Revista Argentina de Clínica Psicológica 2020, Vol. XXIX, N°1, 1052-1057
DOI: 10.24205/03276716.2020.148 1052
I
NFLUENCE OF
I
DEOLOGICAL AND
P
OLITICAL
E
DUCATION ON
I
MPROVING THE
S
UBJECTIVE
W
ELL
-B
EING OF
C
OLLEGE
S
TUDENTS
Yuqi Zhang
*Abstract
Thesubjective well-being of college students is important to their growth and development. This paper aims to verify whether and how ideological and political (I&P) education promotes the subjective well-being of college students. First, the concept of the I&P education and the features of subjective well-being were introduced. Then, a survey was carried out in China Youth University of Political Studies to evaluate the current status of subjective well-being of college students. The results show that most college students are happy; among them, females, freshmen and liberal arts students are happier than their respective counterparts. Next, a comparative experiment was carried out among the respondents with the experimental group receiving the I&P education and the control group not receiving the I&P education. Through the analysis of the experimental results, it is concluded that the I&P education can effectively improve the subjective well-being of college students. The research results provide a good reference for the growth and development of college students.
Key words: College Students, Ideological and Political (I&P) Education, Subjective Well-Being, Promotion.
Received: 02-03-19 | Accepted: 15-07-19
INTRODUCTION
With the continuous development and progress of the society, people's pursuit of material life has been satisfied to a certain extent, and the role and status of spiritual civilization in people's lives have gradually improved. Subjective well-being is a manifestation of the positive emotion and state of individuals, which can also reflect the living quality to a certain extent. The subjective well-being of college students will have a direct impact on their own growth, and will also affect the formation of their world outlook, values and outlook on life (Kumbier & Starkey, 2016). At present, the proportion of psychological health problems among college students in China has shown an upward trend and an important reason is the lack of subjective well-being, which has
South West University of Science and Technology, Mianyang, Sichuan 621000, China.
E-Mail: zhangyuqi9168@163.com
also led to other problems of college students to some extent. Therefore, the psychological health problem of college students have caused great social concerns (Clarkson, Chambers, Hirt et al., 2015). Strengthening ideological and political education can help college students to form correct ideological cognition, improve their happiness level and promote the all-round development of college students to a certain extent. By strengthening education and improving teaching level, colleges and universities can enhance the happiness of college students, and help them to make rational plans for their own growth. At the same time, it also has a positive impact on the development of their physical and psychological health. It is of significant theoretical and practical value for the growth and development of college students and the construction of a harmonious society to perform the in-depth research and discussion of college students' subjective well-being (Francis, Katz, Yablon et al., 2004.).
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abroad have done a lot of studies on the subjective well-being of college students, and have achieved important research results. Some scholars have studied the evaluation system and measurement indicators of subjective well-being (Abdel-Khalek, 2004); some scholars have studied the theoretical construction of subjective well-being and established many theoretical research models (Allodi, 2010); Some scholars have focused on the influencing factors of subjective well-being, such as family, personality traits, college education, career, and lifestyle (Perneger, Hudelson, & Bovier, 2004). However, most of the current studies are based on theoretical research, which is lacking in empirical research. Also, there is no uniform and authoritative questionnaire scale. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct empirical tests to verify the results of theoretical studies through empirical methods.
This paper takes the students from China Youth University of Political Studies as the research object, and performs the empirical research through investigation and analysis and SPSS software to test the effect of ideological and political education on the improvement of college students' subjective well-being, which is of strong theoretical guidance and practical reference value for the growth and development of college students and the subject construction in universities and colleges.
OVERVIEW OF RELEVANT THEORIES
Concept of Ideological and Political Education
The development of the concept of ideological and political education has gone through a long process, as shown in Figure 1. The understanding of ideological and political education can be analyzed from two levels: broad sense and narrow sense. In a broad sense, ideological and political education refers to all purposeful and targeted behaviors and activities of a certain social group to transform the thought and behavior of other social groups to satisfy their own needs (Dee, Henkin, & Holman,
2004)., which is of a class property. In a narrow sense, ideological and political education is a type of educational practice activity carried out by the proletariat, the purpose of which is to promote the development of society and people and to improve
people’s ideological quality, thus meeting the basic
requirements of socialism.
