and pure
English, while the second set were used for the experimental condition wherein the test problems
were in the mixed language format.
In terms of scoring as set by the researcher, if a participant answered a certain item with a
55
correct solution and came up with the correct answer, it was equivalent into 4 points. When there
is a correct manner of writing the solution, but the answer was wrong, it was equivalent into 2
points. And lastly, if neither the solution nor the answer is correct or very far away from the
correct answer, it will be equivalent into 0. The total number of points that the participants can
get is 80, and each scores have its corresponding verbal interpretations, with a score of 0 to 16 is
considered as poor, however 17 to 32 is below average, 33 to 48 is average, 49 to 64 is above
average, and 65 to 80 is excellent.
Procedures
The researcher constructed a test that will be used for the study. A pilot study was
conducted among college students in a school around Muntinlupa City, in order to determine the
item-difficulty index of both self-made tests used for gathering the data.
The research instruments underwent revision, after the pilot study was held and
determined the item-difficulty index. If the participants are fluent in Filipino, fluent in English,
and able to solve problem-solving questions, then those students are the participants of the
research study.
The participants were contacted and an informed consent was given to the participants,
which represented the agreement in joining the research study. The mixed-language test or the
experimental condition was first conducted. After the participants were able to finish the mixedlanguage test, the participants gave a 15 minute break to them.
In order to assess the impact of the experimental condition, a pure language type of test
or the control condition was conducted by taking a problem-solving test in opposition to the
language the participants are fluent at, fluent-Filipino participants took the pure English type of
test and the fluent-English took the pure Filipino type of test, in order to give more insights on
how language could be affecting the performance of the students in solving math problemsolving questions.
After the participants, took the pure language type of test the researcher gave them a
moment of silence to relax a little, while the participants were relaxing, the researcher gave them
their rewards. The participants were debriefed after the experiment has been conducted
Data Analysis
In order to answer the research questions, to provide data the research study used the
arithmetic mean in order to find the average score of each participants fluent in Filipino on the
pure English type of test as their control condition, as well as of those participants fluent in
English on the pure Filipino type of test to answer research questions 1 to 4. And another
statistical method in using to answer the research questions is the T-test for independent groups
in order to determine whether there is a significant difference between the fluent-Filipino and
fluent-English participants after they took the mixed language type of test.
56
PF
Above Average
6.25
Average
43.75
Below Average
43.75
Poor
6.25
Total
N=16
X= 33.25
Excellent
PF
Excellent
6.25
Above Average
18.75
Average
25
Below Average
37.5
Poor
12.5
Total
N=16
X=35.625
57
PF
Excellent
6.25
Above Average
18.75
Average
18.75
Below Average
56.25
N=16
X=36.75
Poor
Total
Table 3. The Level of Proficiency Among Fluent-Filipino Participants in the Mixed Language
Problem Solving Test
In the mixed-language test among fluent-Filipino participants, theres 1 who got an
excellent level of proficiency, however theres 3 students each who got good and average, and 9
on the below average.
With an outcome of (M=36.75) there was a seen little improvements on the scores of the
fluent-Filipino participants overall on the mixed language type of test. Coggins (2007) in her
book pointed out to allow mix language use as an instructional medium in Mathematics during
the discussion of students, however because of the seen improvements in the score of the fluentFilipino participants it can be generalized that mixing languages could be necessary not just in
the classroom as a medium of instruction but also as a test format in problem-solving test in
mathematics.
58
Research Question 4. What is the mean score of the fluent-English participants in the mixed
language test?
Level of Proficiency
PF
Excellent
12.5
Above Average
18.75
Average
10
62.5
Below Average
6.25
N=16
X=46.25
Poor
Total
can help improve the students math problem solving tests, and lastly there is no significant
difference between the performance of the fluent-Filipino participants and the fluent-English
participants on the mixed language type of test.
As a form of intervention, if anyone desires to improve his/her problem-solving skills,
language plays a big factor as presented in the study, and in order to be better in whatever
language used in a problem-solving test, it is still necessary for everyone to know the basics of
the English and Filipino language and read books so that vocabulary can increase in order to
understand every single word in the written problem. For the practicing Mathematics instructors,
try to be clear in expressing in dual language, especially in mathematical terminologies that each
students cant understand. As for further studies an attempt to analyze how fluency and
mathematical performance can be correlated with one another and also through a factorial study
in order to determine what kind of interaction is present between fluency and mathematical
performance.
References:
Abedi, J. Leon, S. & Mirocha, J. (2006) Examining ELL and Non-ELL Student Performance
Differences and Their Relationship to Background Factors: Continued Analyses of Extant
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61
Organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) has usually been used as a predictor of many
variables, especially those involving workplace setting. Organizational Citizenship Behavior is
being used to size the efficiency of an employee. In this age, organizations need to restructure,
and need individuals who are enthusiastic to donate to successful change and leaders who can
successfully bring about change. But what does it take to have an OCB? Not all people possess
an OCB, there are people who will not help, and let other people be, is it because they think
about their self first before others? Which most people with high conscientiousness do, or
because they have low Emotional Intelligence. OCB is altruism in an organizational setting.
According to Bergeron (2007) employees sometimes hurt their career or their physical body by
helping the organization. How can people not hurt their self by helping other people, are we
conscious about it? High conscientiousness means high awareness of oneself and emotional
intelligence is the awareness of how other feels. it sound opposite does it, but this two might be
the factors to have a balance OCB. Today millions of companies accepts applicants and use
different kinds of psychological test, and intelligence test, and OCB test, but still there are people
who in the workplace with low OCB, The research think that there is something missing to
predict OCB, the research aims to find what predicts OCB. Finding the factors or variables that
defines Organizational Citizenship Behavior will help to filter applicants and employees from
companies and organizations.
Emotional Intelligence
Sharma (2011) showed that EQ is understood as a part of the nature in a workplace. The
more a person socializes or participates, the higher the EQ will be. The study of Edmond-Kiger,
Connie, Tucker, and Yost (2006) showed that Emotional Intelligence has no connection in
having a low GPA and EQ can be use to improve leadership skills. In Liptaks (2005) study,
emotional intelligence seems to be an excellent framework to use in helping college students find
a job and succeed in the workplace. At the same year, Oginska-Bulik (2005) conducted a similar
study about Emotional Intelligence and Occupational Stress. The results confirmed an essential,
but not very strong, role of emotional intelligence in perceiving occupational stress and
preventing employees of human services from negative health outcomes.
In a research conducted by Hutchison and Hurley (2013) it was found that bullying
affects the performance of an employee and how he or she cares for others. In another study by
62
Webb (2014) found that worker perceptions that the commitment and well being of a person
does not correlate with each other. In a study used by Bradberry and Su (2006) it said that selfawareness, self-regulation, social awareness and relationship management are the four pre
content of emotional intelligence appraisal. Relationship management was more powerful to use
as a predictor for leader job performance than the other three pre content and social awareness
has no link to leader job performance.
Conscientiousness
According to Altuntas and Baykal (2009), nurses had higher than average level of trust in
their managers and coworkers and they trusted more in their managers and co-workers than their
institutions. The Organizational Citizenship Level Scale indicated that the behavior most
frequently demonstrated by the nurses was conscientiousness, followed by courtesy and civic
virtue, whereas sportsmanship was displayed to an average extent.
In a similar study conducted by Abraham (2004) the result showed that the selfconfidence, and emotional resilience can promote superior performance, if positive feedback is
delivered in an informative manner, and can mitigate the adverse effects of negative feedback. In
a similar study conducted by Lee, Yang, Wan, & Chen (2010), the results indicated that the
interaction between conscientiousness and friendship networks explains a significant incremental
amount of the variance in employee individual contextual performance. The study of Peng and
Zhou (2009) about social cynicism and perceived interpersonal justice supported the researchers
hypothesis that higher levels of social cynicism lead to lower perception of interpersonal justice.
Organizational Citizenship Behavior
The study of Zehir, Mceldili, Altinda, ehitolu, & Zehir (2014) showed a positive
relationship on OCB. Ethical climate was found to be a weak mediator in the relationship
between charismatic leadership and OCB. A similar study was conducted by Lou and Liu (2014),
the results indicated that situational leadership and employee readiness matches had a positive
effect on OCB. However, 1 match in which the leader had a coaching role and the employee
required detailed directions, was a partial match and was not significantly related to OCB. In
another similar study was administered by Lu (2014) The results showed that ethical leadership
had a significant main effect on both OCBO and OCBI. In addition, cognitive trust had no
significant mediating effect on the relationships between ethical leadership and OCBO and
ethical leadership and OCBI, but affective trust fully mediated these relationships.
Huang, Wang, & Xie (2014) found that the followers identification with the leader
mediated the influence on organizational citizenship behavior. We also found that perceived
group leaders reputation moderated the relationship between LMX and identification with the
leader, in that the relationship was stronger for individuals scoring high on perceived group
leaders reputation than it was for those scoring low. A similar study was done by Marshall
(2012) which showed other common, historical forms of organizational citizenship behavior
were deemed irrelevant in this context, and a set of new behaviors that bad not surfaced in
previous research emerged.
Synthesis
The different studies have shown the relation of each variable to each other. Regarding
the initial variable, Emotional Intelligence; it is indicated that Emotional Intelligence have an
impact on mental well-being. Emotional Intelligence was also known to be useful in workplace
setting. Emotional Intelligence did not have any relationship with GPA. With Emotional
Intelligence and Occupational Stress, EQ has an essential, but not very strong, role of emotional
intelligence in perceiving occupational stress and preventing employees of human services from
63
negative health outcomes. Emotional Intelligence also affects leadership capability, that lacking
EQ erodes the social climate of organization and care provided. Perhaps one of the highlights of
the studies regarding Emotional Intelligence is the idea that mental well-Being, which EQ has an
impact on, does not have any bearing on worker satisfaction or commitment to the leader or the
organization. However, if EQ were to precede Organizational Citizenship Behavior, it would
indicate a chance for EQ to predict the OC since EQ is different from Mental-Well Being. Since
EQ also has the Emotional Competencies Model: Self-Awareness, Self-Regulation, Social
Awareness, and Relationship Management, which Mental-Being may only possess the SelfAwareness part, but Social Awareness and Relationship Management may have a bearing on
Organizational Citizenship Behavior, which makes it likely that EQ would be useful in being the
variable that may predict Organizational Citizenship Behavior.
Conscientiousness is shown to have a relationship on performance and along with
emotional honesty, self-confidence, and emotional resilience. Furthermore, Conscientiousness
and Friendship Networks also possess a significant relationship. It is also said that
Conscientiousness plays a role in relationship management and interpersonal justice. With
having Conscientiousness having a link with aspects of Emotional Intelligence, having the two
variables would be a good predictor of Organizational Citizenship Behavior. Instead of Proactive
Behavior, specifying how Organizational Citizenship Behavior as the chosen variable would be a
fit in an industrial setting over Proactive Behavior. Furthermore, Organizational Citizenship
Behavior was said to have a relation with situational readiness and charismatic leadership. OCB
as what was mentioned, was a mediator of leadership, what lacks is the connection of EI that will
precede OCB to other variables. Since Emotional Intelligence has a link with Conscientiousness
although two different variables altogether, would be the likely independent variables since the
aim of the study is to know the predictive ability of Emotional Intelligence and
Conscientiousness over Organizational Citizenship Behavior.
This study aims to determine the predictive ability of Conscientiousness, Emotional
intelligence to the Organizational Citizenship Behavior of the corporate workers in the
Philippines. Specifically, it sought to answer the following questions: (1) What are the levels of
Conscientiousness, Emotional Intelligence and Organizational Citizenship Behavior of the
respondents? (2) Is there a significant relationship between Conscientiousness and
Organizational Citizenship Behavior? (3) Is there a significant relationship between Emotional
Intelligence and Organizational Citizenship Behavior? And (4) what independent variable
predicts OCB better?
Method
Research Design
The research used Correlational and quantitative research design which uses numerical
data in gathering data for big amount of respondents. According to Sheldon (2009), quantitative
research provides a measure of how many people think, feel or behave in a certain way and uses
statistical analysis to determine the results. If you want to know how many of your customers
support a change in a product or service - and how strongly they support it so that the
researcher can determine whether you have a business case for making that change, you would
use quantitative research.
Participants
The researcher used homogeneous sampling technique. The researcher chose A total of
200 participants who work in a commerce setting. The chosen age bracket would be 22- 50 who
work in a commerce setting, (e.g., Accounting, Marketing, Finance, etc.). The following
respondent were chosen because of their life experience with the organizational setting at work.
The respondents were randomly chosen for every specific places of office.
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Instrument
For Conscientiousness, the researcher used HEXACO Personality Inventory Revised
(HEXACO-PI-R) (Ashton & Lee, 2009) and the HEXACO-60 a 60-item questionnaire in Likert
Scale format will be used; sample items would be, I rarely hold a grudge, even against people
who have badly wronged me. and I feel reasonably satisfied with myself overall. And it has a
high Cronbach Alphas ranging from (.76) to (.80) namely: Honesty-Humility (.76), Emotionality
(.80), Extraversion (.80), Agreeableness (.77), Conscientiousness (.76), and Openness to
Experience (.78).
For Emotional Intelligence, The researcher used Emotional Intelligence scale (Salovey,
P. & Mayer, J. D. (1990). in this test 33 item questionnaire in Likert scale format will be used;
sample items would be, I know when to speak about my personal problems to others and
Other people find it easy to confide in me An internal consistency analysis showed a
Cronbachs alpha of (0.90) for the 33-item scale.
For Organizational Citizenship Behavior, the researcher used Organizational Citizenship
Behavior Checklist (OCB-C) (Fox, Spector, Goh, Bruursema, & Kessler, 2012) and the OCB-C a
42-item questionnaire in Likert scale format was used; sample items would be, Helped co-worker
with personal matter such as moving, childcare, car problems, etc. And it has a high Cronbach Alphas of
(.97).
Procedures
In order for the researcher to gather his data, He went to the following several steps: First,
The researcher asked his contacts if he can give survey to their offices. Second, He went to the
office and inspect the place where the respondents are and observing if the respondents are
capable to answer the survey. Third, the researcher distributed the survey to the respondents.
Fourth, the researcher explained everything to respondents. Fifth, the researcher collected the
questionnaire and thanks everyone who participated.
Data Analysis
The Researcher used Inferential Statistics as a statistical tool for it would be making
calculation about number of population from observation and analyses from a sample. The Data
collected from the questionnaires was studied through the statistical method called multiple
linear regression analysis. Multiple Linear Regression analysis provides the relation between the
predictive variable: Emotional intelligence and Conscientiousness to the criterion variable:
Organizational Citizenship behavior. The researcher used the SPSS (statistical product and
service solution) software for windows v.20, as the statistical tool in analyzing the data that was
met. The SPSS results of the Grand Mean of the respondents concerning with each variable, the
correlation of each independent variable to organizational citizenship behavior, the variables
each coefficients, the ANOVA of each model, and P-P Plot compares the empirical cumulative
distribution function of a data set with a specified theoretical cumulative distribution function.,
And scatter plot to coordinate the display values for typically two or more variables for a set of
data. The basis for the degree of the variable of the respondents and their levels will be displayed
the table below.
65
RANGE
INTERPRETATION
STRONGLY AGREE
4.50-5.00
VERY HIGH
MODERATELY AGREE
3.50-4.49
HIGH
AGREE
2.49-3.49
AGREE
MODERATELY
DISAGREE
1.50-2.49
LOW
STRONGLY DISAGREE
1.00-1.49
VERY LOW
Results
Degree of Emotional Intelligence, Conscientiousness and Organizational Citizenship
Behavior of the respondents.
The Table below will show the degree of each variable of the respondents. It will also
show the alpha coefficients of each Variable.
VARIABLE
Conscientiousness
3.22
AVERAGE
0.76
EQ
3.62
AVERAGE
0.90
OCB
2.92
LOW
0.97
* N = 200
The table shown above gives the levels of, grand mean, and internal consistency
Reliability Coefficient (alphas) for conscientiousness, Emotional Intelligence (EQ) and
Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB).
Conscientiousness EQ
PEARSON R OF OCB .16
.09
SIGNIFICANCE
.012
.099
200
200
66
.167a .028
.018
.61953
.160
.021
.61875
.026
CONSCIENTIOUSNESS
UNSTANDARDIZED
COEFFICIENTS B
.057
.157
STANDARDIZED
COEFFICIENTS
Sig
.080
.707
.481
.076
1.998 .047
The Model Summary would illustrate on what the predictive model (EQ and
Conscientiousness) would do and how it will affect the variable that is being predicted which is
the Organizational Citizenship Behavior. There are two models that were used in the prediction
process. The first model was OCB as the constant variable while the predictor is
Conscientiousness alone, while the second model is Conscientiousness with EQ. Considering the
R of both models, they showed a result of (.16) which posits that Conscientiousness and
Emotional Intelligence would have a 16% variability with Organizational Citizenship Behavior.
What the study was aiming to answer was Do levels of Conscientiousness and emotional
intelligence predict the levels of Organizational Citizenship Behavior? By considering the R
Square of the regression model 1: conscientiousness and emotional intelligence, garnering a
result of .16, by converting to percentage, the result would report that 16% of the total variability
in Organizational Commitment is explained by the said regression model.
Having the predictive model 1: Conscientiousness and Emotional Intelligence, the results
showed that the significance level is not significant for Emotional Intelligence (p > .05) alone
and Conscientiousness is significant (p < .05). Both t scores for conscientiousness and emotional
intelligence are both low since it does not really make up what Organizational Citizenship
Behavior is all about. What is worth noting is that Conscientiousness may play a part, though
low, unlike the Emotional Intelligence itself which really does not. Considering the
Unstandardized Coefficients, for every .057 increase in Emotional Intelligence, Organizational
Citizenship Behavior will increase or decrease by the same manner. If were to consider
67
Conscientiousness, for every .157 increase, it would affect the increase or decrease of
Organizational Citizenship Behavior.
Considering the significance level of each, one of the two variables contain a slight
contribution to the prediction of Organizational Citizenship Behavior which is the
Conscientiousness while the Emotional Intelligence does not give much bearing to the variable
that is being predicted.
