پیش‌بینی رابطه سازگاری تحصیلی با خودکارآمدی و مهارت اجتماعی

Predicting the Relationship between Academic Adjustment and Self Efficacy and Social Skills

Viyani F.*[1]

Abstract

Introduction: Academic adjustment is multidimensional and is affected by many factors. The present research was conducted with the aim of predicting the academic adjustment of first year high school students based on their self-efficacy and social skills.

Method: The research method was descriptive and correlational. The statistical population of the research consisted of all the female students of the first year of high school in Hamedan city, numbering 4700 people, out of the above statistical population, the number of 245 female students was determined using the relative stratified random method as the statistical sample was selected. Matson et al.'s (1983) self-efficacy questionnaires and Bar-Ann's social skill questionnaires were used to collect data. The collected data were analyzed using Pearson's correlation coefficient and multivariate regression.

Results: The findings of the research showed that there is a significant positive relationship between the academic adjustment of the female students of the first year of high school with self-efficacy and social skills. Also, the results of multivariate regression analysis showed that self-efficacy and social skill variables significantly predict 34% of the variance of academic adjustment of female students in the first year of high school.

Conclusion: The results showed that there is a significant relationship between academic adjustment and students' self-efficacy and social skills.

Keywords: academic adaptation, self-efficacy, social skill, student

Received:  24/April/ 2022                            Accepted: 20/May/ 2023

Introduction:

Among the challenges that students face during their studies and in the educational environment, their thoughts are related to the ability to cope with factors that affect their adaptation (1), academic period, periodic It is from life where rapid cognitive and social changes happen. Coping with such changes requires that a person has the ability to adapt (2).

Academic adaptation is called a set of reactions by which a person prepares to provide a balanced and coordinated response to school conditions and activities that that environment requires of him. Educational adjustment includes satisfaction with school, academic progress, being liked by the teacher, communication with other students, the opinion of school officials regarding the student's performance and other things (3).

The broad concept of academic adaptation includes more than one potential academic ability in a student. In other words, motivation to learn, doing work to meet educational needs, having a clear sense of goals and intentional satisfaction with the educational environment, which are important parts of educational adaptation (Educational Adaptation) (4), ability Social and emotional skills and competencies are considered as determining and influencing factors on academic adaptation (5), in academic adaptation, knowledge acquisition, cognitive, metacognitive and motivational skills, interest in education and school, feeling of competence to Educational activities are a positive evaluation of his work and activities by others (6),

Baker and Sayrik (7), believe that academic adaptation is a multidimensional concept and means the ability of people to respond successfully to diverse and different demands of the educational environment. They have defined academic adaptation as having positive attitudes towards educational goals, completing academic requirements, effective efforts to achieve these conditions, and positive attitudes towards the educational environment.

Academic or educational adaptation can be determined through the individual's subjective satisfaction with interpersonal communication in the educational environment and also with academic performance (3), academic adaptation refers to the ability of learners to adapt to the conditions and requirements of education and role. It is those that the school as a social institution puts in front of them (8).

According to Palak and Lamborn (9), academic adjustment is related to factors such as teacher's sincere behavior, student's attitude towards school and family support. Hilary and Burnett (10) have considered the concept of academic adaptation to include something other than just the academic potential of students. Rosser, Eccles and Samorov (11) have stated that students who have problems with academic adjustment, their problems often manifest in other dimensions as well.

Bakker and Sirik (12) introduced the motivation to learn, doing actions to meet academic requirements and needs, having a clear understanding of academic goals and overall satisfaction with the academic environment as some components of academic adaptation.

Adaptability is an important part of students' lives and it is important to know the factors affecting it. Consistency is the result of the influence of several factors, including the triple factors of individual, population, personality factors and factors of situational-environmental variables (13).

Communication in the classroom is one of the necessary tools for education. Students who have effective interpersonal and social skills consider communication as a means of solving problems and act in a more consistent manner in the field of education (14).

According to the definition, social skills refer to the learned and accepted behaviors of the society, the behaviors that a person can interact with others in a way that results in positive responses and avoiding responses. (15), social skills are a complex set of skills that are necessary to adapt and cope with different social situations and foster a healthy relationship and affect performance (16). They consist of specific behaviors that include the ability to initiate communication and provide answers, and they maximize the possibility of receiving social reinforcement, and they are also interactive in nature and depend on the situation (17).

