HOPE AND SOCIAL SUPPORT AS THE PREDICTORS OF SELF-ESTEEM AMONG POSTGRADUATE INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

MOHSEN AMOUSHAHI

A dissertation submitted in fulfillment of the

Requirement for the award of the degree of

Master of Education (Guidance and Counseling)

Faculty of Education Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

June 2013

ii

“I hereby declare that I have read this thesis and in my

opinion this dissertationis sufficient in terms of scope and quality for the

award of the degree of Master of Education (Guidance and Counseling)”

Signature : ___________________________

Name of Supervisor: Dr. Aqeel Khan___ _

Date : 17 June 2013

iii

I declare that this dissertation entitled “Hope and social support as the predictors of

self-esteem among postgraduate international students” is the result of my own

research except as cited in the references. The dissertationhas not been accepted for

any degree and is not concurrently submitted in candidature of any other degree.

Signature : _________________________

Name : Mohsen Amoushahi__ _ b

Date : 17 June 2013

iv

To my beloved father and mother

For their love, support, sacrifices and blessings

And to all other beloved ones

God bless them all

v

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

In the course of preparing this study, I benefited from those whom I wish to

acknowledge here. First and foremost I would like to thank god whose strong will

has been eternally bestowed upon my life.

Firsts and foremost I offer my sincerest gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Aqeel

Khan, who has supported me throughout my Master Project with his patience and

knowledge. I attribute the level of my Master degree to his encouragement and effort

and without him this project, too, would not have been completed or written.

The most special thanks go to my parents for supporting me throughout all

my studies, without whom I would ever have been able to achieve so much. I

cordially thank to my sister Maedeh and my brothers Meisam and Maseoud, and my

Garand mother for their supports and encouragements.

Finally, A Special thanks to all my friends for helping me in data collection. I

am very grateful them.

vi

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is to identify the predictors of hope and social

support on self-esteem among postgraduate international students. To reach the goals

one hundred postgraduates’ university students were chosen randomly and the

respondents were answered to three type of questionnaire. The descriptive statistics

were obtained for describing the sample. Appropriate statistical tests were conducted

for each study question according to the level of determination. And data analysis

were included frequency distributions, determines of central tendency (mean,

median, and mode), and determines of variability (range and standard deviation). The

Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient and Stepwise multiple regressions

were used to analyze the data for the determination of relationship between self-

esteem and hope, among self-esteem, comprehend social support, age, race, sex and

hope and also relationship between comprehend social support and hope in university

students. The result reveals there is positive correlation between the self-esteem

among students and hope. Also findings in this study illustrate there is significant

relationship between self-esteem and social supports, supports from important

persons, family, friends, and whole social supports.

vii

ABSTRAK

Tujuan kajian ini adalah untuk mengenal pasti peramal harapan dan sokongan

sosial pada harga diri dalam kalangan pelajar antarabangsa pascasiswazah. Untuk

mencapai matlamat pelajar universiti, seratus pasca siswazah telah dipilih secara

rawak dan responden telah menjawab tiga jenis soal selidik. Statistik deskriptif

diperolehi untuk menerangkan sampel. Ujian statistik yang sesuai telah dijalankan

bagi setiap soalan kajian mengikut tahap penentuan. Dan analisis data telah

dimasukkan taburan kekerapan, menentukan kecenderungan memusat (min, median,

dan mod), dan menentukan kepelbagaian (julat dan sisihan piawai). The Pearson

Product Moment Korelasi Pekali and Stepwise telah digunakan untuk menganalisis

data bagi menentukan hubungan antara harga diri dan harapan, antara harga diri,

memahami sokongan sosial, umur, bangsa, jantina dan harapan dan juga hubungan

antara memahami sosial menyokong dan berharap pelajar universiti. Hasilnya

menunjukkan terdapat hubungan yang positif antara harga diri di kalangan pelajar

dan harapan. Penemuan dalam kajian ini juga menunjukkan terdapat hubungan yang

signifikan antara harga diri dan sokongan sosial melalui sokongan daripada orang-

orang yang penting, keluarga, rakan-rakan, dan sokongan sosial keseluruhan.