Discussion
The purpose of the study was to determine if having Organizational Citizenship Behavior
is correlated to Emotional Intelligence and Conscientiousness. By considering how Emotional
Intelligence plays a role to Organizational Citizenship Behavior and how Conscientiousness
plays a role also to Organizational Citizenship Behavior. And how the two independent variables
would predict Organizational Citizenship Behavior as a model. Using purposive sampling, a total
of 200 respondents were gathered who works in a commerce setting because they are the ones
who are usually found in the corporate industrial setting. What the researcher has found was that
Emotional Intelligence has no significant and weak correlation with Organizational Citizenship
Behavior and Conscientiousness having a significant but weak correlation with Organizational
Citizenship Behavior. Only Conscientiousness proved to have the power to predict
Organizational Citizenship Behavior despite how low it is. Considering the two models put
together as a model showed that there is a very low contribution to the dependent variable with
regards to predicting it. It would make sense to consider that Emotional Intelligence is a
construct that is responsible for the regulation of emotions which focuses on the intrapersonal
aspect, primarily Self-Awareness and Self-Regulation. Organizational Citizenship Behavior on
the other hand is regarding an organizational culture and how it responds to the interpersonal
aspects of the organization. One is intrapersonal while the other is interpersonal. It would show
that there is a bit of diverging of the two construct. Conscientiousness on the other hand would
somehow explain that being well-organized would constitute to a feeling of responsibility with
the other people in the company because having the thought in mind, if the employees are doing
well in the organization, the company itself would flourish. Conscientiousness would contribute,
on a low scale, to having such behavior.
Regarding the studys limitations, it is worth noting that Emotional Intelligence has four
sub-factors which are Self-Awareness, Self-Regulation, Social Awareness, and Relationship
Management; while there is a sense of interpersonal in it, this is not however, connected to the
organization. It is just between the person and another person, without having the connection
with the organization. The sub factors would somehow explain what each sub factor can do,
though it may not be as relevant since this study already considered it as a whole.
Conscientiousness does contribute to the success of an organization and it would make sense
because having high organizational citizenship behavior would contribute to the success of an
organization. The model itself only has 16% of the variability; 84% was not covered by this
research and recommends future research to be done that will cover the other unknown variables
that accounts for Organizational Citizenship Behavior as a whole. The model does not have
much predictive ability and would consider to have other constructs. It is worth noting that the
constructs under HEXACO might be a good place to start in doing research because
Conscientiousness, one of the sub factors of it, did have a correlation despite how weak it is. The
constructs to be done research with must tackle something along the subject of motivation.
Conclusion and Recommendation
Present research used two variables such as Conscientiousness and Emotional
Intelligence in predicting Organizational Citizenship Behavior of people who work in commerce
68
setting. Organizational citizenship involves something more with the culture of an organization
than what the intrapersonal aspects would provide. Emotional Intelligence has no significance or
bearing to Organizational Citizenship Behavior and Conscientiousness only plays a minor part as
what the results have shown. The model is not feasible to consider in the prediction of
Organizational Citizenship Behavior.
References
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70
communication technologies within romantic relationships are using to communicate with one
another, the frequency of use, and the association between the use of these technologies and
couple's positive and negative communication.
Instant Messaging
Instant messaging is one of the many ways to easily communicate with other people
without seeing them personally. A research done by Hu (2006) showed young, nonfamilyrelated pairs of friends who live close to each other were more likely to use mobile media.
Instant messages and SMS are the same thing. SMS is a text messaging service component of
phone, web, or mobile communication systems. Reid (2004) aid that the increasingly
widespread use of text -messaging has led to the questioning of the social and psychological
effects of this novel communication medium. The researcher also said that there are two types
of people, those who prefer texting (Texters) and those who prefer talking on their mobiles
(Talkers).
Mobile Phone
Mobile phone usage in the US, especially for text messaging, has been slow to develop.
Phones were expensive and all the plans needed to activate them. Given the presence of landlines
everywhere, together with declining costs of long-distance calls, mobile phones were recognized
as a luxury through much of the 1990s. Readily-available computers, not mobile phones, were
the natural choice for electronically-mediated communication. Email and instant messages were
free (once internet access was paid for), while text messaging on a mobile phone was an
additional cost. Given a choice of technologies for communicating with friends and relatives,
24% of American teenagers chose IM (Instant Messaging), while 51% preferred landline phones,
12% are for voice calls on mobile phones, 5% selected email, and only 3% chose text messaging
(Lenhart, Madden, & Hitlin, 2005).
Intimacy
Every country has a different culture from another country; thus making opinions differ
from one another. Countries all over the world express love for family, friends and intimate
partners in different ways. Cultural differences in gender-role ideology and individualism
collectivism were hypothesized to differentially contribute to self-disclosure and
responsiveness, and in turn, intimacy (Marshall, 2008). Within the Western psychological
literature, intimacy is often conceptualized as resulting from self-disclosure (Sprecher &
Hendrick, 2004). Self-disclosure and coherence also interacted to influence intimacy where a
tendency toward self-disclosure contributes to intimacy to a greater extent at low levels of
coherence (Bauminger, Finzi-Dottan, Chason, & Har-Even, 2008). However, intimacy can be
reciprocated. There are people adhere to the norm of reciprocity in their other relationships, in
romantic relationships they accept substantial imbalances (Nelson, 2004).
Synthesis
Most studies that are made by the researchers are focused on teenagers that use instant
messaging and texting as a way of communication and staying connected to their friends and
loved ones. The articles showed how instant messaging, chatting and simply texting are
significant to romantic relationships.
Miller-Ott and her team (2012) stated that mobile phones play an important role in
romantic relationships, although they can be a source of uncertainty and conflict in
relationships. Although mobile phones help relational partners stay connected, expectations that
partners will always be available and accessible to one another may decrease the quality of their
relationships. Also, another study which is made by Coyne in 2011 stated that people address
the communication technologies within romantic relationships are using to communicate with
one another, the frequency of use, and the association between the use of these technologies and
couple's positive and negative communication.
72
All these studies have been performed in the western countries, showing that text
messaging has significance in romantic relationship. The Philippines is known to be the Texting
Capital of the world so, the researcher aims to perform a study to test if the results that will be
gathered are the same or different with the other countries, Also to know how text messaging
affects relationships in positive and negative ways.
With that, the researcher found out that there is minimal study about behavioral
comparison between Filipino and American citizens on text messaging in relation to romantic
relationship. Existing researches surrounding this study has included the importance and effects
of text messaging to relationship between friends and intimate partners. Therefore, this study
attempts to discover the difference between Filipino citizens and American citizens in relation
to the comparison between the text messaging behavior and intimacy level. Specifically, the
study aims to answer the following questions:(1) How often does the individual texts his/her
partner or another person? (2) What is the level of intimacy of the individual's relationship with
his/her partner when grouped by culture? (3) Is there significant difference in intimacy level
when people are grouped by culture?
Method
Research Design
The researcher aimed to discover the difference between Filipino culture and American
culture, in relation with the difference in intimacy and texting behavior of the two cultures. The
researcher used a descriptive type of quantitative research wherein the researcher describe the
difference between the texting behavior and intimacy level of the two cultures that are being
compared. To gather data, the researcher used a questionnaire to discover the significant
differences in intimacy and texting behavior when people are grouped by culture. Text
messaging on this study was measured by its frequency how often does the respondent texts;
and intimate relationship was measured by the level of intimacy of the respondent towards their
partner. Thus the result of the questionnaires showed the difference among the cultures.
Participants and Sampling
In this study, the researcher used purposive sampling. The target participants were one
hundred Filipino teenagers in the Philippines and one hundred Filipino teenagers that grew up in
America and a citizen of the said country. The age of the respondents in this study were ranging
from seventeen to nineteen years oldso that the respondents would not be too mature and too
serious to be thinking about the future and would not be too immature and treating their
relationship easy like playing around. Each respondent should be in an intimate relationship for
at least 3 months to one year. The researcher will only get one among the couple as a respondent
for the study. There are one hundred Filipino teenagers and only thirty American teenagers
returned the survey.
Instruments
The tool used to measure the level of intimacy of the respondents is called Passionate
Love Scale (PLS) by Elaine Hatfield (1978). It is a 15 or 30-item Likert-type scale with
responses ranging from not at all to definitely true. To interpret the scores, the answers were
added and if the respondent got a score between 86-105 then the respondent is passionate, 66-85
is average, 45-65 is cool and 15-44 is extremely cool. The scale taps emotional, cognitive and
behavioral aspects. The scale is proven reliable through the test made at the University of
Wisconsin. The researchers have found that PLS has a coefficient alpha of .94 for the longer
version and .91 for the shorter one. The responses to the PLS were subjected to the principal
factoring, with multiple correlations used as communality estimates. The scale was highly
correlated with other measures of love and intimacy. Sample questions included: I would feel
deep despair if (the person I love passionately) left me. and I have an endless appetite for
73
affection from (the person I love passionately). Text frequency test is a checklist that was
constructed by the researcher. The test was made to measure how often does the respondent
sends his partner a message using his mobile phone.
Procedure
The researcher made an online survey for the convenience of the respondents of the study
coming from the United States and some province of the Philippines using Google forms. On the
header of the online survey the researcher wrote an introduction about the researchers basic
information and the topic of the study. The researcher indicated on the header the assurance to all
the respondents that all of the answers are confidential.
After making the survey, the researcher gathered respondents for the study. For the
Filipino teenagers in the Philippines, the researcher looked for one hundred participants who are
qualified to be a respondent in the study. The researcher used some help from the relatives and
friends who are in the different provinces of the Philippines. For the respondents in the United
States, the researcher contacted some friends and relatives residing in the states and asked for
some help to look for one hundred and ten qualified teenagers to be a respondent in the study and
those relatives and friends referred teenagers to the researcher. The researcher then personally
contacted the respondents through electronic mails and social media to ask the respondents to
answer the online survey.
The researcher let the participants take the tests in their conveniencefirst test that the
participants took was the Text frequency scale that also includes the demographic profile of the
respondent and after was the Passionate Love Scale. For the Filipino respondents who are in
Muntinlupa, the researcher personally conducted the test and for the American respondents and
other respondents coming from Cebu, Davao and Baguio, the researcher sent an email or a
private message containing the URL of the online survey.
After gathering all the data needed in the study, the researcher scored and interpreted the
data with the given interpretation of the scales used. Then organized and tallied all the data using
tables.
Data Analysis
The gathered data were analyzed through the use of Mann-Whitney U Test for the
comparison of the differences in behavior between Filipino and American citizens in
consideration of unequal number of the respondents used in the study. This technique is used to
test for significant differences between two independent groups on a continuous measure. It
converts the scores on the continuous variables to ranks across the two groups. It evaluates
whether the ranks of the two groups differ significantly such as in this case, the intimacy level of
the Filipinos and Americans. Since the actual scores are converted to ranks, the distribution of
scores does not matter anymore.
Results and Discussion
The gathered results were from the survey handed by the researcher to the respondents
and the online survey made by the researcher. Out of the 130 respondents targeted, only 30
responded from the Philippines.
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Research Question #1: How often does the individual texts his/her partner or another
person?
Table 1. Number of text messages sent per day
Number of text sent per day
Grouping
Total
American
Filipino
f
%
f
%
f
%
7 23.3% 30 30%
37 28.26%
0 30
3 10%
15 15%
18 13.85%
30 60
9
30%
7
7%
16 12.31%
60 90
4 13.3% 10 10%
14 10.77%
90 120
7 20%
38 38%
45 34.61%
120 and above
30 23.1% 100 76.9% 130 100%
Total
The table above shows that the range of text messages sent by Filipino teenagers in the
Philippines who is in a relationship send ninety (90) to one hundred twenty (120) or more text
messages per day and Filipino teenagers who grew up in the United states send sixty (60) to
ninety (90) text messages per day. As stated by Coyne (2011), couples take advantage of
technology as shown in the frequency of their use and make it as one of the ways, whether
negative or positive, of communication towards each other. The more they communicate with
each other, the more they use their mobile phones to text or call each other.
Americans preferred other ways of communication rather than just texting their partner or
their friends that is why they send an average number of text messages and lesser than the
Filipinos. Lenhart, Madden, & Hitlin (2005) study also stated that only 3% of the American
teenagers chose text messaging as a way of communication and a big percentage was in favor of
landline phones.
Table 2. Recipients of messages
Recipient
Grouping
American
f
Boyfriend/Girlfriend 16
1
Parents
6
Relatives
7
Friends
30
Total
%
53.3%
3.3%
20%
23.3%
23.1%
Total
Filipino
f
65
17
2
16
100
%
65%
17%
2%
16%
76.9%
f
%
81 62.31%
18 13.85%
8
6.15%
23
17.69%
130
100%
As shown on the table above, having a 65% from the total number of answers of the
respondents coming from the Philippines and a 53.3% from the respondents coming from the
United States the most people who received text messages are the respondents intimate partner.
Intimate partners tend to communicate all the time to keep in touch and update each other
about anything or just simply talk to each other. A study made by Miller-Ott (2012) stated that
mobile phones play an important role in romantic relationships, although they can be a source of
uncertainty and conflict in relationships. There is an absence of rules and guidelines for
interaction that is uncertainty and conflicts can occur in a relationship.
Teenagers nowadays made technology as part of their daily lives. They use every single
way to reach each other and tell stories about almost everything they see around them. Teenagers
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have unending stories to their friends. (Hu 2006) nonfamily-related pairs of friends, living close
to each other were more likely to use mobile media.
Research Question #2: What is the level of intimacy of the individual's relationship with
his/her partner when grouped by culture?
Table 3. Level of Intimacy among American and Filipino Citizens
Intimacy
Grouping
Total
American
f
%
Extremely Passionate (106 135) 5 3.8%
7 5.4%
Passionate ( 86 105)
11 8.5%
Average (66 85)
4 3.1%
Cool (45 65)
3 2.3%
Extremely Cool (15 44)
30 23.1%
Total
Filipino
f
43
25
18
11
3
100
%
33.1%
19.2%
13.8%
8.5%
2.3%
76.9%
f
48
32
29
15
6
130
%
36.9%
24.6%
22.3%
11.5%
4.6%
100%
The results of the computation were shown on the table above. Based on the results, the
level of intimacy that got the highest percentage was Extremely Passionate with 36.9% from the
total population of the respondents. the other level of intimacy were 24.6% for Passionate,
22.3% for Average, 11.5% for Cool, and 4.6% for Extremely Cool.
Most of the Filipinos in the Philippines were on the extremely passionate level with a
forty three total respondents and an equivalent of 33.1% from the total number of the
respondents coming from the Philippines. The Filipinos from the United States were on the
Average level with a total of eleven respondents and an equivalent of 8.5%. The two countries
have different cultures, the Philippines has a family-oriented culture wherein Filipino teenagers,
for example, when they reach 18 or legal age they can still depend on their parents while
American culture is the opposite like when a teenager reaches legal age, he or she must be
independent and look for a job to support his or herself.
Filipino parents are very close to their children to the point that they are willing to
support their children even if they are already grownups while American parents are different in
a way that they are a little distant to their children, they are teaching their children how to be
independent and to stand in their own feet. Nelson (2004) stated that there are people adhere to
the norm of reciprocity in their other relationships which simply means that people can
reciprocate what they have experienced to other people. The children who grew up on the
Philippine setting then they will also do what they have experienced growing up. That is why
teenagers who grew up in the Philippines are extremely passionate because they were raised in
an extremely passionate way. While teenagers who grew up in the United States are on the
average side, it is because they have experienced being raise in an average way wherein
American parents treated them as an adult once they reached the age of eighteen and also
American parents are not as warmth as Filipino parents can be to their children.
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Research Question #3: Is there significant difference in intimacy level when people are
grouped by culture?
Table 4. Significant Differences
intimacy
Mann-Whitney U
995.500
Wilcoxon W
1460.500
-2.903
.004
The Z value of -2.903 with a significance level of p=0.004 shows that there is a
significant difference on the intimacy level of the respondents when they are grouped according
to culture, namely Americans and Filipinos. The p value of 0.004 is < 0.05 significance level
which shows that there is really a significant difference between the two.
The respondents that grew up in a Philippine culture were extremely passionate towards
their partner in an intimate relationship. Extremely passionate, based on the Passionate Love
Scale, is when men and women are wildly in love, they cant stop thinking about the other, their
hearts pound, their pulses race, and they find it impossible to keep away from the objects of their
desireeven when pursuit is dangerous or foolish. As for the respondents that grew up in a
western culture, specifically American culture, most of the respondents are on the average scores
and according to the interpretation average scores are people who experience such bursts of
passionate feeling on occasions.
A study made by Marshall (2008) stated that cultural differences in gender-role ideology
and individualism were hypothesized to contribute to self-disclosure and responsiveness, and in
turn, intimacy. People who you are usually open to their relationship partners are the ones who
are passionate toward their significant partner and for those who are not or uncomfortable to
open up to their partners are the ones who are not that passionate in a relationship. Like what
Sprecher & Hendrick (2004) stated, intimacy is often conceptualized as resulting from selfdisclosure revealing personal feelings, thoughts, and experiences to another person.
Conclusion and Recommendation
Texting behavior and intimacy behavior between two cultures are significantly different
for several reasons. Teenagers that grew up in the United States often text their relatives from
other countries so that they can stay in touch and it is in their culture that they call their friends
and partners, who are living near them, instead of sending them text messages. On the other
hand, teenagers that grew up in the Philippines often text their significant other with the same
intentionsto stay in touch but it is in our culture that we show our respect, love and care to our
relatives physically. While the effort of texting and sending long messages towards our
significant partner is one way of showing our love and care for them.
People have tendency to reciprocate everything they have experienced from the past. The
feelings we have received from somebody can be passed on to another person the same way we
felt it. Being family oriented people is a part of the Philippine culture wherein each member of
the family is close to one another and that nobody is forced to move out of the house and be
independent once they reached legal age. On the other hand, American culture teaches more on
being independent which gives people a hard time on disclosing themselves to others. That is
why we tend to reciprocate the love we have received from our parents to our partners.
The researcher recommends that Filipinos should lessen the amount of text messages they
send every day and that they should not make mobile phones as a big part of their lives because
77
text messages and mobile phones are sometimes the cause of major conflict within two persons.
Another recommendation is that, as stated that people tend to reciprocate things that they have
experienced and received, therefore people should learn to reciprocate good things towards other
people. And since there is a minimal study comparing different cultures about their texting
behavior and intimacy behavior, the researcher recommends to use a wider range of
respondentscoming from the different countries and different landmass that also use text
messaging as a major way of communication will be a great help for the study. The researcher
also recommends to use adolescent couples as respondents of the study and an equal number of
respondents coming from the different countries.
References:
Bauminger, N., Finzi-Dottan, R., Chason, S., & Har-Even, D. (2008). Intimacy in adolescent
friendship: The roles of attachment, coherence, and self-disclosure. Journal of Social and
Personal Relationships, 25(3), 409-428. Retrieved from
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Coyne, S., Stockdale, L., Busby, D., Iverson, B., & Grant, D. (2011). I luv u :)!: A Descriptive
Study of the Media Use of Individuals in Romantic Relationships. Family Relations, 60(2),
150162. Retrieved from
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Faulkner, X., & Culwin, F. (2004). When fingers do the talking: A study of text messaging.
