Emotional intelligence is usually used in order to measure an individual’s effectiveness. One of the instruments that is used to measure emotional intelligence is Schutte’s Self-Report Emotional Intelligence Survey (SREIS). The main objective of this study is to evaluate the psychometric properties of SREIS. A set of SREIS was distributed to 152 undergraduate psychology students from a public university in Malaysia. Other than SREIS, Life Satisfaction Scale (LSS) by Krapu (2006) was also used in this study. In evaluating reliability, Cronbach’s alpha was used, and criterion and construct validity methods were used to test its validity. Results obtained showed that Schutte’s SREIS was valid to be used in Malaysia and using principle component analysis, six components were extracted with 49% variance. The SREIS also showed good criterion validity from the significant correlations with the Life Satisfaction Scale. In addition to that, the results of reliability were satisfactory with Cronbach’s alpha ranging from 0.55 to 0.85 for all the dimensions.
Studies on the organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB) is still new in Malaysia, especially among teachers. The importance of OCB in an organisation has been proven to improve individual performance and productivity. Meanwhile, personality plays an important role in influencing OCB. Therefore, this study will identify whether a teacher's personality influences OCB. This quantitative study was carried out by collecting data from a questionnaire distributed to 287 people that consists of teachers from SBT (High Performance Schools) and daily schools in primary schools around Putrajaya. The Big Five Inventory Instrument by John and Srivastava (1999) is used to measure the five-factor personality and the measurement scale of Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) by Podsakoff et al. (1990) to measure OCB. Data was analysed by multiple regression using Statistical Package for Social Science version 23. The results showed that neuroticism, agreeableness and openness influenced OCB among teachers as a whole. The impact of this study can help the MOE identify the characteristics of the candidate teachers who match the OCB required in the selection and placement of teachers. The MOE can also devise self-awareness intervention modules to maintain and improve OCB among teachers. Future studies need to examine the influence of personality upon the more specific OCBs so that the performance of teachers is always maintained at its peak.
MeSH terms: Factor V; Malaysia; Personality; Surveys and Questionnaires; Schools; Social Sciences
Ex-offenders are facing major challenges after their release to survive in the community. Among the challenges are stigma from the community, physical and mental health issues, financial problem because of unemployment and loss of significant others. They need to be guided to manage issues regarding employment, family, interpersonal relationship, and self-management. This article will discuss issues and barriers for ex-offenders to return to work or join the workforce. Past findings showed that ex-convicts and ex-drug addicts are still facing with barriers which withhold them from joining the job market. They frequently become the victims of rejection, bias, being bullied, and being segregated by co-workers. Barriers in employment may also be rooted from themselves, such as attitude problem, bad work culture, aggressive personality, and disciplinary issue. Thus, effective programmes and interventions need to be implemented for ex-offenders to increase their employability, and hence joining the community.
MeSH terms: Employment; Humans; Interpersonal Relations; Mental Health; Personality; Unemployment; Drug Users; Criminals; Social Stigma; Bullying; Return to Work; Social Segregation
The phenomenon of adolescents involved with drug abuse is a worrying and very serious issue. The influence of drug-related partners would have a bad effect on other teens, especially teenagers who are at risk. Therefore, this study aims to identify the extent of the level of knowledge of the drug, especially in relation to the differences of attitudes in terms of physical effects, hindering behaviors, involvement in drug-related activities and information on how to distribute, attitude towards self and future, and risk factors amongst students who did take drugs as compared to who never took it. This is a cross-sectional study involving 559 teenagers at risk, aged between 13-18 years’ old who are involved in SHIELDS Programme, camp based programme that was introduced by Agensi Anti dadah Kebangsaan (AADK) in collabaration with the Ministy of Education. Findings showed that there is a significant difference between students who have taken drugs and those who have never used it for dimension of hindering behavior, involvement in drug-related activities and information on how to distribute, risk factors of the involvement of immediate family members with drugs and negative consequences of drug intake. Because the involvement with drugs negatively impacts adolescents, thus, the prevention of this deviance behavior must be implemented as best as possible to ensure that the future of these adolescents is upheld, to prevent them from falling into another crime.
