Cultural influences and mandated counseling in Malaysia

It is unfair to conclude that Western and Eastern differences have caused conflict in the practice of counselling, especially in mandated counselling. It is reasonable to assume that without the Western approach and understanding of counselling, the East would still be unable to develop their own theory of helping. How then does one compare different approaches? Such an assessment can be argued clearly from a cultural perspective as in the case of mandated counselling. This paper discusses the influence of culture which has shaped the practice of mandated counselling and the appropriate practice of mandated counselling in a Malaysian setting. Many of the points discussed here are drawn from the data informed by seven informants in a research entitled ‘Mandated Counselling In Malaysia: A Heuristic Phenomenological Inquiry Of Involuntary Participation’. The phenomenon of counselling as originated and practised in the West, which has served as the significant model for the Malaysian style of counselling, is discussed. The concept of guidance and crisis intervention in counselling as practised in Malaysia has shaped the appropriate acceptance of mandated counselling. Respect for authority, a need to ‘save face’, directives from the authority and the values of we-ness makes mandated counselling in a Malaysian setting a relevant intervention

A general perspective on role of theory in qualitative research

There is a growing interest on qualitative methodology as evidence by an increasing number of qualitative research design employed in social science researches. In qualitative inquiry process, the role of theory in the field of social science and where it situates in the research framework has always created a challenge for the researchers. However, inconclusive and differing opinions have so far been documented about the role and position of theory in qualitative research. The purpose of this paper is to build a general perspective in terms of the position of theory in qualitative research methodology applicable to social science research. Review of literatures on these issues were presented and discussed. As a result, a deep comprehension of a phenomenon, event or experience in real-life cannot always or necessarily be based on theory, yet the significant role of theory in literature review is an undeniable fact

Self-esteem, body-esteem, emotional intelligence, and social anxiety in a college sample: the moderating role of weight

To examine the relationships between self-esteem, body-esteem, emotional intelligence, and social anxiety, as well as to examine the moderating role of weight between exogenous variables and social anxiety, 520 university students completed the self-report measures. Structural equation modeling revealed that individuals with low self-esteem, body-esteem, and emotional intelligence were more likely to report social anxiety. The findings indicated that obese and overweight individuals with low body-esteem, emotional intelligence, and self-esteem had higher social anxiety than others. Our results highlight the roles of body-esteem, self-esteem, and emotional intelligence as influencing factors for reducing social anxiety

Influence of gender on career readiness among Malaysian undergraduates

This study aimed to investigate the influence of gender on career readiness among Malaysian undergraduate students at Malaysian universities. Data were collected via a self-administered questionnaire of 1229 Malaysian undergraduate students from four public universities. Respondents were identified through the multistage stratified sampling method. Findings of the study indicate that a majority of the respondents reported low level of career readiness. When compared to male undergraduates, female undergraduates were found to have lower career readiness as manifested by the higher need for career information, and by being more anxious and indecisive when having to make career decisions. An understanding of the factors which contribute to career readiness among male and female university students will help to provide insights for educators in improving students' career developmental process

Predictors of career indecision among Malaysian undergraduate students

Career indecision refers to the phenomenon where individuals especially students are unable to make decisions about the careers they wish to pursue. Career decisions enable us to label students as being either ‘decided’ or ‘undecided’ on their career choices. To a greater extent, career indecision could also invoke the idea of readiness or career maturity in terms of the career developmental tasks they have to complete. The aim of this study was to determine predictive factors of career indecision among Malaysian undergraduates. Data for this study were collected using a self-administered questionnaire. There were 1229 respondents who consisted of undergraduate students from four public universities. The respondents were identified via multistage stratified sampling. The Career Factor Inventory (CFI; Chartrand, Robbins, Morrill & Boggs, 1990) was used to measure career indecision while the My Vocational Situation (MVS; Holland et al., 1980) was used to measure the three core dimensions of career identity namely vocational identity, occupational information and career barriers. The multiple regression analysis indicated that female undergraduates with high academic achievement and low occupational information, and vocational identity were more unlikely to have decided on their career. An understanding of factors contributing to career indecision among university students will provide insights for educators and student personnel in improving the students’ career developmental process

Family values and female psychological aggression

The main objective of the current study is to determine the relationship between women’s perceptions toward Iranian family values with psychological aggression. Approach: All of the randomly selected 337 wives who suffered from level of psychological aggression were included in this study. Straus questionnaire (CTS) is the method used to measure psychological aggression. It shows a negative relationship between family values (inequality in affairs and inequality in regulation) and psychological aggression. It has also shown that there is no relationship between values of inequality in access job and inequality in political in relation to psychological aggression. Social learning theory is used in order to gain a thorough understanding of the issue. The multivariate regression analysis is utilized to answer the last objective. Results: The analysis showed that among the four predictor variables, two of which variables such as inequality in affairs and inequality in regulation were found to be significant in explaining the observed variation in psychological aggression (DV). Conclusion: Generally, the final model has explained 4% of total observed variance in psychological aggression