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Hu, Y., Wood, J., Smith, V., & Westbrook, N. (2006). Friendships through IM: Examining the
Relationship between Instant Messaging and Intimacy. Journal of Computer-Mediated
Communication, 10(1). Retrieved from
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Klein, A. (2012, August 22). Text Messaging: Effects on Romantic Relationships and Social
Behavior.
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Messaging Explodes as Teens Embrace It as the Centerpiece of Their Communication
Strategies with Friends. Retrieved from http://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED525059
Ling, R., & Baron, N. (2007). Text Messaging and IM Linguistic Comparison of American
College Data. Journal Of Language and Social Psychology, 26(3), 291-298. Retrieved
from http://jls.sagepub.com/content/26/3/291.short
Marshall, T. (2008). Cultural Differences in Intimacy: The Influence of Gender-Role Ideology
and Individualism Collectivism. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 25(1),
143-168. Retrieved from http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/bitstream/2438/3290/1/Cultural
Differences in Intimacy.pdf
Measurement Instrument Database for the Social Sciences. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.midss.org/content/passionate-love-scale-pls
Miller-Ott, A., Kelly, L., & Duran, R. (2012). The Effects of Cell Phone Usage Rules on
Satisfaction in Romantic Relationships. Communication Quarterly, 17-34. Retrieved from
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01463373.2012.642263
Nelson, M. (2004). Reciprocity and Romance. Qualitative Sociology, 27(4), 439-459. Retrieved
from http://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/B:QUAS.0000049242.21417.d8
Pertierra, R. (2005). MOBILE PHONES, IDENTITY AND DISCURSIVE INTIMACY. Human
Technology, 1(1), 23-44. Retrieved from
http://www.humantechnology.jyu.fi/archives/abstracts/pertierra05.html>
Reid, D., & Reid, F. (2004). Insights into the Social and Psychological Effects of SMS Text
Messaging. The Social and Psychological Effects of Text.Retrieved from
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http://www.ebusinessforum.gr/old/content/downloads/Reidetal_SocialEffectsOfTextMessa
ging.pdf
Sprecher, S., & Hendrick, S. (2004). Self-Disclosure in Intimate Relationships: Associations
with Individual and Relationship Characteristics Over Time. Journal of Social and
Clinical Psychology, 23(6), 857-877. Retrieved from
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The Philippines is set to continue expanding 3G and 4G LTE coverage. (2014, April 18).
Retrieved from: http://www.oxfordbusinessgroup.com/news/Philippines-set-continueexpanding-3g-and-4g-lte-coverage
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Competition has been deeply embedded in the society. People seek for a higher position
and strive for superiority in different and various contexts, may it be socially, economically,
physically or academically. It is ever-present. In this competition, one develops an important
personality characteristic that influences behavior across an array of social environments; their
competitive streak (Houston, Queen, Cruz, Vlahov, Gosnell, 2015).
For the past few years, studies have shown the relationship of competitiveness in various
traits and its role in various contexts. For one, a study done by Luchner, Houston, Walker, &
Houston (2011) showed that there is a strong positive association between competitiveness and
hyper competitiveness. Hyper competitiveness is a notion by Horney (1973) which means the
need to compete indiscriminately and to win at any or all cost. This was consistent with the
findings of the study done by Mudrack and Turnley (2012), which suggests that the construct
share a focus on self-interest and a lack of focus on others in the pursuit of winning. Apart from
that, Kilduff (2010) suggested that competitive environment plays a significant role in rivalry
formation. It was also found that rivalry was related with unethical behaviors such as deception
and unsportsmanlike behavior (Kilduff, Galinski, Gallo, Reade, 2012). The findings that showed
the relation of competitiveness and rivalry support Sorchira et.al. (2012) that political rivalry
arises from political competition. Moreover, Sorchira et.al., (2012)s study, showed that political
rivalry that stems up from negative political competition happens when enrichment from other
social group shows threat to another groups ability to benefit from the political power in the
future.
Some of the unethical behaviors that people have seen in politics is vote-buying during
elections. In Nigeria, empirical studies have demonstrated the prevalence of vote buying. A
survey directed by the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) and Practical
Sampling International shows that more than seven out of ten Nigerians believe that vote buying
happens most of the time during the elections. According to Rappler, data cited by election
officials from their law department revealed that 56 cases of vote buying were filed during the
80
May 2013 midterm elections and 45 incidents of vote buying were recorded by the Manila
Police. An empirical analysis made by Mendoza, Lopez and Canare (2013) also found that out of
360 respondents from living cities in Metro Manila, about 90% mentioned that the vote buying
offer was accepted; and up to 70% of the recipients voted for the candidate. There were also
some instances where the political rivalry turned into violence, another example of unethical
behavior. According to the statistics available with the State Crime Records Bureau in India, 92
were killed in the state due to political animosity from 2004 to 2013. In Indonesia, there have
been reportedly more than 50 politically motivated attacks in 2014. In the Philippines, one of the
most violent and controversial massacre happened last 2009 which killed 52 people, this
massacre was instigated by the intense political rivalry between two clans in Muslim Mindanao.
This study aims to determine the level of moral intelligence and competitiveness of
respondents in political and non-political family, the relationship of moral intelligence and
competitiveness and to see if there is a difference in moral intelligence and competitiveness in
children from political and non-political family.
Moral intelligence
Moral Intelligence is defined as the capacity to comprehend what is right from what is
wrong; it means to have a solid ethical conviction and to act on them so that one behaves in
proper and honorable way (Borba, 2001). According to Lennick and Kiel (2010) it is made up of
four dimensions: integrity, responsibility, forgiveness and compassion.
In the academe setting, the results obtained in the study done by Hoseinpoor (2013) on
the relationship between moral intelligence and academic progress of third year high school
students indicated that there is a positive and significant relationship between moral intelligence
and students achievement. In lieu of this, Olusola (2015) studied the moral intelligence of senior
secondary school students in Nigeria and it was found that moral intelligence is significantly
correlated with students perception of examination malpractices. The results showed a negative
correlation between the two, which means that moral intelligence aids students to do what is
right and resist any pressures that may resist the habits of good character. These two findings
suggest that moral reasoning correlates with academic integrity.
Meanwhile in the medical setting, a cross-sectional study on nurses in Iran was done by
Mohammadi, Nakhaei & Borhani, (2013). It was found that there was a direct and meaningful
relationship between moral intelligence and age and years of practice of the nurses. Optimal
levels of moral intelligence also suggested the importance that nurses attribute to moral values,
and can also be an indirect indicator of their moral conduct in healthcare environments.
A study done by Khademi, Ghasemian and Hassanzadeh (2014) showed that moral
intelligence could possibly have a predicting factor in an individuals well-being. This supports
the study done Faramarzi, Jahanian, Zarbakhsh, Salehi, & Pasha (2014) which showed that levels
of moral intelligence associated with lower mental problems in healthcare student, as well as the
study of Farhan, Dasti, Khan (2015) which revealed that there is a significant positive
relationship between aspects of moral intelligence and psychological well-being.
The study of Aldarbah, Almohatdi, Jwaifell, Salah (2015) evaluated the moral
intelligence of late childhood years in Jordan and it was found that there was a significant
difference between moral intelligence and parents age. They concluded that moral intelligence
of the late childhoods children (9-12) years old in Al-Karak governorate in Jordan are at
medium level when fathers age between 20 to 30 years old.
Competitiveness
Competitiveness has been defined as the enjoyment of interpersonal competition and the
desire to win and be better than others. (Fletcher, Major, Davis, 2008). In competition, one
develops their competitive streak, a personality characteristic that influences behavior across an
81
array of social environment. (Houston, et.al., 2012) Previous research found that there was a
positive correlation between competitiveness and hyper competitiveness, the need to compete
and win at all cost. (Luchner, Houston, Walker and Houston, 2011).
A study done by Kilduff (2010) showed that competitiveness plays a significant role in
rivalry formation and it was found that rivalry was related to unethical behavior such as
deception, cheating and unsportsmanlike behavior. (Kilduff, Galinski, Gallo, Reade, 2015) This
supports the findings of the study of Munster (2007) that suggests despite the advantages of
competitive behavior, the motivation to compete can sometimes have malevolent effects such as
the adoption of unethical strategies like sabotage.
McEwan, Gilbert and Duarte (2012) studied the relationship of caring and
competitiveness to psychopathology and the results showed that competitiveness is strongly
associated with depression, making them conclude that social safeness or how safe and
comfortable one feels in one's social relationships is a full mediator between competitiveness and
depression. In the work setting, a study done by Lyons (2006) showed that there was a strong
relationship between the quantity of job shaping behavior and individual competitiveness. The
more highly competitive the individual say they are, the greater possibility for them to initiate
job shaping behavior.
In the study done by Ward and Eagle (2013) on the relationship of competitiveness and
conscientiousness of graduate students with life satisfaction, it was found that competitiveness is
significantly correlated with life satisfaction, but for female participants only.
Grum (2008) studied the self-concept and competitiveness of three national cultures:
Slovene, Serbian and Spanish and it was found that cultural indicator has a significant impact on
the self-concept and competitiveness of the participants from different countries. But in the
findings of the study done by Houston, Harris, Moore, Brumett and Kametani (2005) it indicated
that although sex and cultural patterns influence some aspects of competitiveness, it does not
influence all aspects of it.
Literature also revealed that competitiveness varied across environments such as home,
work, and school. Mothers and fathers have similar levels of competition at work but daughters
are more prone to the feeling of competitiveness than son at school. (Schneider, Wallsworth and
Gutin, 2014)
Political Environment
In a study done by Allen and Birch (2012) they found that a good political conduct
involves basic principles such as honesty, loyalty, integrity and keeping ones word. But despite
these, politics is a real of higher consequentialism wherein officials have the necessity to settle
between the lesser of two evils, which is also referred as the the dirty hands dilemma. (Hatier,
2012)
Moreover, researches also showed that political rivalry arises from political competition.
Moreover, it was suggested that political rivalry that arises from negative political competition
happens when enrichment from other social group shows threat to another groups ability to
benefit from the political power in the future. (Sorchira, 2012)
In the political scene, political dynasty has been rampant and the participation of
political dynasties in the Philippines scene is among the largest and the most enduring in the
world. According to the empirical analysis done by Mendoza (2012), about 70% of the 15th
Philippine Congress is dynastic; and dynasties dominate all of our major political parties and
roughly 80% of the youngest Congressmen (ages 26-40) are from dynastic clans. There are also
178 active political dynasties in the Philippines, with 94% of the provinces having at least one
political dynasty. Research showed that by 2016, 55 families will have held on to power for at
least 20 years straight. Findings in the study done by (Mendoza, Beja, Venida and Yap, 2012)
also provided some sort of validation to the notion that the occurrence of corruption is more
82
pervasive in dynastic areas than in non-dynastic area. The evidence also suggested that province
and districts dominated by political clans are less likely to have better governance.
Synthesis
Several studies on moral intelligence pointed out its significant relationship with
leadership. The status of moral intelligence and team leadership have been above average.
Literature also revealed that, self-giving to others, a component of moral intelligence, has the
highest correlation with the team leadership.
Competitiveness has a significant relationship with hyper competitiveness, the need to
win at all and any cost. (Luchner et. al, 2011) It is also associated with the lack of forgiveness
(McEwan et. al., 2012) In students, and particularly in patients, competitiveness and feeling
unsuccessful in competing for resources is strongly associated with depression. (McEwan et. al.,
2012) These findings are also consistent with the idea that competitiveness is linked to rank
concerns and that these rank concerns and competitive striving may be especially problematic in
depressed populations (Gilbert, McEwan, Bellew, et al., 2009) Aside from that, findings suggest
that competitiveness plays a substantial role in rivalry formation, and rivalry is linked with
unethical behavior. (Kilduff et.al., 2010), this is also consistent with the findings political rivalry
arises from political competition. (Sorchira, 2012)
Although competitiveness has been investigated in relation to its effects in various
contexts, researches on competitiveness on contexts such as the political realm are visually
absent. There is also a lack of research on moral intelligence in this context, a context wherein
the morality of the people in it are often questioned. Being competitive can be beneficial, but at
the same time can be dangerous they its engagement on unethical behavior.
Honesty, loyalty, integrity and keeping ones word that is what a good political conduct is
consist of. (Allen and Birch, 2012) But despite these standards, politics has been viewed as the
realm of a higher consequentialism wherein people have to do wrong in order to do right,
otherwise known as the dirty hands dilemma. (Hatier, 2010) The Philippines has an enduring
political dynasty, 70% of the 15th Philippine Congress is dynastic, and research findings
provided some sort of validation to the notion that the occurrence of corruption is more pervasive
in dynastic areas than in non-dynastic area. The evidence also suggested that province and
districts dominated by political clans are less likely to have better governance. (Mendoza et al.,
2012)
The study examines the competitiveness and moral intelligence of two different
respondents: respondents from a political and non-political family. Would ones upbringing
influence their level of competitiveness and moral intelligence? The study pursues to answer the
following research questions: What is the level of moral intelligence of respondents in political
and non-political family? What is the level of competitiveness of respondents in political and
non-political family? Is there a significant difference between the moral intelligence and
competitiveness of respondents in political and non-political family? And lastly, is there a
significant correlation between moral intelligence in respondents in political family, non-political
family, and political and non-political family?
Method
Research Design
The Research Study utilized a Descriptive-Correlational quantitative method for the
reason that this study determines how a variable affects another variable. (Houghton, 2014). The
designed was used by the researcher to determine if there is a significant relationship between
moral intelligence and competitiveness.
Participants
83
The study involved 238 respondents (males and females) aged 16-40 years old who were
selected through purposive sampling. 119 of the respondents were from a political family
background and the other half (n=119) were not from a political family background. The study
involved students and professionals who are from the province of Eastern Samar. This group of
respondents was selected from a province that has a more traditional outlook and perspective,
hence the attachment of a culture that is family-oriented on them and plays a big part in their
everyday lives.
Instruments
A modified Moral Competency Inventory (Lennick and Kiel, 2005) was used to determine the
moral intelligence of the respondents. It is composed of a 30 item test that featured the 10
competencies of a moral person. It is on a 5-point Likert scale that ranges from never, often,
sometimes, in most situations and in all situations. Sample of the scale include I can clearly
state the principles, values, and beliefs that guide my actions and I use my mistakes as an
opportunity to improve my performance. The verbal interpretation for the results will be as
follows: Low level = rarely practices moral behavior indicated in the questionnaire, Medium
level = practices moral behavior indicated in the questionnaire in some situations, High level =
religiously practices moral behavior indicated in the questionnaire in most situations. Pilottesting was conducted to ensure that the reliability of the modified Moral Competency Inventory.
First, the researcher chose 40 participants in Guiuan, Eastern Samar that were similar to the
studys respondents. At the time of the pilot-testing, the researcher first explained the objective
of the study and ensured the confidentiality of the answers to the questionnaire. After that, the
questionnaires were distributed to the participants for them to answer and were given 20 minutes
to complete it. The data were analyzed using the SPSS software. The pilot testing showed a
reliability of 0.812 using the Cronbach alpha coefficient formula.
The Revised Competitive Index (Houston, Harris, McIntire & Francis, 2002) was used to
measure the general competitiveness and assess the desire to win in interpersonal relationships of
the respondent. It is a 14-item test that follows a 5 point Likert Scale. The scale ranges from
strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5). Sample items include I often try to outperform
others and I like competition. The verbal interpretation for the results will be as follows:
Below average = Laidback, less desire in competing , Average = Enjoys degree of competing to
a certain point, but is less likely to be inclined to fight in order to win, Above average =
Competitive and more inclined to fight and argue in order to win. Interpretation was an own
interpretation of the researcher based on the description of Houston et.al. (2002) on the Revised
Competitive Index. It was reported to have a high internal consistency (= 0.90) using the
Cronbachs alpha coefficient formula and a test retest reliability of 0.85, but only within a time
interval of 18 to 34 days. (Harris and Houston, 2010)
A self-made checklist was created by the researcher to ensure that the respondents with
political family background fit the criteria. It is composed of 10 items. Samples items include
Number of relatives in politics and Degree of affinity to the politician/s
Procedure
For the official testing, the instrument was administered to the participants in their
homes/offices. First, the researcher explained to the participants the purpose and the importance
of their participation in this study. In addition to that, the researcher assured the respondents of
the confidentiality of their response and that their response would be used only for research
purposes. When the questionnaires were distributed, they were given instructions on how to
answer it. The respondents were given approximately 25 minutes to complete it. The
participants responses were scored and were entered into the computer for statistical analysis by
a statistician. The data were analyzed using Microsoft Excel.
Data Analysis
84
The researcher used descriptive statistics, which includes the mean and standard
deviation, to determine the level of moral intelligence and competitiveness of the respondents.
The researcher also used Pearson R Correlation, a method which determines the linear
relationship of two variables. This was used to determine if there is a relationship between moral
intelligence and competitiveness. T-test was used to analyze if there is a significant difference in
moral intelligence and competitiveness between respondents in political and non-political family.
Results
The Participants
The respondents were composed primarily of individuals coming from a political family
or clan between ages 16-40 years old. Amongst the respondents with political family
background, 67.3% were female, and 32.7% were male. The respondents with no political family
background on the other hand, were comprised of 58% females and 42% male. The majority of
respondents were professionals and the rest of the percentage were senior in high school and
college students.
Research Question Number 1. What is the level of moral intelligence among respondents
from political family and non-political family?
The content of Table 1 is the Mean and Standard Deviation of Moral Intelligence. This
table will determine the level of Moral Intelligence.
Table1. Level of Moral Intelligence.
Table 1 presents that moral intelligence level of respondents in political family with an
overall mean of 4.0628, which indicates a high level of moral intelligence. This indicates that
they religiously practice moral behavior indicated in the questionnaire (See Appendix 1).
Behavior is practiced in most situations. It further revealed a medium moral intelligence level for
the respondents from non-political with a x value of 3.8772 indicating that they practice moral
behavior indicated in the questionnaire (See Appendix 1) in some situations,
According to the results of the study, there is a high level of moral intelligence when it
comes to the respondents in political family, indicating that children from political family
religiously practice behavior stated in the questionnaire and that moral behavior is practiced in
most situations. The reason behind this may be because politicians are expected to behave in a
certain way, such as being honest, loyal and having an integrity, and research have shown that
children are more likely to adopt these when it is important to their parents. Furthermore,
children of politically-engaged parents adopt these views as they grow older. (Allen and Birch,
2012; Dinas, 2013)
Research question number 2. What is the level of Competitiveness among respondents from
political and non-political family.
The content of Table 2 is the Mean and Standard Deviation of Competitiveness. This
table will determine the level of competitiveness.
