Impact of Psycho-Social Factors on School Adjustments among Secondary Schools Students
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Impact of Psycho-Social Factors on School Adjustments among Secondary Schools Students
Chapter one
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background for the Study
Students’ motivation to participate and adjust to school programs may be influenced by the school environment and their experiences both inside and outside of school.
Psychologists have defined adjustment in different ways, such as the process of sustaining harmonious interactions between a living entity and its environment (Raju & Rahamtulla, 2007).
Weiten and Lloyd (2003) defined adjustment as the psychological mechanisms by which people manage or cope with the demands and obstacles of daily life.
According to Kulshrestha in Ugodulunwa and Anakwe (2012), the adjustment process is a technique in which an individual seeks to deal with stress, tension, and conflicts while still meeting his or her needs and maintaining harmonious relationships with the environment. This suggests that both the individual and the environment play a crucial role in adjustment.
School adjustment refers to the level of school acculturation or modifications required to maximise the educational fit between pupils’ individual features and the diverse nature and requirements of learning environments. Agbakwuru and Agbakwuru (2012) defined school adjustment as the process of bringing an individual’s behaviour into line with the norms of the school environment.
It is a constant process that aims to help individuals adjust to school life and culture. According to Gates and Jersild in Mangal (2008), school adjustment is a continuous process in which kids vary their behaviour in order to achieve a more harmonious connection with the school. School adjustment can be defined as intellectual, social, and emotional adjustment.
It can be seen as the process by which children balance their intellectual, social, and emotional demands with the educational environment. Indeed, a student’s school adjustment is determined by the alignment of his or her competencies and needs with the demands of the school environment.
According to Adeyemo (2005), kids’ adjustment involves managing their emotions and behaviour in a socially suitable and responsible manner to handle school demands and responsibilities. This indicates that adjustment entails the ability of physiological and emotional components to fulfil the social needs of their surroundings.
Adjustment potentials let students deal better with pressures of classmates, school life, academic obstacles and temptation of alcohol, drugs and sex. The elements involved in student adjustment are numerous and include the individual’s competencies, such as social, behavioural, emotional, cultural, and intellectual skills.
Peer acceptance, motivation, school interest, and other factors all help them adjust. Social and emotional competences were identified as predictors of successful school adjustment.
Desocialization is the process of modifying or rejecting specific values, beliefs, and characteristics that one brings to school in reaction to the school experience.
Socialisation is the process of being exposed to and adopting new values, attitudes, beliefs, and views that one learns in school. Several elements have been identified as influences on students’ adjustment to school. How one sees himself or herself helps in adaption in any environment. Selfconcept is a conviction about one’s own identity.
Weiten and Llyod (2003) described self-concept as a set of ideas about one’s own nature, distinguishing characteristics, and usual behaviour. Nwankwo (2010) defines self-concept as your understanding of yourself or what you believe about yourself. Emotional intelligence is one of the psychological qualities that might help pupils adjust to school.
According to Colman (2005), emotional intelligence is the ability to monitor one’s own and others’ emotions, to distinguish between different emotions and name them appropriately, and to use emotional information to influence thought and conduct. He defined it as the ability to control one’s own emotions in order to foster growth and well-being.
Ramalingam (2006) defines emotional intelligence as the awareness of one’s ability to handle emotions in a healthy and productive manner. Emotional intelligence is defined as the ability to monitor, access, express, and manage one’s own emotions
As well as the ability to identify, analyse, and understand the emotions of others and utilise this information to guide one’s thinking and behaviours (Weiten & Lloyd 2003).
Recent research with younger children consistently shows that friendship status and general peer acceptance both appear to influence numerous adjustment outcomes. Children appear to be better adjusted overall when they are welcomed by their classmates and have one or more close, supportive friendships (Ladd and Burgess, 2001).
According to Akinade (2008), a peer group consists of individuals who share trust, affection, interests, acceptance, attitude, and personality traits. Peer groups are thus informal primary groups of people that have similar and equal status and are typically of roughly the same age and interest within the social aggregate.
Based on this background, the researchers decided to study how some psychosocial characteristics predict secondary school pupils’ transition to school.
1.2 Statement of Problem
Although scholars have identified a link between psychosocial factors and maladjustment in children, it should be noted that secondary school students differ from typical elementary-aged children and thus respond differently to direct parental involvement in their lives (Criss, Pettit, Bates, Dodge & Lapp 2002).