viii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER TITLE PAGE

TITLE ii

DECLARATION iii

DEDICATION iv

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT v

ABSTRACT vi

ABSTRAK vii

TABLE OF CONTENTS viii

LIST OF TABLES xi

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS xii

LIST OF APPENDICES

xiii

1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Introduction 1

1.2 Background of the Study 4

1.3 Statement of Problem 7

1.4 Research Objective 8

1.5 Research Questions 9

1.6 Significance of Study 9

1.7 Scope 10

ix

1.8 Definition of Term 10

1.8.1 Hope 11

1.8.2 Self-Esteem 11

1.8.3 Social Support 11

1.9 Conceptual Framework 12

1.9.1 Hope 12

1.9.2 Self-Esteem 14

1.9.3 Social Support 14

1.10 Summary

16

2 LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Introduction 17

2.2 International Studies 17

2.2.1 Hope 18

2.2.2 Self-Esteem 47

2.2.3 Comprehend Social Support 51

2.3 Theoretical Framework 62

2.4 Summary

64

3 METHDOLOGY

3.1 Introduction 65

3.2 Research Design 65

3.3 The Population and Sample of the Study 66

3.4 Research Instrument 66

3.5 Process for Data Collection 66

3.6 Procedure for Data Analysis 67

3.7 Validity and Reliability 69

x

3.7.1 Snyder Hope Scale 69

3.7.2 Coppersmith’S Self-Esteem Inventory (SEI) 71

3.7.3 Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social

Support (MSPSS) 72

3.8 Summary

74

4 RESULT AND DISCUSSION

4.1 Introduction

75

4.2 Descriptive Statistics

76

4.3 Findings

77

4.4 Summary

84

5 DISCUSSION, CONCLUSIONS AND

RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1 Introduction

85

5.2 Research Participants

85

5.3 Discussion

86

5.3.1 Relationship between self-esteem and hope 86

5.3.2 Relationship between self-esteem and social

Support 87

5.3.3 Self-esteem, hope and social support 88

5.3.4 Social support and hope as predictors for

Self-esteem 89

5.4 Research Contribution

89

5.5 Recommendation

90

5.6 Conclusion

92

5.7 Summary

92

xi

REFRENCES 94

LIST OF APPENDICES 105

xii

LIST OF TABLES

TABLE NO. TITLE PAGE

4.1 Matrix of correlation among variables 76

4.2 Pearson’s correlation Coefficient (r) value 78

4.3 Results of multiple regression analysis of test 82

4.4 Regression coefficient among social support, hope and self-

esteem 83

xiii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

SEI

MSPSS

Coopersmith's Self-Esteem Inventory

Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support

xiv

LIST OF APPENDICES

APPENDIX TITLE PAGE

A The Self-Esteem Inventory 105

B The Hope Inventory 108

C The Social Support Zimet Inventory 109

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Introduction

Hope is considered to be a vital component of the quality of life. It is believed to

influence health and illness states by helping individuals maintain, regain, and augment

healthy (Dufault & Martocchio, 1985). Hope can make life tolerable by enabling an

individual to center on the belief that there are solutions to problems (Snyder, 2000).

With hope, a person may act, move, and achieve; thus, hope is presumed to form the

basis for a positive attitude toward life (Stotland, 1969). As such, hope is conjectured to

have a therapeutic effect upon health outcomes (Hinds, 1984). According to Snyder

(2000) hope is having positive expectancies about oneself, experiences, and the future.

Specifically, hope is an expectation of achieving desired future goals (Stotland, 1969).

University students have been targeted as a high risk population for

hopelessness, depression, and suicide (President's Commission on Mental Health, 1977).

Some of the reasons that caused university students to be at risk included are:

2

disadvantaged, a member of a minority group, abused or neglected, homeless, a

runaway, a drug abuser, physically or mentally handicapped, pregnant, a school dropout,

a child of an alcohol/drug abuser, or a latchkey child (America's Adolescents, 1989).

The transition from childhood to adulthood encompasses many changes and is

thought to be inherently stressful. Because adolescence is considered a critical

developmental stage, often accompanied by crises and turmoil, university students need

to feel hopeful to be able to cope with the many stressful life events encountered.

According to Smith (1983), hope for university students is believed to be a prerequisite

for achieving satisfactory adulthood. Hope may experiences, and the future. The

temptation to despair and become hopeless might be overcome with the presence of

hope (Marcel, 1978). Without hope, depression and suicide could occur (Beck, Kovacs,

& Weissman, 1975; Farber, 1968; Minkoff, Bergman, Beck, & Beck, 1973; Wetzel,

1976).

University students have been targeted as a high risk population for

hopelessness, depression, and suicide (President's Commission on Mental Health, 1977).

Some of the reasons that caused university students to be at risk included are:

disadvantaged, a member of a minority group, abused or neglected, homeless, a

runaway, a drug abuser, physically or mentally handicapped, pregnant, a school dropout,

a child of an alcohol and drug abuser, or a latchkey child (America's Adolescents). Judd

(1990) reported that the peak age for the start of depression were 15 to 19 years.