85
The results in Table 2 present that there is no significant relationship (p>0.05) between
moral intelligence and competitiveness in respondents from political family, non-political family
and combined respondents.
The reason behind the no-significant relationship results may have been because of the
results revealed in the moral intelligence level in respondents in political family, in which it
indicated that respondents have a high level of moral intelligence. Research suggested that a high
level moral intelligence aids an individual to do what is right and resist any pressures that may
resist the habits of good character. (Olosula, 2015).
86
Table 4 presents that there is a significant difference (p<0.05) in the moral intelligence
between respondents in political and non-political family . The respondents from political family
showed a greater level of moral intelligence than the respondents from non-political family. The
results support the findings of Aldarabah (2015) that suggest that moral intelligence may differ
on the type of family you have. Furthermore, Dinas (2013) suggested that children of politicians
are more likely to adopt moral views and behavior, hence why they have a higher level of moral
intelligence.
As for the competitiveness, Table 4 presents that there is a significant difference (p<0.05)
between respondents in political and non-political family. The respondents from the non-political
family showed a greater level of competitiveness than the respondents from the political family.
This supports those findings of Schneider (2014) that competitiveness may vary in different
environment.
Conclusion and Recommendation
Based on the data presented, the researcher concluded that although people from the
political environment are often times perceived as immoral and unethical because of how the
media portrayed them to be, they have a high moral intelligence. Due to the below average level
result of the competitiveness in respondents from non-political family, the researcher concluded
that even though competitive environment such as the political environment can heighten the
competitiveness of an individual, it might not only be the only factor affecting it. The researcher
concluded that there is no significant relationship between moral intelligence and
competitiveness. The researcher also concluded that there is a significant difference in the moral
intelligence and competitiveness of children in political and non-political family.
One possible limitation to the accuracy of these findings may be self-report bias. Because
of nature of the questionnaire, respondents had an awareness that their responses were being
recorded, and may not have responded honestly.
The study has examined moral intelligence and competitiveness in general, researcher
suggests to add more depth to the study by also including the subscale of moral intelligence and
87
not just moral intelligence as a whole, as well as explore the other perspectives on
competitiveness such as goal competitiveness. The researcher also suggest to have an equal
number of male and female respondents, as well as a small gap on the age range.
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89
Choosing a career is one of the most important decision most of us ever make. It is
considered to be one of the vital developmental task of adolescents (Hirschi, 2009; Creed, Patton
& Prideaux, 2006) has to face. Adolescence is generally recognized as a critical time in the
development of career. On the other hand, nowadays, most adolescents tend to be more
independent in many aspects of life, especially in choosing the career they want to pursue.
However, several studies have shown that some face the challenging task of deciding on their
individual careers, which according to Creed, et al (2006), is not surprising given the wide array
of career and educational options, and the need to be informed about ones needs, values, goals
and the information needed about the field of career. According to Ma & Yeh (2005), certainty
and indecision are two variables that have been designed to assess career decision status. Career
certainty refers to one's degree of certainty of having made a career decision while career
indecision is defined as an inability to make a decision about the career one wishes to pursue
(Guay, Senecal, Gauthier, & Fernet, 2003).
Career indecision is experienced by many college students across all years. Career
indecision plays a major role in the way students perceive their future career and it influences
their career-related thoughts and decisions. In addition, it also affects the way they perceive
themselves and has a role in formulating students career goals and how they approach these
prospects (Jordaan, Smithard & Burger, 2009). Thus, variables that contribute to career
indecision among adolescents should be identified and recognized. Exploration, vocational
identity, and decision-making difficulties are central facet in adolescents career development.
(Dietrich & Kracke, 2007).
Some students need information about themselves and the world of work, whereas for
others, such information would not be helpful because they are too anxious about their career
choices (Guay, Ratelle, Senecal, Larose & Deschenes, 2006). Career indecision can push
students to avoid making decisions in their vocation or to make wrong decisions which can
affect their professional life, both in the short and long term (Marcionetti, 2013). Therefore,
knowledge of students career indecision will help in foreseeing their status in terms with
choosing their individual career. According to Callanan (2006 ), as cited by Talib & Aun (2009),
90
knowing the students career decision status will help not only the students itself, but also the
educators and other personnel to understand the factors that lead to students inability to decide a
major field of study.
Parental Involvement
Students are choosing a career based on influences such as family and peers (Guay et al,
2003) and assumptions (about introductory courses, potential jobs and characteristics of the
major) rather than through understanding of their own personal goals and values (Freedman,
2013). Several studies have reported that parental influence is a predictor of career indecision
among students (Mojgan, Kadir, Noah & Hassan, 2012), especially to adolescents during
educational and career transition, underlining parents importance in choosing their childs
career. Slomp, Bernes & Gunn (2012), found that students perceive their parents as helpful in
assisting them with their developmental needs. In accordance with the past studies, it is generally
recognized that parents play a vital role on the intellectual, emotional, social, academic and
career development of their children and studies found that the more individual felt secured
(Hirschi, Niles & Akos, 2010), attached to their parents the easier it was for them to make career
decisions (Emmanuelle, 2009).
A study made by Wolfe and Betz (2004), as cited by Nota, Ferrari, Solberg & Soresi
(2007), found that parent-child relationship was related to both career decision-making selfefficacy and career indecisiveness. The study implies that parental impact has either positive or
negative effect to the child: for example if both parents and if either the mother or father and the
child have conflict in terms with the career the child wants to pursue, this may lead to career
indecisiveness. In this case, the parents does not play an active role in shaping the career identity
of the child instead, it refrains from playing a positive role in building the childs career identity.
Parents can affect their childrens choice of career through different ways; support, interference
and lack of engagement (Dietrich & Kracke, 2007).
Parents involvement and behavior influence their children to learn about career and work,
thus it helps build a foundation for future success (Hong & Ho, 2005). Career or educational
suggestions of parents, as well as sharing of knowledge and experiences, conveying their
concern for their childs future, and modeling work behaviors --- this indicates indirect support
and guidance in career development of their child (Kerka, 2000). Without support and guidance
of parents, students are often reluctant to pursue or even explore their desired career.
Several researches show that interaction between parents and child is also a powerful
influence. Interactions can comprise of constructive behaviors such as showing support, attention
and by open-communication, or unconstructive behaviors such as interfering, controlling the
childs career and having no engagement at all. Parents reactions (both verbal and non-verbal)
and the former then affect what children think, say and perceive about certain careers. Research
found that adolescents learn about and explore career through interaction with the context of
their family, which leads to stable career choice (Ferry, 2006). According to Li and Kerpelman
(2007), adolescents outlook of themselves would strengthen or weaken when they obtain
response from their parents about their career aspirations. Thus, receiving feedbacks from
parents are considered significant to adolescents in making their decision, especially with their
career.
Students become more confident and decided when they observe that their parents take an
active support, interaction and interest in their chosen career path. Parents create the strongest
impression on adolescents career choice more than others like counselors, teachers or peers. On
the other hand, some studies have found that parental involvement was not significant in
predicting career indecision (Mojgan et al, 2012) and that family cohesion contributed
significantly to the prediction of career decision-making difficulties. (Koumoundourou, Tsaousis,
& Kounenou, 2010). Career development is a lifelong process (Auger, Blackhurst & Wahl,
91
2005). Understanding parents career-related behaviors and parent-child relationship can help
identify barriers to students career progress.
Career-Related Activities
Students learn not only through lectures done by the teachers and professors but also
through real-life experiences. Application of knowledge by means of involving oneself to
different activities, opportunities and exposures would definitely help in providing deeper sense
of knowing towards achieving goals and in seeing real-life situations. According to Yip (2009),
career-related experiences do not merely mean work experience. It is a common practice that
schools encourage and allocate students to have work experience in different offices to enable
students to experience working in their desired field and to acquire certain skills through those
experiences. Career-related experiences enable students to gain knowledge about the world of
work and careers through diverse learning activities such as internships, seminars, career
workshops, and etc. Such activities allow students to see the practical value in learning their
career.
Giving young people the tools and knowledge to realistically plan for their future is a
primary goal of education (Hughes & Karp, 2004). Career exploration assist students in
developing realistic plans for their future and it contributes to higher career commitment and
decisiveness in adolescence (Creed, Prideaux, & Patton, 2005). A study made by Callanan &
Benzing (2004), concluded that completion of an internship assignment was linked with finding
career oriented employment. Individuals who spent time in career exploration, attended more
training programs, and used more career resources reported higher career-search clarity (Zikic &
Saks, 2009). Indulging students in different activities related to ones career has a higher
probability of having a clearer view towards their career. In a study made by Macera & Cohen
(2006), they found out those students who completed a plan of study, a resume, and a career
exploration paper either changed their career plans or felt more confident about their plans. Thus
career exploration help individuals obtain greater clarity of the type of work, job or career they
desire (Zikic & Saks, 2009).
According to Partnership for 21st Century Skills, Career-related activities also provide
youth with the opportunity to test academic theories through real-world application. As stated by
the National Alliance for Secondary Education and Transition, Work-based learning is an
integral part of the academic curriculum, reinforcing academic and occupational skills learned in
the classroom, providing career exploration and a broad understanding of an occupation or
industry, motivating students, introducing generic workplace skills, and teaching entry-level
technical skills (American Youth Policy Forum & Center for Workforce Development, 2000).
Working closely with employers allows schools to define the knowledge and skills necessary for
graduates to successfully perform in college and the workplace (Achieve, 2004). In other words,
in depth exploration of career choices would result to individuals confidence about making
career decisions. (Stringer & Kerpelman, 2010)
Synthesis
Most of the studies found focused on the relationship of parental involvement to selfefficacy and career decision-making of students and the engagement of students to career
development. Parents play a vital role in the intellectual, emotional, social, academic and career
development of their child. Parents also serve as an influence to students in choosing their own
career path. Many studies claimed that involvement and interaction of parents with their child,
relevant to career decision-making, could have either positive or negative impact. On the other
hand, involvement of the students in career-related activities helps in obtaining career-search
clarity. The result of the studies implies that involving and exposing students to various learning
activities helps them to have a clearer view towards their career. Thus, parents and the school
environment should know and identify their role in the development and growth of the students.
92
Existing researches relevant to the study were mainly from western society and some of the
results were contradicting. The researcher found that there are minimal studies that concerns
possible predictors of career indecision in home environment (parents) and school environment
(career-related activities). Therefore, the present study aims to discover the relationship between
parental involvement and exposure to career-related activities to career indecision among
adolescents. The current study aims to determine the level of career indecision of first year
college students and to answer the following questions: What is the level of exposure in careerrelated activities of first year college students? What is the respondents perceived parental
involvement in terms of support, interference and lack of engagement? Is there a significant
relationship between Parental Involvement (Support, Interference and Lack of Engagement) and
Career Indecision? Is there a significant relationship between Career-Related Activities and
Career Indecision?
Method
Research Design
The present study employed a quantitative research design, specifically correlational design
to determine the extent to which the values for the factors are related. The researcher used
correlational design to know whether there is a significant relationship between the Levels of
Parental Involvement (Support, Interference and Lack of Engagement) and Career-Related
Activities to Career Indecision. Scales and checklist were also used to gather the needed data.
Participants and Sampling
The researcher used purposive sampling in the study. The target participants were two
hundred twenty-four (224) first year college students enrolled in board course programs of San
Beda College Alabang, specifically, BS Accountancy, BA Psychology, BS Psychology and
Education. The researcher is concerned about how decided students, who are taking board
course programs, are with their chosen career path, given the fact that these course programs
have retention policy. However, only one hundred twelve (112) questionnaires were returned
(41 male, 71 female) with an age ranged from 14-18 years old (M= 16.34, SD=1.06).
Instruments
Parental Involvement. Perceived Parental Career-Related Behaviors (Dietrich & Kracke,
2009). The scale is composed of 15 items on a 4-point Likert format (1 = does not apply, 4 =
fully applies). The scale measures three dimensions: Parental support, Interference and Lack of
engagement, with 5-items for each dimension. Sample items includes: My parents talk to me
about my vocational interests and abilities (support); My parents have their own ideas about
my future vocation and try to influence me accordingly (interference); My parents are not
really interested in my future vocation (lack of engagement). The scale has an adequate Internal
consistency measured with Cronbachs alpha (support: .93 for girls and .84 for boys;
interference: .72 for girls and .78 for boys; lack of engagement: .68 for girls and .75 for boys).
High mean score in each dimension indicates that the dimension fully applies; however, low
mean score indicates that the dimension does not apply.
Vocational Identity. My Vocational Situation Scale (Holland, Gottfredson & Power, 1980)
is designed to assess for difficulties related to vocational decision-making. It is used to identify
the career decisiveness of individual. The MVS assesses three aspect of vocational decisionmaking: Vocational Identity, Occupational Information and Barriers. The MVS is composed of
18 true/false items (Vocational Identity Scale), and 8 yes/no items (Occupational Information
and Barriers scales). However, in this study, only the Vocational Identity subscale was used. The
scale has an internal consistency of (KR-20=.89) for male college students and (KR-20=.88) for
female college students, and a construct validity (r= -.69, p<.01) with Career Maturity Scale (
Leong & Morris, 1989). High scores indicate low career indecision on the other hand, lower
93
Interpretation
Low
Average
High
Results/Discussion
Research Question 1: What is the level of career indecision of first year college students?
In vocational identity, high scores of the respondent signifies high level of career
decision, which means low level of career indecision. On the other hand, low scores of the
respondent signifies low level of career decision, which means high level of career indecision.
Table 1 Level of Career Indecision
Level
of
Decisiveness
Career
Low
High
28
25
3.61
Average
Average
71
63.4
8.75
High
Low
13
11.6
14.08
8.08
Grand M
In response to the question about the level of career indecision of students (N=112), table
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1 shows that 25% of the students who participated in the study have low level of career
decisiveness, which indicates high level of career indecision, 11.6% of the students have high
level of career decisiveness, which indicates low level of career indecision, and 63.4% of the
students have average vocational identity which indicates that most of the students are undecided
on certain things however they still tend to be decisive. The Vocational Identity dimension of My
Vocational Situation has M= 8.08, SD= 3.53.
Based on a previous study, initial career decision-making is part of the developmental
task that adolescents are expected to have accomplished by the end of their high school years
(Ferry, 2006). However, in the present study, it is clearly shown that most of the students are
within the average level. This may indicate that students were still in the process of discovering
and exploring their career choice.
Research Question 2: What is the level of exposure in career-related activities of first year
college students?
Table 2 Level of exposure in career-related activities
f
Level of Exposure
Low
19
16.96
-1.37
Average
72
64.29
-0.08
High
21
18.75
1.54
0.000323985
Grand M
In the present study, Table 2 shows that 16.96% of the students (N=112) who
participated in the study have low exposure to career-related activities, 18.75% have high
exposure to career-related activities and 64.29% have average exposure to career-related
activities. M= 0.000323985, SD= 0.999993888. The result clearly shows that most of the
students have experienced and completed an average count of activities.
Having experiences that are relevant to career choice can provide opportunities for
career exploration (Stringer & Kerpelman, 2010), which according to some research,
individuals who had career-related experiences were more likely to have made a career decision
( Creed et al, 2005). According to Yip (2009), out-of-classroom activities are well recognized
as effective means to widen and extend students understanding about different career. It also
helps the students to acquire related skills, positive values and attitudes such as having sense of
responsibility, integrity and commitment.
Research Question 3: What is the respondents perceived parental involvement in terms
of support, interference and lack of engagement?
Table 3 Perceived Parental-Career Related Behaviors
Facets of Parental
Involvement
SD
Support
3.17
.70
Interference
2.44
.94
Lack of Engagement
1.36
.66
The data presented in Table 3 shows that students perceive that their parents usually
95
support (M= 3.17) them with their career choice and career preparation. Given this fact,
students with a greater perception of support from their parents present career decisiveness
(Moura & Veiga, 2005). Although they somehow recognize that their parents seldom interfere
(M=2.44) with their decisions. Parents interference may see or serve as pressure to students
(e.g. too much involvement, intervening) resulting to passivity. Moreover, students do not
perceive that their parents have no support or engagement at all with their career choice and
career preparation (M=1.36).
Research Question 4: Is there a significant relationship between Parental Involvement and
Career Indecision?
Table 4 Career Indecision and Parental Involvement
Vocational
Identity
Support
Interference
Lack of Engagement
Pearson
Correlation
.143
-.250**
-.177
Sig. (2-tailed)
.133
.008
.062
112
96
Pearson Correlation
.032
Sig. (2-tailed)
.737
112
disinterest in the childs plans, goals and can be therefore foreseen as lack of real and genuine
engagement. Adolescents might not have accurately distinguished lack of engagement and
interference, especially when they feel the support from their parents.
On the other hand, the present study found out that there is no significant relationship
between exposure in career-related activities and career indecision. This implies that whether an
individual is exposed to a lot or several activities related to ones career, it does not predict
career indecision nor career decisiveness. Although as stated in most studies that career
exposures and experiences are helpful means in career decision-making.
The present study focused on the influences of parental involvement and exposure in
career-related activities to career indecision of students. The study relied on students
perceptions of their parents involvement however the relationship of the student with their
parents were not distinguished. Active and genuine involvement of parents would help in
reducing the possibility of indecision in accordance with the career path of the student. On the
other hand, schools should help in promoting diverse career-related activities inside and outside
of classroom could help in decreasing the risk of career indecision among students. It is likely
that students especially adolescents would be aware with the wide array of careers.
The present study has its own limitations. First, the study focused on adolescents.
Second, the relationship of parent and child were not distinguished. Third, frequency of
involvement to a specific career-related activity was not identified in the study. It is
recommended to investigate the parent-child relationship, how parents involve themselves in
career exploration of their child and how they show their support to the career choice made by
their child, knowing that there are several parenting styles. The researcher also recommends
distinguishing and recognizing other career-related activities that are not cited in the study. The
researcher also recommends further studies on other possible predictors of career indecision,
such as individuals personality, occupational information, socio-economic status and others.
Other methods of acquiring data are also recommended. In-depth Interview with the students
could be a help in determining other possible factors that could contribute in career indecision
of students.
References:
Auger, R., Blackhurst, A., & Wahl, K.(2005). The development of elementary-aged childrens
career aspirations and expectations. Professional School Counseling, 8(4).
Callanan, G., & Benzing, C. (2004). Assessing the role of internships in the career oriented
employment of graduating college students. Education + Training, 46(2), 82-89.
Creed, P., Prideaux, L., & Patton, W. (2005). Antecedents and consequences of career decisional
states in adolescence. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 67, 397-412.
Creed, P., Patton, W., & Prideaux, L. (2006). Causal Relationship Between Career Indecision
and Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy: A Longitudinal Cross-Lagged Analysis.
Journal of Career Development, 33(1), 47-65.