Lack of effective self-efficacy can lead to negative emotions, anxiety, depression, loneliness, feeling of isolation, and weak self-concept (18). The student's inability to achieve academic success in the legal time, 2) the student's failure to succeed in one or all learning activities, 3) the student's inability to accept the school's organizational norms, and 4) the student's inability to meet the expectations related to school and family relationships. (19). With these details, it should be noted that academic compatibility becomes more important when a teenager enters secondary school.

Social skills are among the personality variables that influence academic adjustment. Social skill is a mixture of competencies, skills and facilitators that affect intelligent behavior (20), emotions and how to cope with them are part of human personality and affect his health (21), the concept of social skills has given a new depth to human intelligence and it is the ability to evaluate the general intelligence of a person, others, adaptability and adaptability to the educational environment that is needed to succeed in meeting academic demands. It is necessary, it is related, and it is considered a tactical capability in individual performance; While cognitive intelligence has a strategic and long-term capability. Social skill makes it possible to predict success, because it shows how a person immediately applies his knowledge in different situations. In other words, social skill refers to people's differences in perception, processing, regulation and application of emotional information (22), in fact, social skill is in studying academic adaptation, predicting desirable goals in the future and also in adapting to stress. Chronic stress and exam anxiety play a major role (23).

What factors affect the educational adaptation of students, or what is the contribution and participation of each factor, has always been one of the favorite areas and questions of educational researchers. Certainly, a set of individual and environmental factors or cognitive factors affect the academic adjustment of students. Of course, it is not possible to collect and analyze all these variables in any research. The variable of academic adjustment is multidimensional and is influenced by many factors. Because no research has investigated the relationship between these variables, so the main question of the research is whether self-efficacy and social skills can predict the academic adjustment of female students in the first year of high school.

Methods:

The method of the present research is predictive correlation. The statistical population of the present study consisted of all the female students of the first grade of the first year of secondary school in Hamedan city who were studying in public secondary schools in the academic year of 2016-2016, in the number of 4700 people, out of this population, A number of 245 female students were selected as a statistical sample using the stratified random method.

The research tools were: (1): Matson's Social Skills Questionnaire: To measure the social skills of students, the social skills measurement scale developed by Matson et al. in 1983 to measure the social skills of 4 to 18-year-olds was used. The initial form of this scale had 62 statements, which were reduced to 56 statements by Yousefi and Khair (2001) factor analysis, which describe people's social skills. The scoring of this questionnaire is based on a 5-point Likert scale with a range from 1 (never) to 5 (always). Never score (1), rarely score (2), sometimes score (3), often score (4), always score (5). In addition to the scores obtained by the respondent for each of the mentioned factors, the sum of the scores of the 56 statements in the scale also gives a total score, which indicates the subject's automaticity (24). Research has shown that Matson's social skills scale has high retest reliability and acceptable differential validity (24). To check the reliability of social skills scale, they used Cronbach's alpha coefficient and Tasneef. The value of Cronbach's alpha coefficient and the obtained halving for the whole scale are reported to be the same and equal to 86%. In Iran, math (25) using Cronbach's alpha has obtained the reliability of this questionnaire at 79% and 80%. In the present study, Cronbach's alpha coefficient was used to check the reliability of the social skills scale. The value of Cronbach's alpha obtained for the whole scale is reported to be 81%.

2) Self-Report Questionnaire of Social Skills Shot: Self-Report Questionnaire of Social Skills Shot (1988) is a pencil-paper questionnaire that has 33 items. The subject must respond to each of the items in the questionnaire, which is set on a five-point Likert scale (totally disagree with a score of 1 and completely agree with a score of 5). Also, the scoring of items 5, 28, and 33 of the above questionnaires is reversed, and the lowest and highest score in the self-report questionnaire of Shot's social skills is 45 and 165, respectively (26). This questionnaire includes three components of social skills, which are: a) evaluation and expression of emotion, b) regulation of emotion and c) exploitation of emotion.

The internal consistency coefficients of this questionnaire are 0.84 for the whole social skill and 0.76, 0.66 and 0.55 for the sub-scales, evaluation and expression of emotion, regulation of emotion and exploitation of emotion, respectively. To find the validity of the social skills questionnaire, principal component analysis was used with varimax rotation method. In this analysis, three factors have been extracted that support this argument by examining the screen test chart and the theoretical basis of the questionnaire. Together, these three factors explain 33.05% of the variance of the questions. In fact, the first factor with an explained variance percentage of 18.18% has a greater contribution in explaining the social skill questionnaire (26). Khosrojavid (27) obtained the internal consistency coefficients of the whole questionnaire as 0.81, emotion regulation as 0.78, emotion evaluation and expression as 0.67, and emotion utilization as 0.50.