Because suicide is the second leading cause of death in university students (Centers for

Disease Control, 1985), promoting hope is vital for the protection of university students.

Thus, promotion of hope is an important student activity when working with university

students.

3

The transition from childhood to adulthood encompasses many changes and is

thought to be inherently stressful. Because adolescence is considered a critical

developmental stage, often accompanied by crises and turmoil, university students need

to feel hopeful to be able to cope with the many stressful life events encountered.

According to Smith (1983), hope for university students is believed to be a prerequisite

for achieving satisfactory adulthood. Hope may function to protect university students

from despair and may help them cope with stressful life events (Hinds & Martin 1988).

Therefore, adolescence is a significant period of development for the investigation of

hope.

Numerous studies have shown that life stress may be a predictor of psychological

distress for university students (Coddington, 1972; Cohen, Burt, & Bjorck, 1987;

Swearingen & Cohen, 1985; Towbes, Cohen, & Glyshaw, 1989). Because of the

anxieties associated with stressful life events that often occur during adolescence, self-

esteem may be lowered and predispose the adolescent to hopelessness (Hamburg, 1974).

Family and peers are constituted the two most important social networks for

university students (Larson, 1972). Support from these two sources during periods of

psychological distress is believed to be associated with adolescent self-esteem and hope,

two aspects of psychological well-being (O'Donnell, 1976; Siddique & D Arcy, 1984).

Knowledge of the relationship among hope and self-esteem, social support, and

life events is vital if the student is to help maintain hope and health in university students

and prevent or intervene in hopelessness.

The student has accepted the role of maintaining, supporting, and restoring hope

in persons experiencing stressful life situations (Zimet, 1988). Because low self-esteem

4

may render the adolescent vulnerable to hopelessness, the presence of supportive

persons during stressful life events is critical for instilling hope or assisting those who

have lost hope to regain it.

1.2 Background of the Study

As a researcher working in a student’s society, a question that has continuously

emerged as a topic of concern among my colleagues and in my own practice has been is

there any correlation between hope, self-esteem and social support in our students. The

growth of hope is very important issue in health (Beuhler, 1975; Dufault, 1981; Dufault

& Martocchio, 1985; Lillis, 1985; Stoner & Keampfer, 1985). Hope is believed to be a

part of psychological well-being (Staats, 1987). An early investigator of hope, Stotland

(1969) developed a theory of hope and applied the theory to data from clinical studies.

He delineated hopefulness as the level of expectation greater than zero of achieving a

goal. Based on Stotland's study, it is believed that when the probability or hope of

achieving a goal higher, motivation becomes higher to achieve the goal. Ostrov, and

Howard (1981) Greenberg, Seigal, and Leitch (1983) increased social support was

associated with high self-esteem among university students suffering from high levels of

life stress. These topics, result expectations and goal intentions, affect student action.

Consequently it is very important that we understand these three issues and use this

information to direct our survey to students and increase their participation in science.

Despite its long clinical success, hope has a number of problems in use. This research

seeks to remedy these problems by make known the literature of correlation along with

hope, self-esteem and comprehend social support in university students.

5

Hope is considered very important part of the quality of life. It is believed to

influence health states (Dufault & Martocchio, 1985). With hope, a person may act,

move, and achieve; therefore, hope is assumed to form the foundation for a positive

thoughts in the direction of life (Stotland, 1969). Watson (1979) recognized hope as both

a healing and restorative factor in treatment. As such, hope is inference to have a

therapeutic effect upon health result (Hinds, 1984). In contrast with Snyder (2000) hope

is having positive expectancies about oneself, incident, and the future. In particular,

hope is belief of achieving desired future goals (Stotland, 1969).

Beck, Weissman, Lester, and Trexler (1974) delineated hopelessness as having

negative expectancies about oneself, incident, and the future. The appeal to despair and

turn into hopeless might be overcome with the presence of hope (Marcel, 1978). It is

believed that without hope the chances in getting depression and suicide become higher

(Beck, Kovacs, & Weissman, 1975; Farber, 1968; Minkoff, Bergman, Beck, & Beck,

1973; Wetzel, 1976).

University students have been targeted as a high risk population for

hopelessness, depression, and suicide (President's Commission on Mental Health, 1977).

Some of the causes that reason university students to be at risk included being: deprived,

a member of a minority group, abused, neglected, homeless, runaway, drug abuser,

physically or mentally handicapped, pregnant and school dropout (America's University

students, 1989). Judd (1990) statements that the peak ages for the start of depression

were found to be 15 to 19 years. Because suicide is the second leading cause of death in

university students (Centers for Disease Control, 1985), it was endorse that hope is

considered very important for the protection of suicide to university students.

