Efficacy of Psychological Capital Training on the Empathy and Life Meaning in the Students with the Signs of Violence

Abstract

The present study was conducted to investigate the efficacy of psychological capital training in enhancing the sense of empathy and purpose in life among students who exhibit signs of violence. The present study was semi-experimental in nature, consisting of experimental and control groups. It was designed with a three-stage (pretest, posttest, follow-up) and a two-month follow-up period. The statistical population included undergraduate and postgraduate students in the psychology major at Islamic Azad University (Khorasgan) who exhibited any indicators of violence during the academic year 2020-2021. Through purposive sampling, 27 students (18 boys and 9 girls) exhibiting symptoms of violence were randomly assigned to the experimental (14 students) and control (13 students) groups. Over the course of one and a half months, the experimental group participated in ten sessions of psychological capital training, each lasting seventy-five minutes. Violence questionnaire (EVQ), empathy scale (BES), and meaning in life questionnaire (MLQ) were implemented. The mixed ANOVA method was employed to analyze the data from the investigation using SPSS-23 software. The results showed that psychological capital training has significant effect on the signs of violence (F=38.48; Eta=0.60; P<0001), empathy (F=30.91; Eta=0.55; P<0001), and life meaning (F=24.08; Eta=0.49; P<0001) of students who exhibit signs of violence. The present study’s results indicate that psychological capital training can be a highly effective approach to reducing the appearance of violence and enhancing the empathy and life meaning of students who are experiencing violence. This is achieved by incorporating concepts such as optimism, hope, self-efficacy, and mental resilience.

Keywords

• empathy
• life meaning
• psychological capital
• violence