In the present study, Cronbach's alpha was used to check the reliability of the social skill scale. The value of Cronbach's alpha obtained for the whole scale is equal to 76% of the report.

3) Bell's Consistency Questionnaire (BAI): This questionnaire was developed by Bell in 1961. In the field of compatibility, he has presented two questionnaires, one for students and the other for adults. Each form includes five dimensions of adaptation, which are: a) adaptation at home; b) health compatibility; c) social adaptation; t) emotional compatibility; e) Academic compatibility. At the same time, the sum of the scores of these five areas gives the overall compatibility score (28). Questions related to different dimensions of compatibility are scattered in the questionnaire. In this questionnaire, only yes or no answers receive points. Based on the standardized table, zero or one is assigned to the chosen option. The person's compatibility score is equal to the sum of the points obtained from all the questions. In addition to the total score, one can calculate the individual's adjustment scores in each of the dimensions of adjustment at home, health, social, emotional and academic, which indicates the degree of adjustment of the individual in that dimension. In this research, only the aspect of academic compatibility has been discussed.

Bell in 1961, the reliability coefficients for home, health, social, emotional and academic adjustment subscales were 0.91, 0.81, 0.88, 0.91 and 0.85 respectively and for the total scale reported 0.94. Also, this test has high validity in distinguishing normal from neurotic groups and has shown correlation with Eysenck's personality tests (28). In Iran, Naqshbandi (29) reported a split-half reliability for each dimension and the entire scale between 0.81 and 0.94.

  In the present study, Cronbach's alpha coefficient was used to check the reliability of the academic adjustment scale. The value of Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the whole scale is equal to 85%.

In order to analyze the data obtained from the questionnaires, SPSS 23 statistical software was used in the form of descriptive and inferential statistics according to the statistical needs. In the descriptive part, descriptive statistical methods such as frequency distribution table, graph, central and dispersion indices were used to describe demographic information and data. In the inferential statistics section, Pearson correlation and multiple regression analysis were used to test the research hypotheses.

Results:

In order to determine the relationship between academic adaptation and self-efficacy and social skills of female students of the first year of high school, after completing the questionnaires by the people of the sample group, data was extracted, coded and analyzed.

According to the findings of the research, 32.5% of the statistical sample studied are students in the first grade, 33.5% in the second grade, and 34% in the third grade. The sample is 17.85 and its standard deviation is 2.25 and the average age of the sample group members is 15.11 with a standard deviation of 2.17.

Table 1: Description of research variables

The information in Table No. 1 describes the research variables of the sample group. The results show that the average academic adjustment is 22.08 and its standard deviation is 7.11, the average self-efficacy is 162.92 and its standard deviation is 22.48, the average social skill is 117.34 and its standard deviation is 15.84.

The academic adjustment of female students in the first year of high school is related to their self-efficacy and social skills. Pearson's correlation coefficient was used to test the main purpose of the research, and the results of the main hypothesis test of the research are presented in the form of a correlation matrix in Table No. 2.

Table 2: Correlation matrix

The results of Table No. 2 show that academic compatibility has a significant direct relationship with self-efficacy of 0.25 and social skill at 0.34. The level of academic compatibility is related to the automatic attendance of female students in the first year of secondary school.

Table 3: The relationship between academic adjustment and self-efficacy

The results of Pearson's correlation coefficient test in Table No. 3 show that academic compatibility has a significant direct relationship with self-efficacy of female students in the first year of high school. (P=0.0001, R=0.448). Therefore, the null hypothesis was rejected and the first hypothesis of the research was confirmed.

Table 4: The relationship between academic adjustment and social skills

The results of the Pearson correlation coefficient test in Table No. 4 show that there is a significant direct relationship between academic adjustment and social skills of female students in the first year of high school. (P=0.001, R=0.34). Self-efficacy and social skills of female students in the first year of high school can predict their academic adjustment.

Table 5: predictor variables entered into the regression model

The results of Table No. 5 show that self-efficacy and social skill variables were simultaneously included in the regression analysis to predict the academic adjustment of female students in the first year of high school.