Commonly, teenage marriage affects schooling and being gainfully employed to support the family in later life. Most studies focused on the effects of marriage at the young age. However, less research is focusing on the experience of marriage from the perspective of the teenagers who get married at the teen age. This article aims to answer the following questions: (1) what are the experiences of teenage marriages, and (2) what are their views on teenage marriage. The article is based on semi-structured interviews with seven girls recruited by snowball technique, aged 15 to 23 years, married and living in Kuching, Sarawak. Data were analyzed by thematic analysis. Seven themes emerged on marriage experiences: being independent, nourishing patience, maintaining social boundaries, developing responsible behaviour, being inspired, staying positive and doubting their ability as a husband or wife. Moreover, four main themes described informants' views on teenage marriage: to avoid immorality, immaturity, making decisions wisely and accountability. It can be concluded that a person who gets married at the teen age is in need of help from various parties, especially parents and friends as well as community not to be stigmatized for being married at the teen age.
MeSH terms: Adolescent; Employment; Female; Humans; Malaysia; Marriage; Parents; Social Behavior; Social Responsibility; Spouses; Friends
Parent-youth conflict and behavioural difficulties are common issues in the field of developmental psychology. This study examines the correlations of conflict and behavioural difficulties, to see if these factors predicted a negative affect on a sample of at-risk youth. A sample of 335 at-risk youth aged 13-24 years old from Public Housing Projects in Kuala Lumpur was selected. Conflict with the father was significantly associated with negative affect. Further analysis showed that three factors were required to produce negative affect. The results support claims that father conflict, emotional problems and conduct problems are an integral part of the close relationships of at-risk youth, and discourage positive youth development among at-risk youth.
MeSH terms: Problem Behavior; Adolescent; Mental Disorders; Fathers; Humans; Male; Public Housing; Risk; Psychology, Developmental
Self-Compassion Scale (SCS) has been used widely throughout the world as an instrument to measure the self-compassionate concept among adolescents and adults. However, within the context of Malaysia this instrument is relatively new and published work on this construct is limited. This study was therefore conducted to measure the psychometric properties of the SCS - Bahasa Melayu version. SCS was a self-report instrument that consisted of 6 subfactors and it was rated on a 5-point Likert scale. Subjects of this study were randomly selected adolescents (n=125) aged 16 years old who resided in Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur. The SCS was translated using back translation technique and its validity was determined by face and content validity. Descriptive analysis was used to assess demographic data, while inferential analysis was adopted to check for internal consistency using Cronbach alpha. Results of validity tests revealed that the content of 12 items of the SCS needed to be rephrased. Results of internal consistency analysis demonstrated good reliability values, with Cronbach alpha for total scale α=.80, while the Cronbach alpha values for the sub-scales ranged from α=.60 to α=.70. All in all, these Cronbach alpha values indicated that the SCS was suitable to measure self-compassion construct among Malaysian population. In order to have a deeper understanding of the self-compassion construct and the suitability of SCS for local use, further analyses using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) may need to be conducted.
Artikel ini bertujuan mengkaji keberkesanan program SHIELDS daripada perspektif pelajar dan urusetia yang telah turut terlibat. Program SHIELDS adalah satu bentuk program campbased yang diperkenalkan hasil kerjasama antara Kementerian Pendidikan dan Pihak Agensi Anti Dadah Kebangsaan (AADK). Nama SHEILDS ini adalah akronim yang bermaksud Sayangi Hidup, Elak Derita Selamanya. Sehubungan itu, program ini bertujuan meningkatkan kesedaran dan mengupayakan ketahanan diri murid (lingkungan umur 13 hingga 18 tahun) yang dikenalpasti berisiko dalam penyalahgunaan dadah. Kajian kuantitatif ini melibatkan dua fasa iaitu fasa pertama adalah mengedarkan soal selidik sebelum dan selepas program SHIELDS dijalankan. Manakala, fasa kedua pula adalah sesi follow up selepas 3 bulan terhadap 50 pelajar yang telah terlibat dengan program SHIELDS terlebih dahulu. Hasil kajian menunjukkan secara keseluruhan perspektif pelajar seramai 559 orang yang terlibat dengan program SHIELDS ini adalah baik dengan min=4.48. Kesimpulannya, dapatan ini menunjukkan bahawa program SHIELDS ini sewajarnya diteruskan dengan beberapa penambahbaikan untuk kelangsungan program dan kebaikan semua pihak yang terlibat.
