Comparing the Effects of Life Skills Training on Male and Female High School Students’ Self-Esteem in Sari

Abstract

Psychologists believe that deep feelings of worthlessness or the lack of self-esteem are the source of many mental disorders. One way of preventing mental and behavioral problems is to promote individuals’ psychological capacity through life skills training. The present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of life skills training on male and female high school students’ self-esteem in Sari, Iran. The present study is applied in objectives and experimental in methodology and controlled, pretest-posttest and quasi-experimental in design and selected its samples using random assignment. The statistical population consisted of every female or male high school student in Sari. A sample of 580 students was then selected from the statistical population through simple random sampling, and 50 of the samples with a lower self-esteem according to their Eysenck Self-Esteem Inventory results were then selected for the study. The research tools used included the Eysenck Self-Esteem Inventory and a life skills training manual. Members of the case group received life skills training for two months and a half in 2-hour weekly sessions. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. The results showed that life skills training (P-value=0.000) increased self-esteem in students of both genders. Moreover, life skills training had the same increasing effect on the students’ self-esteem in both genders (P-value=0.122). The results showed that, not only does life skills training increase self-esteem in both male and female students, it also exerts a similar effect on both genders.