Definition and Characteristics of Subjective Well-Being
Subjective well-being mainly refers to the overall evaluation of individuals for every aspect of their lives, such as living conditions, emotional quality and physical function according to their own standards, which a subjective feeling. If an individual has the sense of well-being, then he or she can achieve an ideal state of psychological experience (Babarović , Buruš ić , & Burusic, 2011).
The subjective well-being is characterized by subjectivity, integrity, and stage. To be more specific, the sense of well-being of individuals is based on one's own subjective feeling, but not an evaluation standard given by others; at the same time, the sense of well-being is the overall satisfaction and comprehensive evaluation of all aspects of individuals; in addition, the happiness of individuals at different stages of growth is different (Raschke, 2005).
In addition, there are many theoretical models involved in subjective well-being, as shown in Table 1.
Table 1.
Several main theories of subjective
well-being
Theory Model
Stability theory Fixed value theory, dynamic balance theory
Cognitive comparison
Goal orientation theory, social comparison theory
On coping style Social association theory, personality trait theory
On cultural differences
Cultural norm theory, cultural goal theory, personality culture interaction
theory
Others
Self determinism, activity happiness, the connection between happiness and
misfortune
Figure 1
.
General situation of subjective well-being of College Students
Propaganda Political education Ideological
Education
Ideological and political work
Ideological and Political Education
INFLUENCE OF IDEOLOGICAL AND POLITICAL EDUCATION ON IMPROVING THE SUBJECTIVE WELL-BEING OF COLLEGE STUDENTS 1054
INVESTIGATION ON THE SUBJECTIVE WELL-BEING OF COLLEGE STUDENTS
Survey Objects and Survey Methods
This paper takes students from China Youth University of Political Studies as the research sample and questionnaires are issues for investigation. A total of 500 questionnaires were distributed and 485 valid questionnaires were returned, with an effective rate of 97%. Some basic conditions of these 485 college students are shown in Table 2.
Table 2.
Basic information of the respondents
Classification Quantity Proportion
Gender Male 247 50.93%
Female 238 49.07%
Subject category
Arts 219 45.15%
Sciences 266 54.85%
Grade
Freshman 107 22.06%
Sophomore 134 27.63%
Junior 119 24.54%
Senior 125 25.77%
Analysis of Investigation Results
The questionnaire mainly contains 30 items, which mainly involve various factors that affect the subjective well-being of college students, such as family, school, and society. It also includes the problems of college students in material needs and spiritual pursuits. Figure 2 shows the overall perception of happiness of respondents. It is found that only 17% of college students do not feel the happiness. Therefore, from a holistic perspective, college students have higher level of happiness. The main reason is that the college students are in the ivory tower and on the one hand, they will not face the fierce competition in the society; on the other hand, they are still hopeful for their future (Spangler & Palrecha, 2004).
Figure 2
.
General situation of subjective
well-being of College Students
The subjective well-being of college students is
further analyzed from different angles such as age, major and grade.
Figure 3 shows the analysis from the perspective of gender. It can be found that the ratio of female college students is higher than that of male students in terms of happiness, indicating that female college students have higher level of happiness. The reason is mainly caused by the difference in personality of different genders. Female college students are more adept at expressing their inner feelings so that it is relatively easier to satisfy their needs. Also, they are under smaller pressure than male students, so their subjective well-being is higher (Demir, Şimşek, & Procsal, 2013).
Figure 3
.
A comparative analysis of
subjective well-being of college students of
different genders
Figure 4
.
The proportion of happiness of
college students in different grades
It can be seen from the comparative analysis in Figure 4 that the proportion of freshmen is the highest among all four grades in terms of happiness, reaching 49.3%, while the proportion of seniors is the lowest, only 42.8%. The main reason for this phenomenon is that seniors are in the face of
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graduation and employment, so they are under relatively higher pressure. Freshmen have just entered the campus and have less academic pressure. Also, they are still hopeful for campus life (Arslan & Akkas, 2014).
Figure 5 shows the analysis from the perspective of major. According to relevant data, the happiness level of liberal arts students is higher than that of science students. The reason is that the nature of different disciplines is different. Namely, the curriculum of liberal arts is relatively interesting while the science curriculum is relatively boring. At the same time, science students are relatively thoughtful. If problems arise, they are very likely to fall into self-doubt. Therefore, their happiness level is slightly lower. (Yu Wenke (Simsek, 2013).