Currently, poverty is a growing issue in the urban community. The increasing cost of living, due to the rapid urbanisation process has resulted the urban community to forgo few vital interests in order to survive. The urban poverty’s condition can lead to more serious consequences when they decline the education rights of their children in order to survive rather than having a stable financial status. These pressing conditions have caused them to lack the proper education and become less successful in their careers compared to others. Thus, it has resulted in the late bloomers group who are forced to sacrifice their youth by working in order to obtain strong financial guarantee before resuming to get the perfect education just like everyone else at the later age. Hence, this paper will discuss solely based on past studies that have been conducted especially in Malaysia. The concepts and definitions of poverty and urban poverty will also be further discussed.
This study investigates bullying and victimisation in juvenile rehabilitation institutions in Malaysia, where research on this phenomenon has been particularly limited. It examines the prevalence of bullying and victimisation in these settings and investigates the role of personal characteristics and aspects of institutional environments, and explores how these factors relate to bullying behaviour. The study comprised a survey completed by 289 male and female young people, aged 12 to 21 years old, in 8 juvenile rehabilitation institutions, using the scale version of Direct and Indirect Prisoner Behaviour Checklist (DIPC-SCALEDr) and the Measuring the Quality of Prison Life (MQPL) instruments. The findings showed that 95 percent of young people reported at least one behaviour indicative of bullying others, and 99 percent reported at least one behaviour indicative of victimisation in a month. Seven predictors were found to underpin bullying behaviour, including three personal characteristics (i.e. time spent in the institution, experiences of punishment inside the institution, and gang membership) and four institutional dimensions (i.e respect; bureaucratic legitimacy; fairness; and family contact). To conclude, bullying behaviour seemed to be normalized in juvenile rehabilitation institutions. As the heart of institution, staff members play an important role to control bullying behaviour amongst young people. The importance of these findings for bullying prevention strategies and directions for future research are discussed.
The HIV positive cases in Malaysia and the world are increasing from day to day among individuals of all races and ages. However, the issue of social support for HIV positive patients still needs to be discussed in detail as this issue will have an impact on the lives of HIV positive patients in Malaysia. The focus of this study is to examine social support among HIV positive people in Malaysia. This study used a full qualitative method to collect and analyze data. Five male informants with HIV positive were involved in this study. All informants were interviewed separately using semi structured interview methods. Among the topics discussed in this study were family acceptance, the type of social support they received and the social support resources. The findings showed that, four out of five informants were infected with the HIV viruses from sharing needle and one informant was infected from unprotected sex. The results showed that they received adequate social support in terms of emotions, information, instrumental and networking from various sources. Nevertheless, social support for HIV positive people in Malaysia still needs to be discussed and promoted to ensure their psychological well-being.
MeSH terms: Emotions; HIV Seropositivity; Humans; Malaysia; Male; Social Support; Viruses; HIV Infections; Needle Sharing; Unsafe Sex
Occupation is the most important element in changing the quality-of-life continuity and the recovery of drug addicts. This study aimed to measure the level of employment sustainability among ex-clients from the National Anti-Drug Agency (AADK). This study used a quantitative approach with a cross-sectional design. A total of 130 AADK ex-clients who were in employment were selected as respondents for this study. Our findings show that the majority of AADK ex-clients can survive relatively well enough for between 1 to 2 years depending on the factors of wages, work environment, interests and skills. The finding of this study implies that former clients tend to remain only 1 to 2 years in employment if their wages and jobs are not in line with their will. The findings also found that there was a significant relationship between the job-person fit and job satisfaction with motivation. Hence, this study is capable to modify the perceptions and views of employers towards clients' initiative for being persistent at the workplace as well as improving existing policies in providing incentives to clients for being consistent on the job.