An investigation of materialism and undergraduates' life satisfaction

Although there have been substantial empirical studies that have investigated the effect of materialism on life satisfaction, the nature of life satisfaction of Malaysian undergraduate students and its relationship with materialism still remain largely ambiguous and warrant an investigation. Against this backdrop, the present investigation attempted to examine the linkage between materialism and satisfaction of life among Malaysian undergraduate students. Data analysis was done based on responses of self-administered questionnaires that were completed by three-hundred and sixty-six students. The questionnaire consisted of inventories that assessed dispositions of materialistic values and perception of life satisfaction in general. Results of the study affirmed that materialism and its three dimensions were statistically correlated to life satisfaction. Interpretably, the greater endorsement of materialistic values as well as the three belief domains of materialism could undermine the feeling of satisfaction with life. From the evaluation of stepwise regression, the inclusion of Possession-defined Success and Acquisition as the Pursuit of Happiness elements successfully accounted for 21.5% of the variance of undergraduates’ life satisfaction. Notably, Possession-defined Success items captured the most variance in undergraduates’ life satisfaction. The findings of this study have important implications for contributing towards intellectual enrichment of a body of research in Malaysian context

An exploration study of effectiveness of child parent relationship therapy (CPRT) on children internalizing behavior problems

The application of positive parenting training for mothers and fathers which affects family members has received little attention and research interest in Iran. Therefore the current research is necessary. More than ever, the family today has a significant role to play in their children’s development. The major purpose of this current study is to determine the effect of child-parent relationship therapy (CPRT) on children’s internalizing symptoms (anxiety, fearfulness, depression and withdrawal). The study is an experimental research among mothers of children in primary school with internalizing behavioral problems in Tehran, Iran. Respondents comprised of 43 mothers in the experimental group and 43 other mothers in the control group who were randomly assigned. A CPRT as a training program was conducted with the experimental group over ten sessions lasting a total of two months. Instruments for data collection included the Children’s Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and one intervention in the form of CPRT, applied in the experimental stage. The results of the present study indicated that there is a significant difference in the internalizing symptoms between pre- and post-tests in the experimental group. They also demonstrated that CPRT as a treatment in the experimental group was effective and led to a significant change in maternal perspective as reflected by a decrease in the internalizing behavior problems of children [F (1, 42) = 85.62, p<.01, ηp2= .67, F=.9]. In conclusion, the mothers in this program learned reflective listening, recognizing and responding to children’s feelings, all of which in turn improved their children’s behaviour

Wives’ backgrounds, perception towards family values and physical aggression

The focus of this paper is on the relationship between backgrounds, perceptions towards family values and physical aggression among Iranian wives. The paper is based on a study carried out among 337 wives who suffered physical aggression. Physical aggression was measured using Straus Questionnaire of Conflict Tactic Scale (CTS). There was a significant relationship between duration of marriage, women age, and number of children with family values. There was no relationship between family income and women education with family values. An Independent Sample t-test was utilized to investigate the differences across the two means of groups. As the result, a significant difference was found between women employment and family values where t = 4.48, p ≤.01. An Independent Sample t-test was utilized in order to test the means of the two performances. It was found that there is no significant difference between husband employment and family values. There was no significant difference between the experiences of violence before marriage in terms of the perception towards family values. There was also no significant relationship between family values and female physical aggression

A preliminary study on occupational stress and job satisfaction among male navy personnel at a naval base in Lumut, Malaysia

Job satisfaction and occupational stress both indicate workers’ appraisal towards the workplace and work itself. Thus, it is important to have valid measure of job satisfaction and occupational stress. This measure is also important in the Malaysian workplace context. A total of 40 male officers and non-officers, from the seaman and engineering and supply branch in the Lumut Naval Base participated in the study. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire, the Job Satisfaction Survey (Spector, 1985) and Job Related Tension Index (JRTI; Kahn et al., 1964). This preliminary study established internal consistency using Cronbach alpha values for both instruments. Additionally, the study determined the level of occupational stress, job satisfaction and relationship between occupational stress and job satisfaction facets. The findings of the study revealed that the reliability of both instruments were greater than 0.80. The majority of the male Navy personnel reported moderate levels of job satisfaction in the favorable nature of work facet. High occupational stress on the other hand, was related to an unknown superior’s evaluation of one’s workplace performance. Correlational analyses found that occupational stress was associated with overall job satisfaction and in eight of its facets. Collectively, results provide evidence that both instruments are reliable in the Malaysian military setting context. Caution should be made that findings of this preliminary study should not be generalized to the larger population due to its small sample size. A bigger sample would be needed to represent the general population