The transition from childhood to adulthood encompasses many changes and is

thought to be inherently stressful. Because adolescence regarded as a critical

6

developmental stage, often accompanied by crises and turmoil, university students

require feeling of hopeful to be able to cope with the many stressful life events

encountered. According to Smith (1983), hope for university students believed to be a

prerequisite for achieving pleasing adulthood. The seduction to despair and become

hopeless might be overcome with the presence of hope (Marcel, 1978).

Therefore, adolescence period considered to be important period of development

for the investigation of hope. Erik Erikson (1959) describes the stage of life as intimacy

and solidarity vs. isolation. Numerous studies have shown that life stress may be a

predictor of psychological distress for university students (Coddington, 1972; Cohen,

Burt, & Bjorck, 1987; Swearingen & Cohen, 1985; Towbes, Cohen, & Glyshaw, 1989).

Because of the anxieties associated with stressful life events that often occur during

adolescence, self-esteem may be lowered and predispose the student to hopelessness

(Hamburg, 1974).

Family and peers constitute the two most important social networks for

university students (Larson, 1972). Support from these two sources during periods of

psychological distress believed to be associated with student self-esteem and hope

(O'Donnell, 1976; Siddique & D Arcy, 1984). Knowledge of the relationship of hope

and self-esteem and social support considered being very important for university

students and these thing prevent or intervene hopelessness.

Counseling has accepted the role of maintaining, supporting, and restoring hope

in persons experiencing stressful life situations (Travelbee, 1974). Because low self-

esteem may render the student vulnerable to hopelessness. Presence of supportive

persons during stressful life events may develop hope or assisting those who have lost

hope.

7

1.3 Statement of the Problem

Students are the one of largest alternative group in the Malaysia. This group

faces many challenges as educators attempt to decrease the gaps in educational

achievement between students and other groups in the Malaysia. Students have lower

graduation rates when contrasted to other groups. In the sciences students are

underrepresented; the most popular areas of study in which students earn bachelor's

degrees are business, social sciences/history, psychology, and education. There is a

problem; students represent a large group in the Malaysia, but when it comes to science,

we lack the contributions and richness that this group may give. The Malaysia have to

learn more about the factors that help underrepresented minorities to learn science or we

are in hazard of failing to replace the labor force with highly qualified scientists. It is

significant to understand the variables which influence students' self-esteem.

Understanding the variables is the first step towards helping students attains higher

instructive goals.

The development of hope is very important issue in health and illness (Beuhler,

1975; Dufault, 1981; Dufault & Martocchio, 1985; Lillis, 1985; Stoner & Keampfer,

1985). Hope is believed to be a part of psychological well-being (Staats, 1987). An early

investigator of hope, Stotland (1969) developed a theory of hope and applied the theory

to data from clinical studies. He delineated hopefulness as the level of expectation

greater than zero of achieving a goal. Based on Stotland's study, it is believed that when

the probability or hope of achieving a goal higher, motivation becomes higher to achieve

the goal.

Ostrov, and Howard (1981Greenberg, Seigal, and Leitch (1983) increased social

support was associated with high self-esteem among university students suffering from

high levels of life stress.

8

Despite its long clinical success, hope has a number of problems in use. This

research seeks to remedy these problems by reveal the literature of correlation among

with hope, self-esteem and comprehend social support in university students. The

students who are studding in postgraduate level in University Technology Malaysia.

The purpose of this study is to validate correlation among hope, self-esteem and

social support university students. The variables I paying attention on have been

identified as significant for students. These variables are gender, hope, self-esteem and

comprehend social support. It is important to research and recognize the factors that

correlate students for the reason that they represent the one of largest alternative group

in Malaysia. If there is a significant correlation between the hypothesized trails in the

people in my study, then this hypnotizes could be used to expand strategies to increase

students' hope and self-esteem and comprehend social support. Society will advantage

from having hope diversity in self-esteem and comprehend social support. One of my

functions as an educator is to positively persuade my students into pursuing higher

education.

1.4 Research Objective

The purpose of the study is to determine:

� To identify the relationships among self-esteem and hope among university

students.

9

� To identify the relationships among self-esteem and social support among

university students.

� To identify the relationships among hope and social support among

university students.

1.5 Research Questions

The following research questions were developed for this study:

1. Relationship between self-esteem and hope among students and support from

family, friends, other people and whole social support.

2. Predicting of self-esteem among the universities students based on hope, social

support and age, ethnicity, sex.