MeSH terms: Cross-Sectional Studies; Drive; Employment; Job Satisfaction; Motivation; Occupations; Perception; Quality of Life; Surveys and Questionnaires; Salaries and Fringe Benefits; Workplace; Drug Users
Hoarding merupakan tingkah laku individu mengumpul dan menyimpan barang secara berlebihan dan seringkali melibatkan barang yang tidak perlu. Tingkah laku hoarding merupakan sejenis penyakit mental di bawah kecelaruan obsesif-kompulsif menurut Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). Individu yang mengalami tingkah laku hoarding ini tidak dapat menjalani kehidupan seharian secara normal dan mengalami masalah mental. Artikel ini bertujuan untuk mengenal pasti tahap kesihatan mental yang membawa kepada tingkah laku hoarding dalam kalangan wanita bekerjaya. Seramai 150 orang responden telah dipilih secara persampelan mudah untuk menjawab satu set borang soal selidik yang mengandungi tiga jenis instrumen iaituGeneral Health Questionnaire (GHQ12), Hoarding Rating Scale (HRS), dan Mental Health Inventory (MHI). Hasil kajian ini mendapati bahawa majoritiwanita bekerjaya di sekitar Bangi, Selangor mempunyai tahap hoarding yang rendahiaitu sebanyak 83.3 peratus. Manakala sebanyak 16 peratus mempunyai tahap hoarding yang sederhana dan hanya seorang responden yang mempunyai tahap hoarding yang tinggi. Majoriti responden mempunyai tahap kesihatan mental yang sederhana dan hanya 12 peratus responden yang mempunyai tahap kesihatan mental yang tinggi. Didapati wujudnya hubungan yang signifikan antara tingkah laku hoarding dengan tahap kesihatan mental. Kajian ini menunjukkan terdapat kecenderungan responden kajian mengalami masalah mental akibat tingkah laku hoarding. Tingkah laku hoarding perlu dikawal dalam kalangan wanita yang bekerjaya agar mereka mencapai tahap kesihatan mental yang baik. Tingkah laku hoarding mempunyai kesan negative kerana ia memberi impak besar ke atas keupayaan seseorang untuk berfungsi secara produktif.
MeSH terms: Agar; Mental Disorders; Mental Health; Surveys and Questionnaires
In the globalization era which is more challenging, our country needs productive, knowledgeable, competent and competitive work force. The ability to compete in the global market depends on the quality and productivity of employees. Therefore, employees wit physical, mental and psychological well-being are important to ascertain the effectiveness of work in the organization. This study aims to explore the psychometric properties of the Psychological Well-Being Scale. A total of 209 employees from the Prime Minister’s Department participated as respondents in this study. The Psychological Well-Being Scale was used as the research instrument. Results of factor analysis using Principal Component Analysis technique and varimax rotation with scree plot extracted three factors which contributed 39.99 percent variance and produced loadings between .045 to .779. The three factors extracted were Self-Acceptance, Environmental Mastery and Autonomy. Results of reliability also showed moderate and good reliability with alpha Cronbach .920 for Self-Acceptance, .779 for Environmental Mastery and .511 for Autonomy. Findings of this study give implication that the Psychological Well-Being Scale has good psychometric properties and can be used to measure psychological well-being among employees in Malaysia.
Happiness is the natural goal of life for every human being. Every indivdual is trying to find happiness because it describes a good life. Therefore, this study aims to examine an influence on happiness, which is optimistic, using a positive psychological strength,. Social support is utilized as an external quality as it supports the optimistic influence towards happiness. The study was conducted on 436 adolescents in higher education, aged between 18 and 25 years old. The quantitative study uses a set of questionnaires to obtain the data, Extended Life Orientation Test for optimistic measurements, Inventory of Socially Supportive Behavior Short Form measures social support, and Oxford Happiness Questionnaire measures adolescents happiness. Descriptively, adolescents in higher education showed high optimism (Min = 3.77, SP = .62), while moderate social support for the three forms of support, namely guidance support (Min = 3.07, SP = .81), emotional support (Min = 3.17, SP = .99) and tangible support (Min = 2.82, SP = .95). Adolescents in higher education reported having a moderate level of happiness (Min = 3.39, S.P = .92). The findings show that guidance and emotion support mediating the influence of optimistic towards happiness among adolescents in higher education. Tangible support does not play any role. The implication of the study is to adolescents that even the positive attitudes of optimistic can enhance their happiness, but the guidance and emotional support from significant people can further reinforce those influences.
Study site: Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS)
MeSH terms: Optimism; Female; Goals; Happiness; Humans; Malaysia; Male; Surveys and Questionnaires; Social Behavior; Social Support; Universities; Young Adult
Academic procrastination is prevalent among university undergraduates and it affects students’ wellbeing and academic performance. Procrastination has become a concerning phenomenon in recent years and is not taken seriously. As self- regulation is one of the predictors of academic achievement among undergraduates it is often linked to procrastination. Thus, this study aimed to investigate if there are gender differences in self- regulation and procrastination and whether there is a relationship between self- regulation and procrastination among 287 undergraduates from four different private universities in Malaysia. Data were collected using self-report survey with convenience sampling method. The Short Self- Regulation Questionnaire (Carey, Neal, & Collins, 2004) was used to measure self-regulation while procrastination was measured using Tuckman Procrastination Scale (Yockey, 2016). Results of t-test analyses showed that there is no significant gender difference in both self-regulation and procrastination. Moderate significant negative relationship was found between self-regulation and procrastination. Hence the findings reflect that self-regulation could predict procrastination where students with high self-regulation will tend to procrastinate less. Therefore, self-regulation strategies and interventions should be taught to undergraduates in order to further enhance their self-efficacy as well as to have intrinsic motivation to be more goal-directed which could be aimed to reduce academic procrastination.
Social emotional intelligence, a combination between emotion and social intelligence, is a very important aspect of one's self. It is divided into five components which is intrapersonal, interpersonal, stress management, adaptation and general mood. Social emotional intelligence directly affects the behavior, emotion and decision making of an individual. Secondary school students are a group of early teenager and still in the process of identity formation. Therefore, it is important to know the social emotional intelligence of adaptability skills especially among school students as it has long-term impact on their performance. The main objective of this study is to examine the social emotional intelligence scores among high school students in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. The sample in this study consisted of Form One to Form Six students from various schools around Kota Kinabalu. A set of questionnaire used in this study is The Emotional Quotient Inventory Youth Version (EQ-i: YV) designed by Bar-On and Parker (2000) contains 60 questions with four likert scale. The data obtained were analyzed using the IBM SPSS version 24.0. The results of this study showed that the social emotional intelligence as a whole is at a moderate level. Meanwhile, there are differences in adaptability skills between male and female students, where the mean score for male students is higher than female students. As for the implication, related parties such as ministries of education, parents and the community can obtain relevant information for the purpose of implementation of programs and activities to enhance emotional intelligence and adaptability skills that are appropriate to the current generation Z.
This study was done to investigate the effectiveness of Mandala Art Therapy (MAT) as a tool to enhance the Social Interaction Skills (SIS) of a student with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The participant of this study was a student with ASD aged twenty-three years old attending a special development center. There were six sessions of MAT done in this study. The initial score and the after score of participants’ Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ) assessment were compared to determine whether there is an improvement of his SIS after going through six sessions of MAT. Besides that, the participant’s behavioral changes and color application from his mandala throughout the six sessions of MAT were also observed and analyzed to explore the improvement of his SIS. After six sessions of observation, the findings obtained from the MAT sessions indicated that MAT is useful to improve the SIS of the participant in this study. This study showed that MAT could be utilized as a useful tool in therapy sessions for other students with ASD to improve their SIS.
The present study examined the influence of age, gender, education and monthly income on perceived stress of type-2 diabetes and coronary heart disease patients. The study was conducted on 100 chronic patients (50 diabetic and 50 coronary heart disease) selected randomly from six hospitals and clinics of Rajshahi city in Bangladesh. The age range of sample was 35 to 65 years (M=53.03, SD=8.597). All of the participants were out-patients. Perceived Stress Questionnaire (Keya, 2006) was used to assess the stress level. The t- test analyses revealed that female patients perceive high level of stress than male patients. Results of the analysis of variance revealed that the main effect of education on perceived stress was statistically significant, illiterate patients perceived high level of stress compare to primary, secondary, higher secondary and graduate group. Regression analysis revealed that demographic variables (age, gender and monthly income) explained 26.8 percent of the variance that highlighting contributions to patients’ perceived stress. The findings conclude that gender, monthly income and level of education have significant effects on patients’ perceived stress.
Given the increased popularity and use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) in the treatment of psychiatric disorders, it is crucial for mental health professionals to be informed about this treatment approach. Accordingly, this paper critically reviews the pro and con arguments for the use of CAM treatment modalities in the treatment of psychiatric disorders. Given that there are potential dangers in adopting the CAM approach without appropriate supervision, it begs the question of what roles and responsibilities mental health professionals have in the matter. Thus, this article proceeds to address the roles and the recommended strategies for mental health professionals when working with patients or clients who use CAM for their treatment of psychopathological issues. Finally, it goes further to discuss the practice of integrating both conventional treatment and CAM to treat mental disorders and issues associated with such disorders. Importantly, this article highlights the need for knowledgeable, confident, and trained mental health professionals to provide patient counselling about the complementary and alternative approach.
MeSH terms: Complementary Therapies; Mental Disorders; Counseling; Health Personnel; Humans; Mental Health; Psychopathology; Dissent and Disputes