There are a lot of factors to help improve the school adaptability of secondary students. Social intelligence and career self-efficacy are expected to affect that as well, on which the focus of this study was placed as variables that might influence s...
There are a lot of factors to help improve the school adaptability of secondary students. Social intelligence and career self-efficacy are expected to affect that as well, on which the focus of this study was placed as variables that might influence school adjustment. The purpose of this study was to have a better understanding of the school- adjustment behavior of adolescents, to acquire a variety of in-depth scientific data on successful school adjustment and to lay the groundwork for developing efficient programs geared toward diagnosing and preventing school maladjustment.
The subjects in this study were 1,376 secondary students in six different regions that included two regions each that were selected from large cities, small urban communities and rural areas across the nation. Both academic and vocational high school students were selected, and a survey was conducted with self-administered questionnaires. The collected data were analyzed with SPSS/WIN 13.0 program.
The major findings of the study were as follows:
First, regarding Hypothesis 1, the students investigated were different from one another in social intelligence, career self-efficacy and school adjustment according to their personal background variables.
As for differences by grade of school in Hypothesis 1-1, the middle schoolers were ahead of the high schoolers in social intelligence, career self-efficacy and school adjustment, which included social openness, vocational information, self-evaluation, target setting, future plans, and adjustment to school instruction, friends, teachers, school regulations and school environments. The former experienced more social anxiety than the latter.
Concerning differences by residential areas in Hypothesis 1-2, the students from large urban communities excelled the others from small urban and rural areas in social intelligence, social perception, social self- efficacy, career self-efficacy, self-evaluation, target setting and adjust- ment to school instruction, friends, school regulations and school environments. The students from large urban areas adapted themselves the best to school and teachers, followed by those from rural regions and those from small urban communities.
As to differences by academic achievement in Hypothesis 1-3, the high-ranking students surpassed the intermediate and low-ranking groups in social intelligence, career self-efficacy, school adjustment and all the subfactors. But there was no intergroup gap in social anxiety and friend adjustment. In regard to the influence of living together with parents, the students who lived with their real parents were most excellent in social intelligence and social perception. Those who lived with step parents were significantly better at career self-efficacy, target setting and future plans. The students who lived with their real parents acquired better vocational information than those from single-parent families. The students whose parents were absent scored lowest in all the regards except problem solving. The students from intact families adjusted themselves the best to school, school instruction and friends.
As for the impact of parent occupation in Hypothesis 1-5, the students whose fathers and mothers were professionals and semi-professionals respectively had the highest social intelligence. The students whose fathers and mothers were in management post had the best career self- efficacy. The students whose fathers were professionals were most excellent in school adjustment, followed by those whose fathers were in management post, and the students whose mothers were semi- professionals(technicians) were the best in terms of school adjustment. In other words, the students whose parents had a stable profession were excellent in social intelligence, career self-efficacy and school adjustment.
In relation to the impact of the academic background of parents in Hypothesis 1-6, the students whose fathers and mothers graduated from graduate school and college respectively had the highest social intelligence, and those whose parents stopped at middle school had the lowest social intelligence. In terms of career self-efficacy, the students whose fathers and mothers graduated from graduate schools were the best. The students whose fathers and mothers graduated from graduate school and college respectively adapted themselves the best to school, school instruction, friends, school regulations and school environments. Accordingly, the academic background of parents made a significant difference to their social intelligence, career self-efficacy and school adjustment.
Second, as for correlation between social intelligence, career self- efficacy and school adjustment in Hypothesis 2, there was the strongest correlation between school adjustment and teacher adjustment and the weakest correlation between problem solving and the efficiency of social behavior. As to the relationship of social intelligence, career self-efficacy and the subfactors of the two to school adjustment, there was the closest correlation between social intelligence and school adjustment and the weakest correlation between social openness and teacher adjustment. It indicated that an improved social intelligence could lead to better school adjustment. Specifically, the students who were more open socially and consequently more flexible found it more difficult to fit in with teachers.
Third, in regard to the influence of the subfactors of social intelligence and career self-efficacy on school adjustment in Hypothesis 3, self- evaluation had the greatest impact on that, followed by social self- efficacy, social perception, social anxiety and the efficiency of social behavior. Thus, most of the social-intelligence subfactors exercised an influence on school adjustment. Overall, self-evaluation and social self- efficacy that denoted belief and confidence in one's own ability had the greatest impact on school adjustment and its subfactors. In order to boost