Dietrich, J., & Kracke, B. (2007). Career-specific parental behaviors in adolescent development.
Journal of Vocational Behavior. 75(2), 109-119.
Emmanuelle, V. (2009). Inter-relationships among attachment to mother and father, self-esteem,
and career indecision. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 75(2), 91-99.
Ferry, N. (2006). Factors influencing career choices of adolescents and young adults in rural
Pennsylvania. Journal of Extension, 44(3).
Freedman, L. (2013). The Developmental Disconnect in Choosing a Major: Why Institutions
Should Prohibit Choice until Second Year. The Mentor: An Academic Advising Journal.
Retrieved from http://dus.psu.edu/mentor/2013/06/disconnect-choosing-major/
Guay, F., Senical, C, Gauthier, L., & Fernet, C. (2003). Predicting career indecision: A self98
habitual, 116 (10%) report that it reduces sexual interest towards potential real-life partners, and
the remaining 106 (9.1%) report a kind of addiction. In addition, 19% of overall pornography
consumers report an abnormal sexual response, while the percentage rose to 25.1% among
regular consumers.
Online Pornography
It is scientifically proven that every single pleasurable act done makes the human brain
produce dopamine, in cases of addiction the brain produces too much dopamine that it becomes
tolerant of it and craves for more; eating food and having sex are examples of what could be
called Natural Reinforcers they provided dopamine, but what is different is that the Natural
Reinforcers don't come instantaneously, there's always some difficulty present to achieve or get
them (Wilson, 2010). However now, sexual gratification becomes easy to achieve because porn
wrecks this idea as it can literally be accessed with a push of a button. In addition, pornography
use can lead to addiction and what makes it worse is that when compared to other addictive
stimuli, porn can be easily accessed to, and offers a whole variety of genres from which users
can switch from and to whenever the user demands variety. Under the idea of Coolidge effect,
variety in pornography means reactivation of the limbic system in the production of dopamine,
thus the act of seeking and using a novel stimuli becomes addictive as it feels rewarding to the
user (Wilson, 2010).
Furthermore, violent behaviors towards women (Hald et al., 2009) are promoted by
violent porn usage, along with neglect of priorities (Beyens et al., 2015); social anxiety,
depression, and desensitization to many natural stimuli (Wilson, 2010), and sexual dysfunction
which occurs mostly in males (Sabina et al., 2009) may and can be caused by usage of Online
Porn.
Pet Ownership
Mordley (2015) stated that pet ownership can help addicts alleviate symptoms of
pornography, for it non-confrontational, unconditional when begging for attention and affection,
influences the rehab-ee to be more outgoing due to the needy presence of the dog to be taken
care of, and help rehab-ee to temporarily forget his/her current issues such i.e. depression,
anxiety, and feelings of alienation which are psychological symptoms of addiction.
In agreement with Handlin, Hydbring-Sandberg, Nilsson, Edjeback, Jansson, and UnvasMoberg (2011) states from their experiment that after 1-5 minutes of interaction with their pets,
pet owners oxytocin levels peaked. Oxytocin, are hormones that are more well known as the
love hormone; what it does to a persons mind is that it gives the person a feeling of being
trusted, loved, relaxes them, confidence to interact and socialize with people, and ultimately
gives them a feeling of psychological stability (MacGill, 2014).
Synthesis
The variables used were: Online Pornography Addiction, Dysfunctional Social
Behaviour, and Pet Ownership. In the topic of Online Pornography Addiction, (Wilson, 2010;
Malamuth, 2006; & Sabina, 2009), most of the studies mentioned that Online Porn Addiction
was mostly caused by its ease of access to the public, more rather it's availability. Stating that the
addicts behavior towards other people, the society, and to their cognitive performance have
dramatically changed. About the topic of Pet ownership, (Johnson & Kenny, 2010) the study was
about pet ownership and oxytocin which regulates the dopamine levels. Pet ownership causes the
owners to feel calm, affectionate, and trust. And activities with pets have shown that production
of oxytocin and serotonin rise.
To sum it all up, Online Porn Addiction has the capacity to cause Dysfunctional Social
Behaviors as addicts become desensitized to normal stimuli and begin to look for more intense
stimuli that would give them amount of dopamine they crave for or binge on their current stimuli
until they had enough (Hald et al, 2009). Using Dog Ownership as an intervention method, the
101
participants would produce both serotonin if they would exercise with their pets and would also
produce oxytocin as automatically, owning a pet would make them ideally produce oxytocin
which would help them recover from their addiction.
The objective of this study is to provide information regarding the possible addiction to
online pornography and to give it more emphasis as to other cases of addiction. And to document
a possible working intervention method that would distract online pornography viewers from
doing their routine activities. The aim of this research is to answer the following questions: (1)
Before the experiment, how much time do participants spend watching porn?, (2) After the
experiment, how much time do participants spend watching porn? (3) How effective is owning a
pet as an intervention towards each participants porn use?
Methods
Research Design
For this research, the researcher utilized the use of the Quasi-experimental design; as the
intention of the researcher is to find out the effectiveness of the researchers suggested method of
intervention. In order to find out the interventions effectiveness, the researcher will have to
conduct an experiment where the researcher would be able to measure the changes by applying
an independent variable to the experimental participants and will observe and look out for
changes in the dependent variable. The researcher, had implemented the use of Independent
Measures design wherein the population was halved and the experimental group underwent the
experimental condition whereas the controlled group did not. The pre-test values were the time
each participant would watch porn per week.
Participants
The population were college students residing within the cities of Las Pinas, Paranaque,
and Muntinlupa. For the experiment, the number of participants required was 30, due to financial
reasons. Initially, during the screening phase there were (N=90) who took the initial survey; then
became 61 after the initial survey. By the second survey which was PCQ the 61 participants
dwindled down to the desired number of 30 participants. The 30 participants were picked based
on the intensity of their use, knowledge, time they spend consuming it, where they consume it,
and application of online pornography to their lives through the assessment survey those who
were picked will go on through the experiment (Hald, 2006). 15 out of 30 participants
participated in the experimental group while the other half were in the experimental group;
which would be 15 for the controlled group.
Sampling Description
Every college student had an equal chance of becoming a questionnaire respondent, their
key to becoming an experiment participant. The sampling method used for the study was
Random Sampling Method. Aside from the fact that the researcher had to specifically seek out
additional female respondents due to the lack of female participants who consume porn on a
regular basis due to the countrys culture and norms. To become experimental participants, in the
first screening survey participants must answer that they use porn, and in the second screening
survey the participants must be able to achieve a total mean average of 3 in the P.E.D. (Positive
Effect Dimension) of the scale.
Instruments
To identify possible participants, the researcher made use of a questionnaire which
identifies respondents who view pornography, how much they view it in a month, and how much
in a week, this was made and utilized by Hald & Malamuth with their scale and questionnaire in
the research they conducted (2006), it was a choice based questionnaire (see Appendix).
The researcher made use of a scale called Pornography Consumption Effects Scale or
PCES and questionnaire called PCQ or Pornography Consumption Questionnaire that made use
102
of a Likert Scale which has 47 questions (Hald & Malamuth, 2006). PCES measures the
participants sex life, attitude towards sex, sexual knowledge, perception and attitudes of towards
the opposite gender, and life in general through PCQ. This was necessary to further validate
those who will be qualified for the experiment.
To measure the change in porn behavior the researcher monitored the browser history of
the participants personal computers, and in-phone browsers, also would perform regedit
Windows Registry and CMD Command Shell scans of the computer and the smart phones if
ever the browser history had been erased or the user made use of the private browsing function in
browsers, the procedure of gathering data from their respective devices with the regedit
softwares and was done before and after the experimental procedure.
The PCQ is a Likert scale of 7 responses which has 47 questions; the questions are of
certain categories. There are 5 categories in the test which are: Sex Life, Life in General,
Perception and Attitudes towards the Opposite Gender, Attitudes Towards Sex, and Sexual
Knowledge
Procedure
Initial Assessment Procedure
The researcher conducted a mini-survey to respondents whose aim is to identify
respondents who view online pornography from those who do not consume online pornography,
their viewing frequency and times, and where they consume the said media. (Hald,2006)
Although, the questionnaire omitted some questions in the original questionnaire for the purpose
of privacy and respect to the countrys cultural norms and beliefs. Each participant who
answered Yes at the very first question which indicates the question whether or not they
consume online pornography, each respondent were asked if a regedit and CMD scans can be
performed on their digital unit, and most of them complied.
The objective of the survey is to weed out respondents who do not watch online
pornography, and seek out possible experiment participants.
Secondary Assessment Procedure
The researcher conducted the PCQ survey for the secondary assessment / screening. The
PCQ has 6 categories of questions and both have positive and negative versions which are:
Positive Effect Dimensions (PED), and Negative Effect Dimensions (NED). For each item,
participants were asked to indicate the various effects of consumption using an 7-point Likert
scale ranging from 1 to 7. (Hald, 2006)
The idea of the second questionnaire was to find out the ideas of pornography consumers
about the said medium. Those who ranked highest in the PED area and low in the NED area
were considered to be experiment participants.
Experimental Procedure
The researcher asked the 30 respondents who qualified from the questionnaires they went
through, all participants were briefed before giving consent to the experiment; there were 30
participants in total, and were halved to respectively belong in two groups: The Controlled
Group, and The Experimental Group. The ones in the Control group had 8 females and 7 males,
and the opposite in the Experimental group which was consisted of 7 females and 8 males.
Each in the experimental group were given a pair of fish which were purchased from
local pet shops. The duration of the experiment was 2 weeks, every week the participants were
contacted via mobile by the researcher including the ones in the control group. After 2 weeks, the
researcher gathered the data via Windows Registry and CMD from their respective homes and
units from where they can access the internet.
103
Data Analysis
All tabulated scores from the initial screening using the PCES were analyzed by using
Excel and SPSS v.19. The test procedures made use of various testing procedures such as: Mann
Whitney U Test, Two Independent Variable t-test, Pearsons Chi Square, and Paired Samples
Test. Because two screening methods had to be done, as for the experiment itself the reevaluation of the first screening survey was sufficient enough to measure the times of
pornography consumption of each experiment and controlled groups participants.
Results
Table 1. First Screening Test (Gathering time 1 of 3 and Qualification)
Variables
Men
Women
Tests
84.62 (33)
54.9 (28)
No
15.38 (6)
45.1 (23)
6.06 (2)
7.14 (2)
1 - 2 times a month
15.151 (5)
32.14 (9)
1 - 2 times a week
15.151 (5)
21.43 (6)
3 times a week
36.363 (12)
14.29 (4)
Almost everyday
27.272 (9)
25 (7)
15.15 (5)
14.29 (4)
30 - 59 mins
12.12 (4)
17.86 (5)
60 - 89 mins
18.18 (6)
28.57 (8)
90 - 119 mins
12.12 (4)
21.43 (6)
33.33 (11)
14.29 (4)
6.06 (2)
3.57 (1)
180 + mins.
3.03 (1)
104
Cohens p-value
Kappa
d
= p=0.003
0.279
U = 371;
df = 4
d
=0 p=.176
.046
U = 372;
df = 6
d
= p= .184
0.019
73.33(25)
71.43 (25)
Other Places
16.67 (8)
17.86 (5)
d = - p = .458
0.067
t = 1.333
d
=
df = 58.928 0.348
p=.0524
3.67
3.14
SD
1.689
1.380
-All who answered No in the very first question were excluded from answering the miniquestionnaire further from and taking the PCQ , which is the screening method to see which
participants would be qualified to be an experiment participant.
* p-values are at < .05
Table 2. Second Screening Test Results (Qualifying Participants for Experiment)
Variables
Men
+Effect
SD
SD
SK
4.46
1.419
33
3.81
1.225
ATS
4.56
1.373
33
3.39
PATOG
4.50
1.442
33
LG
3.79
1.587
SL
3.78
Overall
Women
T-test*
df
**Kappa
28
1.927
58.976
.96
1.296
28
3.421
58.308
.90
3.66
1.564
28
2.165
55.589
.58
33
2.66
1.093
28
3.267
56.758
.87
1.545
33
2.86
1.450
28
2.392
58.368
.63
4.22
1.214
33
3.28
1.482
28
ns
ns
ATS
1.95
.658
33
2.23
.892
28
-1.359
48.869
ns
PATOG
1.90
.844
33
2.19
.882
28
-1.312
56.485
ns
LG
1.69
.662
33
2.04
1.108
28
-1.487
42.527
ns
SL
1.82
.509
33
1.87
.673
28
-.313
49.670
ns
Overall
1.84
.679
33
2.08
.902
28
ns
ns
ns
- Effect
* p < 0.05
** Cohens Kappa at NED cannot be found if t-test is at negative value.
*** Definitions of the abbreviations used above can be found at the instruments area
Table 3: Group Statistics = Times of Post-Test and Pre-Test (Means and SDs) Data Comparison
Group
Mean
105
Std. Deviation
Post-Test
Experimental
15
4.00
1.134
.293
Controlled
15
3.40
1.298
.335
Experimental
15
2.60
1.183
.306
Controlled
15
2.87
1.302
.336
Table 4: Independent Samples T-Test Results (Searching for significance for t-test of experiment)
Equality
Variances
of
Pre-Test
Sig.
df
Sig. (2)
MD
SED
Lower i
Upper i
EVA
.753
.393
1.348
28
.188
.600
.445
-.312
1.512
1.348
27.502
.189
.600
.445
-.312
1.512
-.587
28
.562
-.267
.454
-1.197
.664
-.587
27.748
.562
-.267
.454
-1.198
.664
EVNA
Post-Test
EVA
EVNA
.065
.801
Discussion
Results have shown that participants of both groups had their times decreased, as shown
in Table 3. However, it is noticeable that men tend to answer more in the P.E.D. than in the
N.E.D (Table 2). In the study of Malamuth, Hald, and, Yuen (2009) it has been revealed an
association between mens violent behavior towards women and pornography consumption. It
has been stated that violent forms of pornography have shown more encouragement to commit or
have an attitude that support violence towards women.
1.) Pre - Test: Time spent watching Pornography
In the Pre-Test, data was gathered through the initial survey, and the regedit and CMD scans, the
questionnaire and scale from Hald & Malamuth (2006) was utilized for this task, from regedit
and CMD, the links to each video was gathered, tracked down, recorded for the duration for each
video, then interpreted into the scale. In comparison, the data from gathered from the
questionnaire and the software scans did not vary much for majority of the individuals and the
researcher was met with the same mean of (M=4.00) for the experimental group with a standard
deviation value of (SD=1.134), and (M=3.40) for the controlled group. Making the average of
(Ave = 4) for the experimental group with (SD=1.298), and (Ave = 3) for the controlled group.
2.) Post-Test: Time spent watching Pornography
Now, in the Post-Test, data was now gathered solely from the regedit and CMD softwares, the
same procedure from the pre-test was followed again. The data that was gathered resulted in the
following values: Experimental Group (M=2.60), (SD=1.183); Controlled Group (M=2.87),
(SD=1.302).
3.) Intervention Efficiency: Pet Ownership
If the data from both the Pre-Test and Post-Test Results were to be compared, then it is a given
that the value of the Post-Test mean (M=2.60) was lower than the Pre-Test mean (M=4.00). And
surprisingly, even the data from the Controlled Group changed (M=2.87),(SD=1.302). With both
106
groups having their values lower than the average, it is to say that Pet Ownership as an
intervention method for Porn Consumption can be considered as an effective way to decrease
time watching porn.
An independent samples t-test was used to check the effectiveness of Pet Ownership in
Online Pornography Consumption, Pre Test: t(28) = 1.348, p= .188; Post Test: t(28) = -.578, p =
.562. However no significant difference was found (Exp. M = 4.00 ; Con. M = 2.87) since p <
0.05. The experiment was held during the final week of February 2015, and was accomplished
by the first week of March 2015.
Conclusion and Recommendation
The intervention was successful in producing due to the difference of 1.4 in the mean of
pre-test experimental participants from 4 to 2.6 in the post- test. However, the possibility that
extraneous variables may have negatively contributed with the results, as the experiment relied
on duration of time and other possible factors that might have affected the outcome of the study;
and the fact that the control group also had a similarly noticeable difference from its pre-test data
only proves that the participants in the experimental group might have also been affected by
what caused the significant change in the controlled group.
The researcher concludes due to the possibility of extraneous variables making most of
the reason why such a change occurred in data that the intervention method of Pet Ownership
tackling the issue of Heavy Usage of Pornography, even in its form of addiction or any other
form of addiction, as a debatable method of intervening the subject.
To improve the intervention method, rather than making use of fishes that dont require
much attention, the researcher advises to resort to a more attention seeking stimuli like dogs,
cats, rabbits, and etc. be used for interventions such as these. Also, to amplify and further
improve the results of any studies tackling the same issue it is advised that future researchers
make a scale and a questionnaire for genres that porn viewers consume.
References:
Beyens, I., Vandensboch, I., Eggermont, S. (2015). Early Adolescent Boys exposure to Internet
pornography: Relationships to pubertal timing, sensation seeking, and academic
performance
Bronner, G., Ben-Zion, I.Z. (2014). Unusual masturbatory practice as an etiological factor in the
diagnosis and treatment of sexual dysfunction in young men.
Daneback, K., Ross, M.,& Mannson, S.A. (2006). Characteristics and Behaviors of Sexual
Compulsives Who Use the Internet for Sexual Purposes
Hald, G. (2006) Gender Differences in Pornography Consumption Among Young Heterosexual
Youths
Hald, G., Malamuth, N., & Yuen, C. (2009). Pornography and Attitudes Supporting Violence
Against Women: Revisiting the Relationship in Nonexperimental Studies
Handlin, L., Hydbring-Sandberg, E., Nilsson, A., Edjeback, M., Jansson, A., Unvas-Moberg, K/
(2011). Short-Term Interaction between Dogs and Their Owners
Johnson, P., & Kenny, P. (2010). Dopamine D2 receptors in addiction-like reward
dysfunction and compulsive eating in obese rats.
MacGill, M. (2014) Oxytocin, What is it? What does it do?
Malamuth, N. & Hald, G. (2006). Self-Perceived Effects of Pornography Consumption
Mordley, A. (2015). How do pets make a Difference in Addiction Recovery?
Pizzol, D., Bertoldo, A., Foresta, C. (2015). Adolescents and web porn: A new era of Sexuality.
Sabina, C., Wolak, J., and Finkelhor, D. (2009). Rapid Communication:The Nature and
Dynamics of Internet Pornography Exposure for Youth
107
108
According to Jon Stewart, "we have made enormous progress in teaching everyone that
racism is bad. Where we seem to have dropped the ball is in teaching people what racism
actually is." We know what we need to know but the process is wrong. We want a grasp of the
good cause but it doesnt seem to be enough.