Table 6: Results of simultaneous multiple regression analysis to predict academic adjustment based on self-efficacy, social skills

In line with the answer to the fourth research, the adjusted squared results of the multiple regression coefficient in Table No. 7 show that, based on the regression model, self-efficacy and social skills together explain 34% of the variance of academic adjustment in female students of the first year of high school. and they predict (R2=0.34) that this explanatory value is statistically significant (F=41.98 and P=0.0001). In other words, these three selected variables can predict 34% of academic adjustment and 66% of the academic adjustment of female students in the first year of high school is affected by other factors.

Table 7: Beta coefficients in order to identify the intensity and direction of the influence of self-efficacy and social skills on the academic adjustment of female students

As can be seen in number 6, according to the Beta value, the autocorrelation has been able to predict the academic adjustment of the female students of the first year of high school in a significant manner of 0.31. (Beta = 0.311) and (P < 0.0001) which shows that with each unit increase in self-efficacy, the academic adjustment of female students of the first year of high school also increases by 0.31 units, which This difference is statistically significant. Also, according to the Beta value, social skill has a significant effect on the academic adjustment of female students of the first year of high school (Beta = 0.203) and (P < 0.0001), which shows that with each unit of increase in social skill, The academic compatibility of female students in the first year of high school also increases by 0.21 units, which is statistically significant.

Discussion and Conclusion:

The degree of academic compatibility is related to the self-esteem of female students in the first year of high school. In line with the first hypothesis of the research, the results of the Pearson correlation coefficient test show that academic compatibility is the self-esteem of female students in the first year of high school. It has a significant direct relationship. (P=0.0001, R=0.448). Therefore, the first hypothesis of the research was confirmed and with the increase in self-efficacy, academic adjustment also increased.

In the explanation above, it can be said that social skills make a person express his forbidden feelings and give better and constructive answers to people. Automaticity gives this ability to people so that they can have real and honest behavior in dealing with the phenomena around them. Behavior based on social skills can increase a person's compatibility with himself and the surrounding environment and enable a person to respect himself and others while increasing the possibility of obtaining desirable academic results. Not expressing oneself and not paying attention to real rights and not showing decisiveness makes a person trapped in social-behavioral problems. Many personal, social and educational inconsistencies arise because the person does not have the power to express himself and the skill of saying no in the right place (30), as well as the automaticity that facilitates the transition stage and causes adaptation. Teenagers go to school. Students who have a greater source of self-efficacy and are able to talk about their problems with others, especially their parents, have a greater ability to adapt to school and university life. According to Adler's point of view, a person having self-sufficiency in the family and society develops social interest in him, which generalizes this social feeling to school, work and marriage situations and leads to adaptation. Benefiting from social skills, especially self-expression, has a positive effect on interpersonal interactions and makes a person feel empowered to communicate effectively with the surrounding environment and be able to maintain this relationship. It makes a person to be able to adapt himself to the environment in a more favorable way and as a result, this optimal adaptation gives him a sense of self-worth and a basis for dealing with psychological pressures and ultimately mental health (31).

Considering that in the sample schools of the research, skills such as self-expression skills and the skill of saying no, as well as how to cope with others and different personalities of students are taught directly and indirectly, and students are introduced to such skills as well as social skills. Students are taught indirectly, and when proper communication is established between students and the teacher, it increases students' self-awareness of their own abilities, and on the one hand, because students communicate with their peers in school and have intimate relationships. They establish with their friends, which consequently increases compatibility.

The degree of academic adjustment is related to the social skills of female students in the first year of high school, the results of the Pearson correlation coefficient test show that there is a significant direct relationship between the academic adjustment and the social skills of female students in the first year of high school (P=0.001, R=0.34). Therefore, the second hypothesis of the research was confirmed, with the increase in academic adaptation, the social skills of students also increase.

In explaining this result, it can be said that social skill can play a role as an important factor in the power of adaptation and social acceptance. The importance and necessity of paying attention to this issue is that a person's ability to adapt and challenge in life and to function coherently depends on emotional and logical abilities. Emotional abilities are effective not only for social experiences, but also for academic and personal experiences. In fact, some researchers admit that a person's self-awareness and inner life are significantly determined by emotional experiences (32).