Figure 5
.
A comparative analysis of
subjective well-being of college students of
different subject categories
ANALYSIS OF THE EFFECT OF IDEOLOGICAL AND POLITICAL EDUCATION ON THE IMPROVEMENT OF COLLEGE STUDENTS' SUBJECTIVE WELL-BEING
Experimental Methods
In order to further analyze the effect of ideological and political education on the
improvement of college students’ subjective well -being, these 485 college students are classified into different groups for the experiment. 212 college students whose department has set up ideological and political courses are taken as the experimental group, and 273 college students whose department has not set up ideological and political courses are taken as the control group.
The questionnaire distributed include the survey scale aiming at the subjective well-being of college students. The scale is formulated based on the characteristics of college students, which mainly
include two dimensions, namely satisfaction and happiness. The satisfaction scale mainly includes four aspects: family, school, academic performance and environment. Each aspect contains several items. Each item is measured by the score from 1 to 6. The higher the final score, the higher the satisfaction of individuals; the happiness scale mainly contains positive and negative emotions, and is also reflected by several items measured by the score from 1 to 6 (Thoman, Sansone, & Pasupathi, 2007).
For the data obtained from the questionnaire, the statistical analysis software SPSS18.0 is used so as to obtain effective conclusions.
Analysis of Experimental Results
It can be seen from the experimental results in Table 3 that before the ideological and political education, the P value of all indicators of satisfaction and happiness in the experimental group and the control group are greater than 0.05, indicating that the difference is not statistically significant.
After the ideological and political education, there is a significant improvement in the satisfaction level of the experimental group and the score is higher than the control group; the score for positive emotions has increased and the score for negative emotions has decreased. Also, the P value is less than 0.05, indicating that the difference is statistically significant. Through the score comparison, it can be seen that after the ideological and political education, the satisfaction and happiness of college students have been significantly improved, which fully demonstrates that ideological and political education has a significant role in the improvement of the subjective well-being of college students.
It can be seen through the analysis of the results of comparative experiment, the ideological and political education in colleges and universities can significantly improve the subjective well-being level of college students. Therefore, colleges and universities should strengthen the emphasis on ideological and political education, increase the input of resources such as teachers, and strengthen the construction of psychological education curriculum to help college students to better adapt to social development. For college students themselves, they should also be actively engaged in the study of ideological and political education, constantly improve their overall quality, and lay the foundation for their own healthy growth.
INFLUENCE OF IDEOLOGICAL AND POLITICAL EDUCATION ON IMPROVING THE SUBJECTIVE WELL-BEING OF COLLEGE STUDENTS 1056
Table 3.
Comparison of subjective well-being scores between experimental group and control
group before and after the opening of Ideological and Political Courses
Before opening After opening
Experience group
control
group t P
Experience group
control
group t P
Family satisfaction 5.73±0.88 5.53±0.92 1.547 0.109 5.84±0.73 5.69±0.62 1.321 0.184
School satisfaction 4.32±0.49 4.26±0.53 1.598 0.087 4.51±0.56 4.31±0.46 5.318 0.036
Environmental
satisfaction 4.36±0.69 4.42±0.72
-0.748 0.434 4.77±0.66 4.79±0.73 0.008 0.894
Academic satisfaction 4.15±0.98 4.02±0.94 1.773 0.058 4.27±0.78 4.01±0.74 9.844 0.001
Positive emotions 3.86±1.02 3.94±1.03 1.638 0.167 4.05±0.92 4.01±0.88 9.746 0.000
Negative emotion 2.94±0.65 2.85±0.77
-1.723 0.124 2.12±0.49 2.23±0.70 9.659 0.000
CONCLUSION
This paper takes the college students from China Youth University of Political Studies as the research object, and performs the empirical test through the investigation and analysis and the SPSS software to study the effect of ideological and political
education on the improvement of college students’
subjective well-being. The conclusions are as follows: (1) It is found that most college students feel that they are happy and only 17% of college students do not feel the happiness, which indicates higher level of subjective well-being of college students.
(2) Female college students have higher happiness level than male college students; freshmen are higher than seniors; and liberal arts students are higher than science students.
(3) It can be seen Through experimental analysis that after the ideological and political education, the satisfaction and happiness of the college students have been improved significantly, indicating that ideological and political education can significantly enhance the subjective well-being of college students.
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