Perhaps it all started during the era of the Spanish colonization. They made a caste
system showing not only the importance of skin color but also the importance of each people in
the
society
regardless
of
skill
and
intellect
(retrieved
from
http://www.hierarchystructure.com/racial-hierarchy-in-Philippines/). The caste system showed
permanence on Filipinos role in the society and it paved way to racism. Spaniards during those
times bullied those beneath them which served as a perfect example to influence the Filipinos
racial attitude.
Racism
Filipinos has an inclination towards a hostile mindset against other race. According to
GMA news online their attitude towards other race is because of their low tolerance towards an
out-group (Francisco, 2014). Filipinos always have this dress code with our hair, clothes, etc.
that is why when people of another culture comes in the picture they are quick to judge while in
veil of superior attitude. In this context, Filipinos are the majority and having leverage by
number leads to negative attitude towards other race (Richeson & Ambady, 2003). The main
focus of this study are Koreans because they are most abundant in the Philippines according to
Foreign Service Institute. They said Philippines host the largest number of Koreans according to
their statistics way back 2011 and is continually growing because of the constant cultural
exchange through importation of Koreans from South Korea and exportation of Filipinos to
South Korea (Wong, 2013).
According to Henri Tajfels social identity theory prejudice leads to racism (Tajfel &
Turner, 2004). Also according to Social Identity Theory, awareness that there is a distinction
between two groups is sufficient to cause a classification of one group as an in-group and the
other group as an out-group. When there is a classification of in and out group then there is a
109
tendency that it will lead to prejudice because it is part of our defense mechanism to look for
differences to increase our own self-esteem and this situation may also lead to racism. This
research will study the effects of color psychology to an individuals prejudice that by
manipulating color stimuli researchers can also find out its effects on prejudice.
Color Psychology
Color psychology has shown several support that claims some of its effects on human
cognition although there are also other factors to be considered when studying it. An empirical
research was done by Andrew Elliot and Markus Maier regarding one possible effect of color by
giving participants an IQ test while being presented with a color stimuli. The research focused on
the red color and they found out that it elicited avoidance motivation and reduced intellectual
performance (Elliot & Maier, 2007). Another research done by Sevinc Kurt and Kelechi Osueke
examines another aspect of color psychology. Using the students union complex at a university
campus, they have retrieved four hundred ninety questionnaires that were handed out randomly.
They found out that red is associated with excitement, shades of green has a revitalizing effect,
pink lessens aggression and that grey doesnt elicit a psychological response (Kurt & Osueke,
2014).
Emotion also plays an important role in color psychology. A study shows that evoked
emotions may also settle to an independent stimulus and people tend to have more prejudice
against that which evokes an emotion they are susceptible to. On the other hand, a study reveals
that a simple notion of guilt could result to a positive bearing towards a certain race in response
to an ad (Fazio & Hilden, 2001). This result is supported by a research paper showing a dynamic
model of guilt in relation to prejudice using electroencephalogram. The results show that
participants are more willing to learn more about prejudice reduction the greater their guilt are
(Amodio & Devine, 2007).
Visual Stimulus
Other consideration includes the fact that this study involves visual stimulus and that this
research cannot proceed without understanding how it will work in this experiment. The study of
Oliva (2005) states that we can recognize an image even with low-level features based from the
spatial representation by using our own perception and our previously absorbed concept. We can
retain its visual image via visual working memory and duration of observation but it still depends
upon the amount of information an image has because we have this limit called informational
load (Chen & Jiang, 2005). In a study involving visual stimulus, it must be noted that, depending
on the background, our perception of an image can change according to Davenport and Potter
(2004).
Synthesis
The way we see image background involves our perception. Depending on how perceive
things we may interpret something with a different understanding. Different colors evoke
different emotions. Prejudice is conducive depending on an individuals emotional response.
Association is also a viable option in attempting to reduce a persons prejudice levels.
Combining the these concepts would mean that if the researcher associates a particular group to
a certain color that evokes positive racial attitude it may lessen an individuals level of prejudice.
Using Naz Kaya and Helen Epps study of color and emotion on what evokes guilt, this research
will focus on studying the effects of green on an individuals prejudice level.
This research aims to answer the following questions: What is the level of prejudice
among the participants before the intervention? What is the level of prejudice among the
participants after the intervention? Is there significant difference in levels of prejudice between
110
the pretest and posttest of the first sample? Is there significant difference in the levels of
prejudice between the pretest and posttest of the second sample? Did the counterbalancing
follow the expected linear relationship?
Method
Research Design
Experimental design two-group across subjects counterbalancing was used so that the
reliability of the data gathered can be compared and proven with sufficient evidence.
Participants
Participants are college students. The two groups involved are from the course of IS and
BSBA FM. The two groups were selected using a mix of convenient and criterion sampling.
Convenient sampling was used because of school regulation and permission process that limits
choosing of participants. Criterion sampling was mixed with convenient sampling in order to
prevent any extraneous variables caused by prediction of hypothesis. The criteria used is nonpsychology students. In the group of IS there were 10 boys and 15 girls with an age range of 1821. In the group of BSBA FM there were 7 boys and 24 girls with and age range of 18-20.
Instrument
This research used the Situational Attitude Scale(SAS) made by Dr. William Sedlacek
(1996). It is a one hundred item Likert scale although in this experiment two hundred items was
used. This scale measures an individuals prejudice towards a certain group. The test-retest and
coefficient alpha reliability estimates for scores are in the .70 to .89 range (Sedlaceck,1996). This
test has undergone series of validations to make it as flexible as possible.
First is the creation of circumstantial reference, they made sure that the test evokes
prejudice among the participants.
Second is the creation of multiple versions of the test to make sure that their response is
based on the stimulus term. After verifying both conditions it has been tested to various groups
which is the reason for the given range of reliability score. This test is valid across almost any
groups that is why you can change the target group inside the parentheses according to your
preference.
Procedures
Before the briefing, two questions were asked to eliminate the extraneous variables:
1. Have you watched any Korean films lately or are you currently watching one? Those who
raised their hand were asked to stay at the back. Afterwards it was clarified that those who
are not currently watching Korean films but has watched one more than 5 years ago would
still be included in the experiment.
2. Are you a fan of any Kpop groups? Those who raised their hand were asked to stay at the
back. Afterwards it was clarified that even though they are not a fan of Kpop groups but have
attended a concert recently then they are still to be excluded.
The first data was collected from the course BSBA FM. During the briefing with their
class, the researcher presented the situational attitude scale telling them what it is for and how
many items does it contain followed by the whole procedure in taking the exam and some things
to remember while answering it. During the pretest, respondents were told that they would be
shown a picture of a Korean (without a yellow-green background) first and will be tasked to stare
at it for one minute. Only then would they answer the first 100 items. They were told that after
completion of part 1 they should stop and wait for further instructions. After everyone finished
part 1 the researcher proceeded with the posttest. They were shown another picture of a Korean
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(with yellow-green background) and was tasked to stare at it for one minute. Afterwards they
were told to continue with the rest of the 100 items. After finishing part 2 they waited for a while
for others to finish and then they passed their papers simultaneously. After receiving their papers
the researcher explained to them that the experiment was all about measuring the levels of their
prejudice towards Koreans and the researcher also explained why others were excluded in the
experiment. Lastly, they were asked if they have any more questions.
The second data collected was from the course IS. The same procedure was applied
except for this time counterbalancing was in effect. The picture with yellow-green background
was shown first during the pretest followed by displaying the picture without yellow-green
background for posttest.
Data Analysis
Paired sample t-test was used to know the accuracy of the data collected from the SAS. It
presents the varying mean between two pairs of sample. The researcher used the Statistical
Product and Service Solutions (SPSS) software for windows as the statistical tool in analyzing
the data that was gathered.
Results
Table 1. Paired T-test analysis between prejudice levels of pretest and posttest of
BSBA FM students
Pretest
(n=32)
Posttest
(n=32)
Mean
SD
Mean
SD
3.1594
.52812
2.9546
.26467
Mean
Difference
df
p
value
interpretation
.2048
3.324
99
.001
Theres significant
difference
Table 1 illustrates the paired t-test analysis done to compare the two groups on their
prejudice levels. The students prejudice level before the intervention has a mean of 3.1594. The
students prejudice level after the intervention has a mean of 2.9546. The t value is 3.324 and the
p value is 0.001 which is less than 0.05. The findings suggest there is a significant difference in
the prejudice levels which means there is a varying level of prejudice before and after the
intervention. The expected output is a decrease in prejudice level and the table shows an
agreement with it.
Table 2. Paired T-test analysis between prejudice levels of pretest and posttest of IS
students
Pretest
(n=25)
Posttest
(n=25)
Mean
SD
Mean
SD
3.1578
.51002
2.9780
.31126
Mean
Difference
df
p
value
interpretation
.1798
2.988
99
.004
Theres significant
difference
Table 2 illustrates the paired t-test analysis done to compare the two groups on their
prejudice levels. The students prejudice level during the intervention has a mean of 3.1578. The
students prejudice level without the intervention has a mean of 2.9780. The t value is 2.988 and
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the p value is 0.004 which is less than 0.05. The findings suggest there is a significant difference
in the prejudice levels which means there is a varying level of prejudice before and after the
intervention. The expected output is an increase in prejudice level but the results show otherwise.
Discussion
Both results show a decrease in levels of prejudice which presents a doubtful support to
the research hypothesis. Presumably the first pair would have an decrease in levels of prejudice
and the second pair would have an increase in levels of prejudice. As shown in the table above
the first pair have shown the predicted outcome although the second pair resulted in divergence
towards the research assumption. We therefore do not have conclusive evidence to state that
color evoking guilt which is green have a strong relationship with levels of prejudice. The only
thing the researcher can say for now is that maybe there is a varying principle in color
psychology with respect to culture because there are diverse emotional response to colors from
different countries (Adams & Osgood,1973).
As discussed in the paper of Kurt and Osueke there is a variety of response possible
depending on the color stimuli. The varying result may have something to do with not just the
experiment but also the color of the classroom. Knowing that green stimuli evoke feelings of
guilt doesnt negate the fact that other colors can affect and intervene with the process of the
experiment. They also mentioned that researchers attempting to study color psychology must
consider innovating the process of research because there are really a lot of factors to consider
before they can have definite proof that a particular color has this certain property that affects an
individuals psychological response.
Conclusion and Recommendation
This research aims to find out the effects of color evoking guilt to prejudice and the
results only showed a claim for further revisions of design of the experiment. It lacks the
innovating process that considers all factors that may affect the human psychological response to
color stimuli. The researchers only finding in this experiment is that it may or may not have
worked because of contradicting results. This research has provided future studies an
opportunity to examine other technical variables that may have affected the experiment besides
acknowledging the presence of extraneous variables.
Having a significant difference for both results would mean that there is something
wrong with the manipulation of the experiment. Should the study ever be replicated the future
researcher, if there is already a wider connection of color psychology, should design an
experiment involving as many variables as possible to yield in the most specific response
possible. The researcher also needs a bigger sample to generate a more conclusive result in the
Philippines. Since the study done by Naz Kaya,PH.D and Helen Epps, PH.D only involved a
sample from the University of Georgia perhaps applying its findings on a different setting would
also require a replication of its study in that particular place.
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(Locke, C., & Anderson, C., 2015), hand gestures (Talley and Temple, 2015), and posture
(Carney et al, 2010) are effective in modifying how people perceive us and even change our own
abilities for the better (Koch, Holland, Hengstler, & van Knippenberg, 2009).
The purpose of this research is to measure the effectiveness of using nonverbal
communication as an inexpensive and easy to do method of increasing ones leadership ability
with something as quick and easy as changing how you stand and communicate with people
using your body. Doing so would change many introverts who have difficulty in developing their
leadership skills in a positive way and would remove biases on leadership that is based on
personality predisposition.
Body Language
Posture and nonverbal communication is also one of the quickest ways of being a leader.
The saying Fake it til you make it is actually quite true. Carney, Cuddy and Yap (2010) stated
in the results of their study that doing power poses for 2 minutes can increase an individuals
testosterone and endocrine levels which result in better confidence. Koch et al, (2009) and their
study about cognitive processes and body locomotion found out that stepping backwards when
faced with a problem can help increase cognitive abilities which can help in dealing with tasks
and being able to solve them effectively.
More information on the effects of nonverbal communication according to Locke et al,
(2015), is that the voice of a leader affects the members performance. Possessing a powerful
voice as well helps in being a leader and helps to be identified by the group with the only
downside being able to stifle the other voices of the group members. Sanchez-Cortes, D., Aran,
O., Mast, M., & Gatica-Perez, D. (2012) said in their study of leaders who emerged in newly
small groups were perceived by their groupmates as an active and competent person which was
aided by the leaders nonverbal communication in relation with the proper tone and intonation of
the voice.
In addition, Tsukiura and Cabeza (2008) discovered how important smiling to people
based on their research. Their results showed that smiling faces were more memorable and
seemed as more approachable and easier to work with compared to people with neutral facial
expressions which is important because as a leader one would want their members to have trust
in them. Rauchbauer, Majdandzic, Hummer, Windischberger, and Lamm (2015) noted that the
Chameleon Effect can be used in order to amplify the positive effects of smiling by increasing
feelings of affiliation and likeability towards members thus providing a more positive chemistry.
Beukeboom C. (2009) suggested that listening to someone whos talking showing positive body
language (e.g. smiling), the person talking would be more abstract and be more visual with their
explanation as compared to listening to someone with negative body language (e.g. frowning)
which would result to the speaker being more literal with the words they say.
Similarly with the connection of facial expressions, Kelly, Kravitz, and Hopkins (2004)
made a study if theres a neural connection between speech and body language in a persons
comprehension. They found out that there is and that saying one thing with contradicting body
language limits communication with another person thus creating confusion therefore the proper
combination would yield the desired message such as use of hand gestures. The findings of
Meeren, van Heijnsbergen, & de Gelder, (2005) suggested that by combining the appropriate
body language with the correct facial expression augments the emotion that is expressed. Not
doing so can send mixed signals which can confuse followers.
Even more so concerning posture, Furley, Dicks, Memmert (2012) and their study
concerning football and posture supported the notion that by bearing more dominant body
language are perceived more positive and would perform better by goalkeepers. Talley and
Temple (2015) and their study about hand gestures said that speakers who use more are attractive
and easier to listen to compared to those who are not using hand gestures. Frischen, Bayliss, &
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Tipper (2007) stated in their study how important the use of eye gaze or eye contact is in
communication and how it helps in making the one youre talking to feel that youre paying
attention to what is being said.
Leadership Performance of Introverts
Bakker, Tims, and Derks (2012) also stated that being more proactive towards people you
work with will increase engagement at work which will result to better performance. In addition,
Hong-Da, , Vivian,., Chin-Tien,., & Wu-Chen,. (2014) with their study of entrepreneurial leaders
having introverted qualities can be detrimental to their followers. Being passive and detached can
lower the morale and inhibit the capabilities of their employees to innovate.
In regards to that Klaang (2012) pointed out that in the field of sales and sales
management, introversion was looked down upon and was given lower ratings of importance as
opposed to having extrovert qualities such as assertiveness and proactivity. Grant (2013) also
supported this idea that extroverts earned more money than introverts do because of the
introverts lack of communication skills. Moreover Moss, Ritossa and Ngu (2006) made a study
about the preference of leaders in a hospital setting using the Big-Five model and their results
showed that introverted leaders had less preference among the subjects than extroverted leaders
who were considered as more motivating. Sieff and Carstens (2006) researched about focus in
the workplace and introverts scored lower than their extrovert counterparts. Introverts were seen
as less comfortable with the challenges of leadership. Added to the prior researches, Brandt and
Laiho (2013) examined leadership performance and transformational leader aspect of leaders by
making a survey given to leaders (n=459) and their employees (n=378) and found out that male
extroverted leaders found themselves more challenging which was also supported by the
employees answers.
To illustrate the prior facts, the study of de Vries (2008) about leadership and personality
in the workplace suggests that introverts are at a disadvantage as leaders. Introverts are seen as
passive and non-confrontational which is a downside especially when most, if not all careers,
require leaders to spark communication among the people in the office. Riggio and Rechard
(2008) suggested that people skills are a huge help in being an effective leader. Madlock. (2008)
conducted with supervisors and their employees concerning their communication skills and job
satisfaction. The results showed that there is a strong relationship with having strong
communication skills and job satisfaction by the employees and in turn produced better job
performance.
Including to the previous fact that one such problem for Introverts in being leaders is that
they have difficulty in maintaining Leader-Member Exchanges (LMX). Introverts are then
considered as more likely to be removed or let go in their positions of work whether they are
leaders or followers because of poor performance due to a lack of communication with their
workmates and mentors which also turned into minimal development performance (Bauer,
Lauden, Edrogan, 2006). Schyns, Maslyn, and van Veldhoven, (2012) made another study
concerning Leader-Member Exchanges and also supported the disadvantage Introverts have by
saying that Introverted leaders have a much more difficult time managing their inter-personal
relationships with their employees. As you go upward the corporate ladder and you manage more
people and that will lead to more difficulty to the introvert as a leader with their passive nature.
Lastly, meta-analyses of researches shows that extroverts and their traits like
assertiveness (Ames, 2007, 2009) were more perceived and showed better performance in
leadership.
Synthesis
The studies about nonverbal communication have opened eyes of its effects. Adjusting
posture can increase confidence (Carney et al, 2010) and even stepping backwards can help think
better (Koch et al, 2009). Voice can change the perception of members towards their leader
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(Sanchez-Cortes et al, 2012) and then affect their performance as well (Locke et al, 2015). Facial
expressions are an important part in nonverbal communication and have strong effects as well.
Smiling can help a person be more memorable and be perceived as approachable, easy to work
with and more trustworthy (Tskukiura and Cabeza, 2008). Giving the right amount (and proper
duration) of smiles during conversations can increase feelings of likeability and affirmation
towards group members (Rauchbauer et al 2015) and can also increase prosocial behavior in
groups (Baarren et al, 2009). Listening to someone talking and smiling at them will result in the
speaker feeling more encouraged and motivated to speak better. By combining the body
language with the correct hand gestures (Kelly et al, 2004) and even facial expressions (Mereen
et al, 2005) the emotion that is shown will be more felt and be augmented as compared to
contradicting ones will result to confusion. Using hand gestures make a person more appealing
as well (Talley and Temple, 2015). Correct eye contact helps in being a better listener and paired
with proper responses results to positive interactions (Frischen et al, 2007). All in all, dominant
body language and posture makes people perceive that they are more positive and performs well.
There are a number of reasons as to why introverts are not as regarded as their extrovert
counterparts. Introverts are less proactive (Bakker et al, 2012) and have submissive personalities
which have an effect on their performance as leaders and even just becoming one. Having
introverted traits can also be detrimental to their followers and hinder their development and
performance (Hong-Da et al 2014). Introversion is also a problem in job fields such as sales
(Klaang, 2012) where they earn the least as compared to extroverts and even ambiverts (Grant,
2013). Introverted leaders were seen as less motivating (Moss et al, 2006) and less focused and
were perceived as incapable of handling the pressure (Sieff and Carstens, 2006). Extroverted
leaders were perceived by themselves and by their employees as more challenging ( Brandt and
Laiho, 2013). The passivity and non-confrontational trait of introverts is a problem (de Vries,
2008) because having people skills is an important trait to be an effective leader (Riggio and
Rechard, 2008) which is sadly what introverts are lacking in. Lastly, introverts can sometimes
give employees a less satisfying time at work. Communication skills are a vital aspect of a leader
and underperforming in it can result to bad relationships with employees and them being less
effective.
This study aims to answer the following questions: (1) What is the level of leadership
performance in the pretest and posttest results? (2) What is the effect of the 12 Body Language
Tips for Career Success intervention?
Method
Research Design
The researcher employed a quasi-experimental design for this study because the goal was
to find out the effectiveness of the intervention. In order to find out if the intervention applied
was successful, the researcher would have to do an experiment where in the researcher would
measure the changes by applying an independent variable to the people involved in the
experiment and will observe for changes in the researchers chosen dependent variable. A
Within-Subjects Design was used by the researcher because it is the simplest design for this
study and is the best method to use in order to measure if there is a genuine effect in the person
before and after the intervention (Shuttleworth, 2009). A pre-test was done to establish a baseline
for the participants and after the intervention was given which was then followed by the post-test
and checked if there was a significant difference after the independent variable was applied.
Participants
The chosen participants for this study were introvert college students (n=30) using
purposive sampling since the required individuals to take part are strictly introverts. These 30
introverts were then assigned as leaders of groups of 3 including them and the other 2 members
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who are not included in the sample size of 30. In order for them to be qualified in the study, they
needed to have a score of less than or equal to 5 or below on the introversion factors of the online
16 PF test.
Instruments
16 Personality Factor Questionnaires. The 16PF is a self-report (Q-data) personality
questionnaire developed over several decades of empirical research by Raymond B. Cattell,
Maurice Tatsuoka and Herbert Eber. Even though the 16PF provides a measure of normal
personality trait constructs, it can also used be used as a clinical instrument (since clinical
patients may obtain extreme scores - "standard ten" or "sten" scores of 1-2 and/or 9-10 on a
number of the trait dimensions), as well as being widely used within other areas of psychology,
such as occupational selection both within civilian and military contexts. Beginning in the 1940s,
Cattell used the new statistical technique of common factor analysis which takes as its starting
point the matrix of intercorrelations between all the variables (see correlation coefficient) in an
attempt to elucidate the underlying source traits of human personality. The traits that were
chosen to be the basis for introversion were the following: A. Reserved/Warm, F. Serious/Lively,
G. Shy/Bold, N. Private/Forthright, and Q2. Self-Reliant/ Group-Oriented.
12 Body Language Tips For Career Success by Carol Kinsey Goman, Ph. D. The body
language tips that was used in the study was made by Carol Kinsey Goman who is an expert in
body language, leadership and success in careers. In order to be a more successful leader, a
person should stand tall and take up space, have wider stance, have an optimal vocal pitch when
talking, try power priming, practice power posing, maintain positive eye contact, use your hands
when delivering a presentation, use open gestures, practice doing the steeple hand gesture, learn
to reduce nervous gestures, smile appropriately, and also perfect your handshake.
Procedure
The main criteria for the participants was that they were required to be introverts since
the purpose of this study was to identify significant change in their leadership performance. In
order to verify the introverted qualities of the participants, they were given the 16 Personality
Factor questionnaires which were developed by Raymond Cattell. Those who scored a mean
score towards the left or between 0-2 on the scale is allowed to proceed to the second phase of
the study. The introverts were then required to bring 2 people with them (introverts or extroverts
regardless) for the following activity which is a common team-building activity called All Tied
Up. The introverts were then named the designated leaders for the activity to come. The
participants and their group were given a task to be succeeded in a given amount of time but with
a twist, they are to do the task with their wrists tied to each others. Their objective was to make
as much paper planes as they can in 10 minutes for two rounds which shall be the pre-test and
the post-test. After each round the members asked on any observations on how their grouped
performed and their leader. After the first pre-test, the leaders/introverts were then separated
from the group and brought into a different room to wait for their intervention. As the leaders
waited, the members were asked for observations on how their group performed and how their
leader performed as well.
The leaders, who were now in a separate room, were given intervention which was the
guide made by Carol Kinsey Goman on how to become better leaders. The guide is mainly about
body-language modification which includes tips like positive eye-contact, proper use of hands,
posture, smiling, and gestures towards other people. After the administration of the intervention,
the designated leaders were then returned to their respective groups and were to apply what they
learned in order to motivate their group to increase productivity output. The final round was then
done and that was considered the post-test. The number of planes produced during the post-test
were then compared to the number of planes produced in the pre-test. The groups were then
asked again how their team fared in the post-test design. They were also asked whether there was
119
a change in the leader of each group and was there a difference in how he/she performed. The
participants afterwards were given tokens/rewards for their participation in the experiment.
Statistical Treatment of Data
In order to analyze the results of the pretest and posttest numbers, using T-test for paired
samples was utilized to check for significant difference. The purpose of the T-test was to
properly identify if there was a significant statistical difference between the quantities of the
planes made in the pre-test and the post-test which will determine the effectiveness of the
intervention.
Results and Discussions
Research Question 1. What is the level of leadership performance in the pretest and posttest
results?
Table 1
The results of the pretest resulted with level of performance that is normal (M=18.4667)
meaning that the average productivity of the groups led by the introverted leaders were around
18. This value was the baseline on which the posttest was compared to. The Pre-test of the
groups provided the score as to which the leaders would be judged in the post-test. The average
of the scores were 18 planes (SD = 9.10753). The post-tests outcome displayed improvements
from the activity prior. The mean scores of the post-test(M = 26.7333) were higher by 8.26667
than the pre-test. The Pre-test of the groups provided the score as to which the leaders would be
judged in the post-test. The average of the scores were 18 planes (SD = 9.10753). The post-tests
outcome displayed improvements from the activity prior. The mean scores of the post-test(M =
26.7333) were higher by 8.26667 than the pre-test. The amount made in 15 minutes during
pretest was that amount which was due to the leaders not yet capable of acting as leaders. Most
of them were unsure of what to say or do and only relied on their members and stayed silent.
Some leaders chose to not move at all and let the other two to move instead thinking that they are
not as capable as folding paper planes. The introversion was very evident among the leaders
during the pretest. in when the introvert leaders didnt really talk much to their members. Most of
them were just doing the task they were given and were quite serious about it not talking much
and when they were it was very minimal.
Some members of the leaders on the other hand were more talkative than the leaders.
They talked more casually and sometimes talked about the task at hand. Some were giving
suggestions but some leaders were just simple and agreed silently. Some groups also had
members who were silent as their leaders as well. Also doing the task as it is and having little to
no communication at all. They didnt ask about how they were doing or if they were making
progress with their designs, they just went on with it. When other group members were feeling
discomfort with their position. Groups didnt talk about changing their positioning at all and just
moved autonomously without asking their fellow members permission for shifting their arms.
There were also other leaders who didnt bother moving at all and just let their members make
planes and considered it as a strategy. The members unfortunately didnt enjoy that because it
just showed some laziness or detachment from the leader in working with them in the task. The
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leaders during the posttest were more vocal and more involved. Most of them asked their groups
on how to improve productivity and which design would have a balance of quality and quantity.
During the planning stage prior to the posttest itself, the body language of the leaders
significantly improved including their stances which were now open as compared to having
folded arms when talking. The leaders adjusted their voices and the rest of their nonverbal
communication as well which aided in the group focusing on them as leaders and worked
together harmoniously (Sanches-Cortez et al, 2010)
The results showed that there was an increase in the performance of the leaders from the
pre-test to the post-test. The mean number of planes in the pre-test increased by 8.2666. One of
Katzs(2007) approach in his Leadership Skills Approach is Technical Skill in which how the
leader performs the task and how proficient the leader is. The Technical Skill of the leaders
increased and learned on how to make planes better throughout the activity. Human Skill also
was in action during this activity on how the leaders briefed their members on how they should
tackle the post test. During the activity they also encouraged and got along better with their
groupmates by encouraging them and motivating them as well. Conceptual Skill also was
present in terms of how the leaders innovated on their designs and how they managed their
members. They werent deterred when they had a plan and one of their members gave
suggestions showing that the leaders showed openness to their members and put the goals of the
group in front of his/her own.
Research Question 2. What is the effect of 12 Body Language Tips For Career Success in the
level of leadership performance of the participants?
The t-test results showed that t=7.547 and p=0.00000003 which means that the body
language modification intervention had a highly significant effect on the leadership performance
of the introvert leaders since p < 0.05. The increase in the amount of planes during the post-test
meant that leadership performance can be increased by simply modifying the body language of
an individual.
The effects of changing the body language of the participants to improve their leadership
performance were statistically evident. During the post-test, the leaders were more participative
in the activity. They were talking to the members more by motivating them to be better
(Servtka, Tucker and Vadovis, 2011) and asking them if theyre having problems or feeling
uncomfortable with the position they were standing/sitting in or with the design of the plane they
were making, or the method of how they were making them. One of the factors that contributed
to better leadership performance was how the leaders modified their leadership style depending
on their members (Grant A., Gino F., and Hoffman D., 2011). Some leaders had introverted
members and some leaders had more extroverted ones. The leaders with introverted leaders
became more assertive because they realized that the members needed someone to direct the
members in order for them to know their roles and the importance of the task. The leaders with
extroverted members were more permissive and accepting of their members suggestions.
Letting members give their suggestions and ideas and those being incorporated to the groups
overall plan was rewarding for them and motivated them to produce better results.
Conclusion and Recommendation
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The effects of the intervention affected the results of the post-test positively increasing
their leadership performance by showing an increased output of paper planes. Evidently, there
was a difference in leadership styles and communication among the leader and the members
which resulted in more synergy and a more fluid performance that still maintained optimal
performance and developed a good rapport among the teams. Being an effective leader is a good
quality to have. The behavior, skills, and traits of a successful leader does not only affect the
performance of the group or organization that they are in, but it transcends to the relationships
with people all around that individual. Being a good leader does not only mean being good on
paper, but also having good chemistry with their members and knowing their strengths. Making
changes to a persons body language can help in these by being displaying positive and open
gestures to members. Communicating with members can build positive ties with the ones you
work with and bode well in the present and future. Providing a positive and challenging
workplace atmosphere makes members feel more encouraged and motivated to work with a
leader that is more collaborative and accepting of their ideas and suggestions.
To further this study, making use of actual employees would be very effective and would
yield a more real-life result since most of the related literature that were made by postgraduate
students asked for help from companies and used executives and managers instead of students.
The use of a between-subjects design is also a viable suggestion in recreating the study.
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role of extraversion: Leader-member exchange, performance, and turnover during new
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Beukeboom, C. (2009). When words feel right: How affective expressions of listeners change a
speaker's language use. European Journal Of Social Psychology, 39(5), 747-756.
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Brandt, T., & Laiho, M. (2013). Gender and personality in transformational leadership context.
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Technology is adapting, providing people with better tools. People are exposed to
different gadgets because it is a norm in the society nowadays. The current study about body
image is very timely because of the technology. Identifying the level of the control and
experimental groups body image in terms of the pretest results, identifying the level of the
control and experimental groups body image in terms of the posttest results, to know if there is a
significant difference between the control and experimental groups body image in terms of their
pretest and posttest results and to determine the significant effect of selfie taking techniques on
the experimental groups body image are the objectives of the current study.
Selfie
According to Warfield (2014) it shows that selfies made by young women are seen by
media as acts of extreme selfishness and caring only about ones self. Instead of looking at it as
narcissism, it shows that taking, editing, analyzing and uploading selfies is an active and
therapeutic negotiation of a girls self-image made amidst the stormy forces of technology, mass
media, peers. Appnender (2015) found that people are hesitant to take selfies because of the fear
of looking unattractive. Kwon (2014) found that young adults who take selfies receive benefits
of feeling connected, in control and virtuous that is relevant to their identity projects and finding
for their true selves.
Selfie taking techniques
People are fond of taking selfies and these are visual records of a person. Many
photographers have contributed to the evolution of selfie and there are ways to improve ones
body image. Selfie taking techniques according to different photographers first is clear
background (Kelly, 2013). Next is finding the light (Lake, 2014; Torrejon, 2015). After that, be
still (Washington, 2015). Then, don't hold the camera above your head (Barker, 2013).
Afterwards, extend your necks forward (Barker, 2013). Capture a good angle (Rolston, 2015).
Flash your prettiest smile (Torrejon, 2015). And last is be confident (Barker, 2013).
Body Image
The study of Bogt (2006) showed that most of the adolescent girls are not satisfied with
their weight but both girls and boys are the same in terms of their perception of weight and
problem behavior. The perception of being too large or being too thin for adolescent girls and
boys predict problem behavior. Grossbard (2009), Xu (2010) and Ata (2007) found that there are
many factors that could affect ones body image and this includes; comparisons with people
around them, parental comments, pressure from friends and family, and most especially media.
Brausch (2007, 2009) found that for both males and females, body image offered a unique
contribution to the measurement of suicidal thoughts. In his second study, results showed that
body image contributed to depressive symptoms, which in return have contributed to suicidal
thoughts of the adolescents.
In terms of sports and products in body image, Slater (2011) concluded that another
factor that affect body image is teasing. Also an individuals body image concerns could affect
the adolescent girls rates of joining in other sports. The results of the study conducted by Field
(2005) showed that girls use products that are not healthy just to get a low body weight and also
in achieving their desired body shape. Mundell (2002) further found that after watching a video
clip from the TV show "Friends" or a music video by Britney Spears, 10 year old children were
dissatisfied with their own bodies. Karges (2015) found that the advanced technology or the
media go through the minds of young adults and can decrease their body satisfaction. A study by
Lodge (2014) showed that adolescents who spent more time on Facebook or social media were
more likely to compare themselves with their friends and have negative body image.
Synthesis
Most of the studies on selfie are about young adults. People are hesitant to take selfies
because they think and feel that they might look unattractive. On the other hand, analyzing and
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editing carefully the selfies could be helpful and be a therapeutic negotiation to girls. Selfie could
be relevant to finding our true selves. Nowadays, brilliant photographers had made selfie taking
techniques to be a guide in taking the perfect selfie (Warfield, 2014; Appnender, 2015, Kwon,
2014; Kelly, 2013; Lake, 2014; Torrejon, 2015; Washington, 2015; Barker, 2013; Rolston,
2015). Most of the studies on body image are student related. According to the different studies,
girls are not satisfied with their weight but both boys and girls have problems in their perception
of their body. There are many factors that could affect ones body image. Most of them gives a
negative impact like the comparison, pressure and media that could lead to a negative body
image of an individual (Bogt, 2006; Grossbard, 2009; Xu, 2010; Ata, 2007; Slater, 2011; Field,
2005; Karges, 2015; Lodge, 2014). The role of technology on body image could help in the study
like the use of gadgets in taking pictures. The researcher wants to conduct a study about selfie
and body image on adolescents because there is a minimal study about this especially about
selfie. It is important to conduct a study about body image so that our youth today would be a
better example of a confident youth tomorrow. The study aims to know in what ways does selfie
contributes to perceptions of body image in adolescents.
The study delved into knowing: What is the level of the control and experimental groups
body image: pretest? What is the level of the control and experimental groups body image:
posttest? Is there a significant difference between the control and experimental groups body
image in terms of their pretest and posttest results? Do selfie taking techniques have significant
effect on the control and experimental groups body image?
Method
Research Design
The research design was quantitative two-group quasi-experimental design. It is to
compare participant groups and measure the degree of change occurring from the result of
treatments or interventions (Shuttleworth, 2008 & 2009). It was necessary to have both a control
group and experimental group to get the true effects of the program or treatment. Both groups
were pre-tested, and both were post-tested, the ultimate difference was that one group was
administered with a treatment. It was appropriate for the topic because the researcher was able to
determine whether the two groups were different after the program.
Participants and Sampling
The researcher used purposive sampling to choose the participants of the study who were
30 male and female adolescents within the 15-17 age range, who have a low or negative body
image and were all students in the same school. The participants were grouped into control and
experimental groups; which was composed of 15 participants in each group.
Instruments
The materials used in the study were gadgets preferably with a camera and a
questionnaire made by Cash & Phillips (2005) known as The Body Image Disturbance
Questionnaire (BIDQ). The BIDQ is a Likert type questionnaire which contained seven scaled
items and five more items for qualitative research and for the open-ended clarification of
responses. The measure consisted of an excellent internal consistency and test-retest reliability.
For the validity, it has been established in relation to significant relationships with other relevant
measures of body image, also with measures of psychosocial functioning such as anxiety, selfesteem, depression, eating disturbance. In male, Average Cronbachs alphas = .88 and in female,
average Cronbachs alphas = .90 (Cash & Phillips, 2005). The BIDQ Scoring: M= 1.52-1.62,
wherein the mean of the male is considered in low body image if it is higher than the score range
and it is considered high body image if it is lower than the score range. F= 1.76-1.86, wherein the
mean of the female is considered in low body image if it is higher than the score range and it is
considered high body image if it is lower than the score range.
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Procedures
I. Pretest
First, the researcher looked for a conducive venue for the experiment. The Body Image
Disturbance Questionnaires were distributed to the 60 subjects. Then, the subjects answered The
Body Image Disturbance Questionnaires. After that, the researcher collected and checked the
questionnaires to know who among all the subjects were qualified to participate in the research.
All of the 30 subjects that were selected have been given the instructions on which on the two
groups they were assigned, either on control group or in the experimental group. Lastly, the
researcher oriented the subjects and saw to it that the subjects were willing to do the experiment.
II. Experiment Procedure
Taking pictures without selfie taking techniques
First, the researcher instructed the 15 subjects of control group to write their Facebook
account on a paper on the researchers table before they sat down. Then, the researcher saw to it
that each subject had a gadget preferably with a camera that were used in taking selfies. Next,
instructions were given on the 15 subjects regarding selfie. After that, the subjects were given
enough time to take different selfies on whatever position or angle they wanted. Subsequently,
when the subjects were finished, the researcher instructed the subjects to stop taking selfie.
Afterwards, the researcher thanked the subjects and gave instructions about the follow-up which
were done in Facebook for ten days regarding their selfie. Finally, the researcher gave the
participants a token of appreciation by means of giving them snacks.