1.6 Significance of the Study

The presence or absence of hope may be a critical factor in the prevention of

illness and maintaining or regaining health. There are many uncertainties, and anxieties

combined with the stressors of everyday life may diminish students’ self-esteem. In

addition, the presence or absence of supportive family and peers impacts on the

students’ self-esteem. Association among self-esteem, social support, and hope can be

10

substantiated, this study can add in the body of research knowledge about hope. A better

understanding of these concepts, in relation to university students, can provide baseline

data upon which to develop counseling interventions. This knowledge can contribute to

counseling practice by assisting counselors to identify university students at risk for

hopelessness.

1.7 Scope

This research will investigate the hope and social support as the predictors of

self-esteem among postgraduate international students in UTM. For this purpose three

types of questionnaire will be designed and distributed between 100 respondents which

will be selected randomly. The results will be gathered and will analyze to find the

significance correlation between hope, social support and self-esteem.

1.8 Definition of Terms

The following definitions are provided for this study:

11

1.8.1 Hope

Hope expectancies of self, of one's knowledge, and the future. It is a belief that

desired future goals will be attained. Snyder (1995) defined hope as the process of

thinking about one‘s goals, along with the motivation to move toward (agency) and the

ways to achieve (pathways) those goals.

1.8.2 Self-Esteem

It declare thoughts of approval or disapproval and indicates the range to which a

person believes them to be able, important, victorious, and worthy (Coopersmith, 1967).

1.8.3 Social Support

For the principle of this learning, social support is defined as the apparent

availability of someone in the person’s life who their sense will be there during difficult

times. It refer to social support as the number of social relationships an individual

maintains which may possibly serve as a source of comfort or help during times of need.

Comprehend social support, then, refers to the amount of social support individuals

believe is available to them.

12

1.9 Conceptual Framework

The conceptual framework for this study is derived from the concepts of hope,

self-esteem, social support network, and life events as they relate to adolescents.

1.9.1 Hope

According to Snyder (2000) hope, is a process of thinking and the thinking of the

two components (the objective determination) and pathways (planning purpose) and

targeted both the behavior and hope to determine the necessary adjustment of physical

health and flowing. We can represent a person's cognitive hope and reasonable ways to

achieve goals. Reflective thinking is part of motivational component of hope,

demonstrated the ability to achieve personal understanding about the past, present and

future. Reflective thinking is the belief that in this imaginary ways through which one

can move toward a specific goal to be achieved. Especially when faced with obstacles,

there is the thought, the incentive to start stepping in; other pathways are important

(Grval and Porter, 2007).

Snyder (2000) believes that when people find difficulty to achieve their goals,

release their life and pick up suicide which is improper way. According to Madvz,

Kaslv, Thompson, Yvrkvyj( 2005) such a sense of hope for the successful achievement

of the objectives considered, the person believes that having power to counter this

tendency reduce suicide.

13

Erikson (1968) examined the roots of hope within the context of eight

psychosocial stages of development. According to Erikson, hope begins with the

newborn's first encounters with persons who can be trusted to meet their immediate

requires for food, warmth, and stimulation. A mutual responsiveness emerges between

the infant and the caregiver that is a condition for trust and hope. The infant learns to

trust and reach out beyond the caregiver. Hope, then, is an enduring outcome of the

psychosocial stage of basic trust versus mistrust.

Wright and Shontz (1968) continued with the developmental approach to hope.

They found that the distinction between hopes and wishes mirror the degree to which a

person believed a desired outcome could actually occur. Wishes were more likely to

mirror a low level of probability. Hopes are "wishes that might come true". When wishes

come true, it is a cause for surprise. When hopes are realized, there is relief from tension

and a feeling of satisfaction. Inability to distinguish between wishes and reality is

regarded as evidence of cognitive immaturity.

The first part of the hopelessness triad is the pattern of viewing oneself in a

negative way. In hopelessness, a person sees himself/herself as deficient, inadequate, or

unworthy. He/she regards himself/herself as worthless and, turns, feels self-rejection.

The second part is the pattern of construing experiences in a negative way. A hopeless

person consistently interprets interactions with the environment with defeat and

disparagement and sees his/her life as filled with burdens and obstacles. The third part

consists of viewing the future in a negative way. The hopeless person (individual)

anticipates that current difficulties will go on indefinitely, in looking ahead, he/she sees

life of hardship, frustration, and deprivation. Helplessness pervades their thinking

because of university student’s assumed vulnerability to hopelessness.

14

1.9.2 Self-Esteem

Crouch and Straub (1983) further delineated self-esteem into basic self-esteem, a

relatively enduring foundation formed through early life experiences, and functional

self-esteem, which develops later in life through an ongoing appraisal of interactions

with others. