THE IMPACT OF SPIRITUAL WELL-BEING, CALLING, AND RELIGIOUS COPING ON BURNOUT, MEDIATED BY JOB STRESSORS, AMONG THAI PROTESTANT PASTORS

The present study attempted to investigate the direct and indirect influences of spiritual well-being, calling, and religious coping on burnout among Protestant Thai pastors, being mediated by job stressors. This investigation consisted of two parts (Study 1 and 2) which included the examination of the psychometric properties of five Thai-translated Western-based measures: The Clergy Spiritual Well-Being Scale (CSWS), the Calling and Vocation Questionnaire (CVQ), the Brief Religious Coping (Brief RCOPE), the Challenge and Hindrance Stressors Scale (CHSS), and the Francis Burnout Inventory (FBI). The participants consisted of 505 Thai Protestant pastors aged between 23 to 65 years, recruited from three major Christian church organizations in Thailand. The results revealed that (1) the five Thai-translated measures were psychometrically sound (reliable and valid); (2) both spiritual well-being and calling have direct influences on burnout; (3) only religious coping has an indirect influence on burnout, being mediated by job stressors; (4) the full path model which incorporated the hypothesized direct and indirect influences is a better representation of causal relationships among the variables than the indirect model

THE IMPACT OF NEGATIVE BEHAVIOR EVALUATIONS/GUILT AND NEGATIVE SELF EVALUATIONS/SHAME OF THAI UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN BANGKOK ON THEIR PERSONAL GROWTH INITIATIVE BOTH DIRECTLY AND INDIRECTLY, BEING MEDIATED BY THEIR REPAIR AND WITHDRAWAL TENDENCIES

Researchers have claimed that negative evaluation of one’s behavior or oneself after one has made a mistake can have a distinct negative or positive impact. After one has made a mistake, the Negative Behavior Evaluations or Guilt (NBEs/Guilt) emerges when one focuses on one’s action and the Negative Self Evaluations or Shame (NSEs/Shame) emerges when one focuses on one’s self. Correspondingly, the present study investigated the direct and indirect impact of NBEs/Guilt and NSEs/Shame on Personal Growth Initiative (PGI) which is an active, intentional engagement in the process of personal growth, being mediated by their repair and withdrawal tendencies among Thai undergraduate students in Bangkok. This quantitative research employed path analysis using survey questionnaires with 232 Thai participants obtained via convenience sampling (mean age was 22). The path analysis results indicated that NBEs/Guilt had both direct and indirect relationships with participants’ level of PGI mediated by repair tendencies, while NSEs/Shame only had a relationship with PGI when it was mediated by repair tendencies. Moreover, the result showed that the relationship between NBEs/Guilt and repair tendencies were significantly higher than the relationship between NSEs/Shame and repair tendencies. Lastly, NBEs/Guilt had a negative relationship with withdrawal tendencies while NSEs/Shame was positively correlated with withdrawal tendencies. The results suggest that in Thailand, a collective culture, NSEs/Shame can lead to PGI mediated through repair tendencies. However, since the relationship is much stronger for NBEs/Guilt to PGI, one should try and reduce NSEs/Shame and attempt to induce NBEs/Guilt as a response to one’s mistakes

The Development and Testing of a Positive Psychology-Based Program for Increasing Happiness among Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Thailand

The current research investigated the role of positive psychology in contributing to the development of happiness among parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). To fulfill the main objectives, this research comprised three studies. Study I employed a qualitative design which used the hermeneutic phenomenological framework in which in-depth interviews were conducted to identify thematic dimensions to inform the development of the Happiness in Parents of Children with ASD Scale (HPCA). Study II involved a quantitative approach in which exploratory factor analysis, reliability analysis, and confirmatory factor analysis were used to develop a psychometrically sound measurement instrument– the HPCA Scale. Tests of validity via both convergent and divergent tests of validity showed that this newly developed scale is valid. Study III employed the nine-component factor structure identified for the HPCA to develop the modified positive psychology-based intervention program and test its effectiveness. The last study investigated the effectiveness of the modified positive psychology-based program via multivariate 2 x 2 mixed-repeated measures design. The results of Study I found three main themes for creating the new survey questionnaire. The results of Study II revealed the final nine-component structure of Happiness in Parents of Children with ASD Scale (HPCA). The findings in Study III indicated that seven of the nine components were significant, namely, hope in the child’s independence, positive acceptance of the child’s disorder, parental self-efficacy, confidence in helping child development, mind-body relaxation, contribution to society, and stress management. Promoting positive family support and resilience were not found to be significantly related to developing happiness among parents. The modified program also had an effect on decreasing depression, one of the components in the DASS-21. Further application of the program that integrates positive psychology should be considered in promoting parental happiness in other areas of child and adolescent disabilities

FACEBOOK USE, APPEARANCE COMPARISON, BODY DISSATISFACION, AND SELF-ESTEEM IN THAI FEMALE FACEBOOK USERS

It is well known that social media such as Facebook has gained popularity in recent years with its unique features facilitating communication among people from every part of the world. It can be the free space of self-presentation where users portray their flattering images through well-selected posts. Using correlational research design, this study aims to investigate the direct and indirect relationship between Facebook use, appearance comparison, body dissatisfaction, and self-esteem. Thai female Facebook users (n=171) aged between 20-74 years who subscribe the official page of six biggest provinces of Thailand (Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Nakhon Ratchasima, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Kanchanaburi, and Chonburi) participated in online survey distributed via Facebook messenger. The result from statistical analysis shows that there is no direct relationship between Facebook use, body dissatisfaction and self-esteem. However, the findings indicated that such relationship is mediated by appearance comparison. This means while Thai women are using Facebook, they make appearance comparison on the site, and, thus, their body dissatisfaction increases whereas self-esteem decreases. The findings can be beneficial for Thai people in both research and practice areas. Future research should be conducted to better understand this relationship and to explore it in different populations or other social media platforms