Taking pictures with selfie taking techniques
First, the researcher instructed the 15 subjects of experimental group to write their
Facebook account on a paper on the researchers table before they sat down. Then, the researcher
saw to it that each subject had a gadget preferably with a camera that were used in taking selfies.
Next, instructions were given on the 15 subjects regarding selfie. After that, the researcher
showed selfie taking techniques using a powerpoint presentation and a live demonstration of the
researcher regarding selfie. Subsequently, when the subjects already knew the selfie taking
techniques, the researcher ended the demonstration. Afterwards, the researcher thanked the
subjects and gave instructions about the follow-up which were done in Facebook for ten days
regarding their selfie. Finally, the researcher gave the participants a token of appreciation by
means of giving them snacks.
III. Posttest
First, the researcher met with the 30 subjects after 10 days and gave The Body Image
Disturbance Questionnaires wherein they answered the questionnaires. Afterwards, the
researcher gathered all the questionnaires of the subjects after they answered them. Lastly, the
researcher thanked the subjects for participating in the experiment.
Statistical Analysis
The questions under study were treated using descriptive statistics such as the mean and
standard deviation; and inferential statistics like independent T-test and dependent T-test to
analyze the data. Mean was used to determine the results on the subjects according to the kind of
selfie (taking pictures without selfie taking techniques and taking pictures with selfie taking
techniques) that compared the difference between the results. Independent T-test was used to
know whether there is a significant difference between the control and experimental groups
body image in terms of their pretest and posttest results. Dependent T-test was used to determine
whether selfie taking techniques have significant effect on the control and experimental groups
body image.
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Results
What is the level of the control and e perimental groups body image: pretest and posttest?
Table 1 shows the participants level of body image, considering the pretest and posttest.
Pretest results shows the mean score gained by the male participants of the control group
which is equal to x = 2.48, with a standard deviation of SD = 1.01 while female earned a mean
score of x = 2.42, and a standard deviation of SD = 0.49. The mean score gained by the male
participants of the experimental group which is equal to x = 1.79, with a standard deviation of
SD = 0.11 while female earned a mean score of x = 2.36, with a standard deviation of SD = 0.67.
These values suggest that the control and experimental groups body image in terms of the
pretest results exhibited the level of low body image. Posttest result shows the mean score gained
by the male participants of the control group which is equal to x = 2.48, with a standard deviation
of SD = 0.71 while female earned a mean score of x = 2.23, with a standard deviation of SD =
0.49. These values suggest that the control groups body image in terms of the posttest results
exhibited the level of low body image. The mean score gained by the male participants of the
experimental group which is equal to x = 1.5, with a standard deviation of SD = 0.30 while
female earned a mean score of x = 1.60, with a standard deviation of SD = 0.46. These values
suggest that the experimental groups body image in terms of the posttest results exhibited the
level of high body image. The pretest result agrees with the study of Bogt (2006) that the
perception of being too large and too thin are the same both in girls and boys. In posttest
results, it shows that the treatment given to the experimental group which is the use of a gadget is
effective because from the level of low body image the participants body image improved and
became high.
Is there a significant difference between the control and experimental groups body image
in terms of their pretest and posttest results?
Table 2 shows the mean difference of x = 0.14, between the control and experimental
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group considering their pretest results with a t-value of 0.64 which is below the critical t-value of
2.47 and a p-value of 0.264 which is not significant at 0.01 level of significance. This shows that
the two groups are homogenous. The mean difference of x = 0.69, between the control and
experimental group considering their posttest results with a t-value of 3.89 which is above the
critical t-value of 2.47 and a p-value of 0.000 which is significant at 0.01 level of significance.
This shows that there was a difference between the two groups after giving the treatment. In the
pretest result of the two groups, the participants have different perceptions about their body
image showing that both girls and boys among the participants have some degree of
dissatisfaction towards their body image which agrees with Bogt (2006) that both boys and girls
have a problem when it comes to their perception of oneself. While in posttest results,
participants who were given the treatment showed that selfie taking techniques can improve their
body image. It agrees with the study of Kwon (2014) wherein those who take selfies receive
benefits of feeling connected, in control and virtuous that are relevant to their identity projects
and finding for their true selves.
Do selfie-taking techniques have significant effect on the control and e perimental groups
body image?
Table 3 reveals the mean difference of x = 0.15 between the control groups pretest and
posttest results; suggesting that the control groups perception towards their body image did not
vary, implying that they see their body image the same. On the other hand, table 3 shows the
mean difference of x = 0.69 between the experimental groups pretest and posttest results;
suggesting that the experimental groups perception toward their body image vary, implying that
they see their body image differently. The results showed that the selfie taking techniques have a
significant effect on the experimental groups body image. Considering the t-value of 4.17 which
is above the critical t-value of 2.62 and a computed p-value of 0.000, the results suggest that the
mean difference on the experimental groups body image is significant at 0.01 level of
significance. The significant result implies that selfie taking techniques have an effect on the
experimental groups body image. Warfield (2014) analyzing and editing selfies could be helpful
to ones body image but the selfie taking techniques are also useful in the enhancement of ones
body image.
Discussion
Both the control and experimental groups pretest showed that it is in the level of low
body image; while in the posttest, the control groups body image is still in the level of low body
image and after giving the experimental group a treatment, it showed that the level of the body
image from low became high. The two groups are homogenous in terms of pretest results. There
was a significant difference between the control and experimental groups body image in terms
of the posttest results. The control group who didnt receive any treatment remained in the level
of low body image while the experimental group who received the treatment had the level of
high body image. The group who received the treatment showed significant difference.
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Appnender (2015) found that people are hesitant to take selfies because of the fear of looking
unattractive. On the other hand young adults who take selfies receive benefits that are relevant to
their identity projects and finding for their true selves (Kwon, 2014). Moreover, the significant
result implies that selfie taking techniques have an effect on the experimental groups body
image. Warfield (2014) analyzing and editing selfies could be helpful to ones body image but
the selfie taking techniques are also useful in the enhancement of ones body image. The
significant result suggests that selfie taking techniques increase an individuals body image.
Conclusion and Recommendation
The participants of the experimental group who were taught and were able to learn the
selfie taking techniques to improve their body image achieved a high level of it compared to the
participants of the control group who were not taught and were not able to learn and apply the
selfie taking techniques so they achieved a low body image level only. The control and
experimental group showed a significant difference after giving the treatment. The use of selfie
taking techniques to improve the body image of an individual is effective. Selfie taking
techniques are good enhancers of ones body image. They bring positive results to adolescents
who have a low body image. Selfie taking techniques were essentially effective on improving the
body image of an individual. They could enhance ones perception of his/her own body.
Adolescents were able to take good pictures and were able to express themselves more freely
through pictures. They learned how to effectively project what they feel in the pictures they are
taking.
The researcher recommends that if the adolescents have a low or negative body image,
then adolescents should know the selfie taking techniques from the different photographers
gathered by the researcher in order for them to improve their body image. Selfie taking
techniques can help individuals especially the adolescents to have better selfies because it would
make them feel more confident and look better in pictures without the fear of being unattractive.
Knowing the proper ways of taking selfie contribute to the enhancement of the appearance of the
picture of a person that could help individuals to analyze and to upload the selfies without editing
it and make the selfies taken look more natural. Future researchers should find more participants
for the study and conduct the study inside the laboratory to avoid extraneous variables.
References:
Appnender, M. (2015). Skewed body image? Blame selfies. Retrieved from
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/beauty/Skewed-body-image-Blameselfies/articleshow/47456145.cms.
Aquino, M. T., Orense, C. L., Tanchoco, C. C., Amarra, S. V., Tajan, M. G. & Dela Cruz, E. O.
(2009). Correlates of Body Image Satisfaction Among Economically Depressed Urban
Filipino
Women.
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vol138no1/Correlates%20of%20Body%20Image%20Satisfaction.htm
Ata, R. N., Ludden, A. B., & Lally, M. M. (2007). The effects of gender and family, friend, and
media influences on eating behaviors and body image during adolescence. Journal of
Youth and Adolescence, 36(8), 1024-1037.
Barker, N. (2013). Taking the Perfect Selfie on your Phone Nigel Barker Offers 8 Photography
Tips. Retrieved from http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/entertainment/2013/04/taking-theperfect-selfie-on-your-phone-nigel-barker-offers-8-photography-tips.
Bogt, T. F., van Dorsselaer, S. A., Monshouwer, K., Verdurmen, J. E., Engels, R. C., &
Vollebergh, W. A. (2006). Body mass index and body weight perception as risk factors for
internalizing and externalizing problem behavior among adolescents. Journal of
Adolescent Health, 39(1), 27-34.
Brausch, A. M., & Muehlenkamp, J. J. (2007). Body image and suicidal ideation in adolescents.
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Washington, L. (2015). Fantastic Tips on Taking Good Selfies that youll be proud of.
http://lifestyle.allwomenstalk.com/fantastic-tips-on-taking-good-selfies-that-youll-beproud-of.
Xu, X., Mellor, D., Kiehne, M., Ricciardelli, L. A., McCabe, M. P., & Xu, Y. (2010). Body
dissatisfaction, engagement in body change behaviors and sociocultural influences on
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be more insecure because their overweight condition has made them more conscious of their
beings?
A broad range of strategies were recommended to reduce obesity prevalence including:
influencing the food supply to make healthy choices easier; reducing the marketing of energy
dense foods and beverages to children; influencing urban environments and transport systems to
promote physical activity; developing community-wide program in multiple settings; increased
communications about healthy eating and physical activity; and improved health services to
promote breastfeeding and manage currently overweight or obese people.
Emotion Awareness
According to a study done by Wang, Brownell and Wadden (2004), regarding the
influence of the stigma of obesity on overweight individuals, the said authors has found that
unlike other minority group members, overweight individuals do not appear to hold more
favorable attitudes toward in-group members. This in-group devaluation has implications for
changing the stigma of obesity and for understanding the psychosocial and even medical impact
of obesity on those affected.
A study by Roberts & Danoff-Burg (2010), regarding the mindfulness and health
behaviors, Roberts & Danoff-Burg found that overall perceived health and health-related activity
restriction, as well as some health behaviors (e.g., binge eating, sleep quality, and physical
activity) were related to the Five-Factor Mindfulness Questionnaire and were partially mediated
by stress. This instrument is based on a factor analytic study of five independently developed
mindfulness questionnaires. The analysis yielded five factors that appear to represent elements of
mindfulness as it is currently conceptualized. The five facets are observing, describing, acting
with awareness, non-judging of inner experience, and no reactivity to inner experience.
In a study done by Anderson & May (2012), regarding the mindful eating cycle as
treatment for binge eating, Anderson & May found that mindfulness-based treatments are
effective with the binge eating population due to their focus on self-regulatory processes. Binge
eating disorder goes largely undetected due to the secrecy and shame attached to the behavior.
Unfortunately, it may not be differentiated from obesity and is therefore subject to traditional
weight loss strategies, often further complicating its course. Other significant improvements
were found in levels of mindfulness, depression, anxiety and dietary choices. Screening and
referral programs in mental and primary health care could shift the course of Binge Eating
Disorder.
Synthesis
The different studies conducted on overweight people or the generality of obesity showed
us the different variables that are correlated with obesity. The researcher seen that obesity plays a
big role on childrens weight gain. It has shown that there are increasing prevalence of children
who experience overweight condition and obesity. Also, GPs perceive overweight as a threat to
the health of young people. It is shown that interventions such as education, communication and
information on public awareness on the effects of obesity is important and must be done at the
early age of life.
Obesity has also a strong relationship with eating habits and is found that health
professionals have some knowledge of nutrition and weight management but are unclear how to
deliver effective weight management advice. In addition, regular yoga practice can also reduce
weight gain especially among individuals who are obese or overweight. The articles helped in
the realization that not all of the population understands the struggle with being overweight or
obese. The articles are the standing proof where the challenge of seeing themselves through a
mirror or the process of understanding their gain and lifestyle has a pulling weight in their minds
that projects through their consumption. The articles became the eyes of the people around them
and aware of their actions. Because of obesity, the articles united.
134
With all these scenarios, the researcher is interested in answering the following research
problems; what is the level of emotional awareness of the respondents? What is the level of
eating attitude of the respondents? Is there a significant relationship between the emotional
awareness and eating attitude within the research?
Method
Research Design
The study was quantitative in nature. Descriptive correlational research design was used
in the study to determine whether there is a significant relationship between the levels of eating
behavior and emotion awareness of obese people. The researcher measured the emotion
awareness of the participants and it was then correlated with the eating behavior.
Participants
A sample of 100 obese people, age 16 years old and above were chosen to be the
participant of the study. The researcher used a purposive sampling method which is directed to
the obese category according to BMI range which is 30 and above only.
Instruments
For the Emotional Awareness, the researcher used The Emotion Awareness Questionnaire
- 30 (EAQ-30) developed by Rieffe, , Oosterveld, , Miers,., Meerum Terwogt,., & Ly,. (2008).
The EAQ-30 is a 30-item questionnaire on a 3-point Likert Scale format (1 = not true, 2 =
sometimes true, 3 = often true) with sample items such as I am often confused or puzzled about
what I am feeling. and It is difficult to know whether I feel sad or angry or something else. It
has a high Cronbach Alphas ranging from (.74) to (.77) namely: Differentiating Emotions (.74),
Verbal Sharing (.77), Not Hiding (.76), Bodily Awareness (.74), Others Emotion (.77), Analyses
Emotion (.77). In the scale a higher score indicates greater capacity for emotional competency.
For measuring Eating Behaviour, the researcher used the Eating Attitude Test (EAT-40)
developed by Garner,. & Garfinkel, (1979). The EAT-40 is a 40-item questionnaire on a 6-point
in Likert Scale format (Items 1, 18, 19, 23 and 39 are scored: 6 = 3points, 5 = 2 points, 4 = 1
point, 3,2 or 1 = 0 points. ; The remaining items are scored 1 = 2 points, 2 = 2 points, 3 = 1
point, and 4, 5 or 6 = 0 points) with sample items such as I like eating with other people and
Prepare foods for others but do not eat what I cook. Cronbach Alphas ranging from (.60) to
(.76) namely: Dieting behavior (.76), Oral Control (.63), Food Preoccupation (.62), Body Image
(.60). A score greater than 30 is considered to be an indicator of anorectic disorder.
Procedures
First, the researcher gave a consent form to the target respondent. Upon the approval,
the respondent was briefed regarding the research. All the information about the research were
disclosed. Second, both questionnaires were distributed by the researcher; the Emotional
Awareness questionnaire and the Eating Attitude questionnaire. The questionnaire will determine
the respondents level of awareness. Third, the respondents were asked to answer the
questionnaire without a given time frame so that the respondents will read and answer each item
carefully. Fourth, after the respondents have answered, both questionnaires were asked to be
returned to the researcher. Lastly, all the data gathered were tallied and tabulated the scores of
the respondents in both Emotion Awareness Questionnaire and Eating Attitude Test and was
then interpreted by the researcher.
Data Analysis
The researcher analyzed the data by scoring the respondent's answers from the
questionnaire. The data gathered from the questionnaires were analyzed through statistical
method called descriptive statistics for it would provide summaries about the sample and
observations that have been made. The researcher used Pearson r to test the results for
correlation.
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FREQUENCY
LEVEL
PERCENTAGE
0 14
58
LOW
AVERAGE
58%
15 30
42
AVERAGE
42%
31 - 45
HIGH
AVERAGE
0%
The results show that 58% of the respondents have a low level of emotion awareness
which indicates a low capacity for emotion competence or inability or difficulty in understanding
their own emotions. They are having a difficulty in expressing and dealing with their feelings
and desires at any given moment. As to obesity, they dont know what to feel about themselves,
it is as if they were "okay" or very accepting about their weight or obese figures. (M = 14.38, SD
= 6.18)
There are 42% of the respondents were in the middle which means they are in the average
level of emotion awareness. They were not too low and not too high. The respondents were
basically aware of their emotions towards their weight but they did not seem to have the
confidence about accepting it. They were stagnant or not very responsive towards the
questionnaire, but they mentioned that they know or they are very aware of their weight, just
not very showy about it.
Research Question No. 2: What is the Level of Eating Behavior of Obese People?
Table 2 Data Evaluation Degree of Eating Behavior
SCORES
FREQUENCY
LEVEL
PERCENTAGE
09
51
LOW AVERAGE
51%
10 20
41
AVERAGE
41%
21 30
HIGH AVERAGE
8%
There were 51% of the respondents showed that they too did not care about their eating
behavior. They simply just went on to consume and careless about the people around them
thinking offensive things about them. The 41 % were pegged as average. They cared for their
weight but still passive about it. It balances their acceptance towards self and acceptance of
others towards them. (M = 12.17, SD = 6.10)
While 51% has the confidence for consumption and not care for themselves or the people
who surround them while they eat. They tend to eat a lot and do not monitor their food intake;
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they dont even care with their diet. The respondents have careless behavior because they seem
to accept themselves for who they are.
Also 41% does not have the full confidence but have the easy feeling when around the
people who accept them. They were comfortable being themselves in front of friends, they eat
what they want, they eat as many as they can, but not at ease when people stare or in being
reminded that they are big. Clearly, the respondents do not fully accept their obesity, but rather
than make a choice to change their lifestyle, they still stick to their habit of eating too much
without thinking of the consequences that will follow. They have no urge to motivate themselves
in losing weight, thus causing their own grievances about their obesity.
Lastly, 8% has their eating behavior on a very high scale. They dont accept what they are,
they tend to reduce, or restrain themselves from eating but once they started to eat, they tend to
eat more. There was a hint of sadness in answering the questionnaire, noticed by the researcher.
They did not respond as friendly or as confident as the other respondent but they were willing to
help and so they did.
Research Question No. 3: Is there a significant relationship between Emotional Awareness
and Eating Behavior of Obese People?
Table 3 Correlation of Emotion Awareness and Eating Behavior
Eating
Behavior
Emotional Awareness
Pearson Correlation
0.85
Sig. (2-tailed)
0.01
100
behavior in some cases. It is also concluded that on the eating behavior of obese people is
associated with emotion awareness. The respondents clearly show no or little care about their
weight which leads them to more complications in terms of mental and physical dissatisfaction.
Based on the findings about the correlation between emotion awareness and eating behavior, the
researcher can conclude that there is a relationship between the two variables.
The researcher recommends future studies should use other research designs like
qualitative research/interview as it can achieve a deeper interaction with the respondents which
will produce a better understanding as to what effect can emotion awareness can do to ones
eating behavior and vice versa. Future studies can also use research instruments that are able to
predict eating disorders so that they can find out if there is a possibility that a person can have
eating disorder due to low emotion competency.
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