According to the point of view presented by Golman (32) and his division of the components of social skills including recognition of personal emotions (self-awareness), correct use of emotions (self-control), self-arousal and recognition of others' emotions (empathy) and maintaining relationships (communication and social skills), we can understand why high social skills can bring better academic adjustment for a person. Based on this, the key components of social skills (self-awareness and emotional management) make people with high social skills benefit from more self-awareness, and in fact a deep understanding of emotions, strengths and weaknesses, needs and drives. They have their own abilities and are able to evaluate, guide and control their life and academic events, which these abilities play a significant role in creating insight and vision towards themselves and the surrounding environment (school and class) and the power of compromise. It improves one's adaptability. On the other hand, good emotional management in these people makes them get rid of negative emotions such as anxiety and irritability and face less problems in the ups and downs of academic life, and if they do, they can get out of this situation. be liberated and achieve stability and compatibility.

According to the research of Merrison et al. (33), good and successful communication between teacher and student leads to improvement and increase in academic adaptation in students, and according to this matter, in the sample schools of the research, the relationship between teacher and students is held in an appropriate manner and it is based on the possibility of reciprocity. This issue increases the students' adaptability and proper communication. When a proper communication is established between the students and the teacher, it increases the students' self-awareness of their abilities, which consequently increases the adaptability.

Self-efficacy and social skill of female students in the first year of high school can predict their academic adjustment, the adjusted squared results of the multiple regression coefficient showed that based on the regression model, self-efficacy and social skill with the help of Explain and predict 34% of the variance of academic adjustment (R2=0.34) in female students of the first year of high school.

In the explanation above, it can be said that students who have a greater source of self-efficacy and are able to talk about their problems with others, especially their parents, have a greater ability to adapt to school and university life. According to Adler's point of view, a person having self-sufficiency in the family and society develops social interest in him, which generalizes this social feeling to school, work and marriage situations and leads to adaptation. Benefiting from social skills, especially self-expression, has a positive effect on interpersonal interactions and makes a person feel empowered to communicate effectively with the surrounding environment and be able to maintain this relationship. It makes a person to be able to adapt himself to the environment in a more favorable way and as a result, this optimal adaptation gives him a sense of self-worth and a basis for dealing with psychological pressures and finally his mental health (34). Also, with the increase of emotional intelligence, this confidence is formed in the students that they are able to do the assignments and tasks assigned in the educational environment, they are less disappointed and show more effort and perseverance. And in this way, they have a more positive attitude towards the school environment and act in an adaptive manner.

Social skill can also play a role as an important factor in the power of adaptation and social acceptance. The importance and necessity of paying attention to this issue is that a person's ability to adapt and challenge in life and to function coherently depends on emotional and logical abilities. Emotional abilities are effective not only for social experiences, but also for academic and personal experiences. In fact, some researchers admit that a person's self-awareness and inner life are significantly determined by emotional experiences.

Ethical considerations:

In order to comply with the ethical codes, ethical considerations such as the ethical principle of scientific trustworthiness, intellectual rights of authors, confidentiality and informed consent of all participating participants have been observed in all stages of this research. This research has been approved by the Research and Ethics Council of Hamadan University with letter number 4415/D/1397.

Research limitations:

Like any research, the current research has faced limitations, some of which are mentioned below; (1) the limited scope of the implementation with urban areas and the lack of examination of the issue in rural areas limits the generalization of the research findings; (2) carrying out the study on public school students and not examining non-public school students; (3) the limited location of the study to Hamedan city and the poor cooperation of school officials; (4) Some students did not have the necessary interest and cooperation in answering the questions.

Suggestions:

1) carrying out social and communication skills educational interventions to improve the level of adaptation and especially academic adaptation; 2) conducting social skill group educational interventions to improve the level of academic adaptation in secondary schools; 3) carrying out counseling interventions and educational programs to strengthen the beliefs of emotional intelligence to increase academic adaptation in school and classroom; 4. Psychologists and counselors are advised to pay attention to students' psychological issues in addition to family and environment in order to solve the problem of students' incompatibility.

Acknowledgments

The researchers know their duty to be grateful to all the participants in the research.

Contribution of authors

All authors have an equal role in writing the article.

Conflict of interest

No conflict of interest has been declared by the authors of the study.

[1] - Ph.D. student of Education psychology, Department of Psychology, Islamic Azad University, Central Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran, Email: Fatemeviyani2470@gmail.com

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