Investigating the relationship between parent-child conflict and students' academic self-concept with their life satisfaction

Master's Thesis of School Counseling

Abstract:

The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between parent-child conflict and students' academic self-concept with their life satisfaction. The research method was descriptive and of the type of correlational studies. The research population was all male and female secondary school students of the first period (guidance) of Namin city, from which 293 people were selected by multi-stage cluster sampling method. The research tools were life satisfaction scale (SWLS), self-concept questionnaire related to Yasen Chen school and conflict with parents questionnaire (CP) of Strauss. Pearson's correlation coefficient and multiple regression analysis were used to analyze the findings. The results showed that there is a positive relationship between academic self-concept and students' life satisfaction, and there is a negative relationship between mother-child conflict and students' life satisfaction. Also, there is a relationship between the component of verbal and physical aggression of the mother and the child, as well as the child's reasoning strategies with life satisfaction, but there is no relationship between the mother's reasoning strategies with the students' life satisfaction. The results of multiple regression analysis showed that the academic self-concept variable and the verbal aggression component of mothers will be able to predict the life satisfaction variable of students and other predictor variables will not be able to predict the life satisfaction variable.  Based on these findings, it can be concluded that: trying to form a positive academic self-concept and reducing the amount of parent-child conflict among teenagers will play an important role in improving their life satisfaction.

Keywords: parent-child conflict, academic self-concept, life satisfaction

Introduction

In the beginning, psychology focused more on negative emotions. had But in the 21st century, he realized that man should spend his rational energy on the positive aspects of his experience (Seligman and Csikzent Mihaly [1], 2000). In recent decades, some experts have turned their attention to the positive indicators of well-being [2] and try to direct public discussions and policies in the direction that will increase the level of health (Antaramine, Huebner and Valios [3], 2008). The construct of well-being is one of the constructs proposed in the field of positive psychology [4], which is very important in terms of its relationship with other constructs and also in terms of its role in explaining many behavioral-emotional consequences (Hijazi, Sadeghi and Shirzadifard, 2013). is Life satisfaction is: the overall positive perception or feeling of each person, about the quality of his life (Krasini[6], 2002); which refers to the results of comparing achieved goals with ideal goals and includes all the scope and dimensions of life. In this definition, satisfaction with life does not mean satisfaction with a specific situation, but it means satisfaction with all life experiences. In fact, it refers to a well-being in all aspects of life (social, moral, etc.) (Arslan, Hamota and Aslo[7], 2010).

Satisfaction with life as a whole reflects the balance between a person's desires and his current situation. In other words, the greater the gap between the level of a person's desires and his objective situation, the lower his satisfaction. Also, various factors such as wealth, housing, security, friends, hope, strictness, religious beliefs, relationships and family management, progress and success, social relations and education, self-confidence and self-esteem, and generally people's health, affect their satisfaction with life (Shangakuan, Yu and Lee [8], 2012; quoted by Shahbazi, 2013).  Abolghasmi's study (2013) showed that life satisfaction is one of the factors that are affected by the success and failure of a student. Also, the study of Scott, Shannon and Caroline [9] (2004) showed that students who have a high satisfaction with life do their homework better, and when doing homework, they think more about their personal abilities than luck and external factors (Mikaili, Ganji and Talebi Joibari, 2013). It also includes the family (Diener, Sue, Lucas, & Smith [10], 1999). The support a person receives from his family is a meaningful predictor of his life satisfaction (Lisa and Shin [11], 2006). Research also shows that there is a relationship between some family characteristics (such as a positive parent-child relationship) with life satisfaction.Researches also show that there is a relationship between some family characteristics (such as a positive parent-child relationship) with life satisfaction (Sturxen, Roizm, Mom and Toms [12], 2005; Saldo and Huebner [13], 2006; Saldo and Huebner, 2004). Adolescents with low life satisfaction experience more parental disagreement, family-related tensions, and conflict[14] with parents (Saldo and Huebner, 2006). Conflict with parents is a sign of a gap between children and their parents. In this heterogeneous situation, parents consider teenagers to be incompatible and teenagers do not accept their parents' behavior (Ahmadi [15], 2002; quoted by Barjali, 2012). Many researches have examined the relationship between conflict with parents and the behavioral and psychological performance of adolescents; which indicates the existence of a two-way relationship between parent-adolescent conflicts[16] and adolescent problematic behaviors (Branji, Van Durm, Valk and Meus[17], 2009).

Also, the quality of the parent-child relationship, the family communication pattern[18] and the behavior of parents can be effective in how a person feels about himself and his abilities. One of the variables that is affected by interactions in the family is self-concept [19] (Joklava and Ulrikaeva [20], 2011). Self-concept means the attitude, perception and perception that a person has of himself (Biyabangerd, 2010) and educational self-concept [21] is the process of forming an evaluation of self-concept influenced by the educational experiences of students and the interpretation of the educational environment (Jay et al. [22], 2010; quoted by Ghaffari and Arfa Balochi, 2010). The student's educational self-concept about having or not having the ability to exercise control over their learning and development activities plays a big role. In fact, if a person has a relatively stable and clear self-concept both in general and in the aspect of academic self-concept and reaches a correct understanding of himself, it will eventually lead to better academic performance (Nikdel, Kadivar, Farzad, Arabzadeh and Kavosian, 2013). But the results of Stober and Stober's research [23] (2009) showed that life satisfaction with different fields of education, career and. has a significant relationship. The study of Long and Zhang [24] (2000) showed that adolescents' subjective perception of life satisfaction has a positive relationship with different dimensions of self-concept. Markowitz [25] (2001) found that self-concept and life satisfaction have a reciprocal relationship with each other. Similarly, Chang, Brid Chang, Steward and him [26] (2003) came to the conclusion that social self-concept is a strong predictor of life satisfaction among teenagers. According to the theoretical issues and the results of the proposed researches, examining the relationship between parent-child conflict and academic self-concept with students' life satisfaction, useful and effective results in the practical and theoretical aspect. It will contain.

Statement of the problem

Mental well-being[27] is one of the basic concerns of humans (Steel, Schmidt and Schultz[28], 2008). The construct of well-being and consequently life satisfaction as one of the constructs of positive psychology is of great importance both in terms of its relationship with other constructs and in terms of its role in explaining many behavioral-emotional consequences (Hejazi et al., 2012). Life satisfaction is one of the important and constructive indicators of the quality of life, and it is a person's attitude and general evaluation towards the whole of his life or some aspects of life, such as family life and educational experience (Lucas and Smith [29], 1999; quoted by Moradian Fard, 2012).

Primary attention to life satisfaction was done in 1998 by Martin Seligman. He challenged psychologists to make their clients' lives more productive and fulfilling (Seligman & Csikzent Mihaly, 2000); To the extent that today psychologists pay a lot of attention to the concept of life satisfaction.

Studies have shown that there is a relationship between life satisfaction and psychological problems, types of high-risk behaviors, indicators of physical illness and academic problems in adolescents (H?bner, Saldo, Valios and Dran [30], 2007 and Panitegar, Yazdi and Mokhtari, 2013; quoted by Khodabakhsh, Mohajer Badkobe and Nik-Azin, 2012).

On the other hand, adolescence is a period that is accompanied by many challenges due to rapid changes. One of these challenges is conflict between parents and children. Parent-child conflict is one of the risk factors in adolescence (Gitipasand, Arin and Karmi, 2006 and Buhler[31], 2006), which reaches its peak at the age of 14-16 (Qamri, 2012).