A combination of previous academic achievement and psychosocial variables (PSFs) can predict students’ later achievement due to the mental imprint it creates, although the linkages between academic achievement and PSFs are not entirely understood. Although earlier research has addressed the incremental contributions of PSFs in the prediction of middle school achievement, numerous questions remain.
Specifically, it is unclear how student psychosocial factors interact with prior academic achievement and gender when predicting future academic performance. For example, it is unclear if PSFs have varied effects on pupils with varying academic achievement or gender.
Adolescents’ inferiority complex is becoming increasingly alarming. Often, we see adolescents doing things against their will because the majority of their friends or peers supported them. This mindset leads people to blame society for their failure (external locus of control). Because the behaviour was not their desire, they are likely to carry the responsibility. This way of life influences their development.
Due to this concern, the current study believes it is vital to determine whether the majority of teenagers who lack confidence in themselves will blame their failures on society or themselves.
1.3 Research objectives
The study sought to evaluate the impact of psychosocial factors on school adjustments among secondary school pupils. Thus, the basic aim is stated in the following specific objectives, which are to:
Investigate the extent to which self-concept predicts pupils’ adaptability to secondary school activities.
Determine whether emotional intelligence predicts pupils’ adjustment to school activities;
Investigate the impacts of peer group influence on the adjustment of teenagers in secondary school.
Investigate whether family background has a substantial impact on student adjustment in secondary school.
1.4 Research Questions
Based on the goal of the study, the following research questions were asked.
To what extent does self-concept predict students’ adaptability to secondary school activities?
To what extent does emotional intelligence predict students’ adjustment to school?
To what extent do peer groups influence students’ transition to school?
Investigate whether family background has a substantial impact on student adjustment in secondary school.
1.5 Research Hypotheses.
To guide the study’s conduct, the following null assumptions were stated:
Ho1: Self-concept does not greatly influence students’ adjustment to school.
Ho2: Emotional intelligence is not a major predictor of students’ school adjustment.
Ho3: Peer group does not greatly influence students’ adjustment to school.
Ho4: Family background does not considerably influence children’ adjustment to school.
1.6 Scope and limitations of the study
This study investigates the impact of psychosocial factors on school adjustment among secondary school pupils. The study will focus on five selected secondary schools in the Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos.
The study will focus on the psychosocial variables of emotional intelligence, family background, parents’ socioeconomic level, peer impact, and self-concept on maladjustments among teenagers in secondary schools, with several selected Abuja schools serving as case studies.
Aside from a lack of funds and time, the following constraints are predicted to be encountered during the study:
It is acknowledged that not every parent will fall neatly into a specific parenting style. These parent-child pairs will be removed from the sample.
Some students will assess their parents as fair when they are not, resulting in some bias in parental nominations.
It is acknowledged that many adolescents may not provide accurate information regarding their maladjustments.
The accuracy of the data was limited by the researcher’s skills and the validity of the tests used.
1.7 Significance of the Study
This study will be valuable to many people who want to know what factors influence pupils’ performance during adolescence. Therefore, the study is noteworthy in the following ways:
The Ministry of Education may use the study to better understand the impact of psychosocial issues on school adjustment among secondary school students, allowing it to focus more on student social affairs management.
It will allow both public and private high schools to plan systematically for the psychosocial aspects that affect secondary school students. Other educational stakeholders (parents, students, professors, support staff, and donors) will utilise the study as a checkpoint to prevent such incidents in the future.
It has supplied scientific information to schools, parents, and students regarding the types of development that adolescents may experience and how it influences their behaviour. It provides a reference for future research that may look at the same variables.
1.8 Definition of Terms.
Psychosocial refers to a person’s psychological growth and interaction with their social environment.
Emotional Intelligence is the ability to be aware of, control, and express one’s emotions, as well as to manage interpersonal relationships wisely and empathetically.
Self-concept: An idea of oneself formed by one’s views about oneself and the reactions of others.
Peer Group: A group of people with similar ages, statuses, and hobbies.
Locus of Control: Locus of control refers to an individual’s belief that they have control over events that impact them.
Family background refers to a family’s values, traditions, socio-cultural, and socioeconomic standing.
A school is an institution dedicated to the education of students (or “pupils”) under the supervision of teachers.
Student Performance: This displays the results of the students’ assessments, tests, and examinations.
Education, in its broadest sense, is a type of learning in which a group’s knowledge, skills, and habits are passed down from one generation to the next via teaching, training, or research.
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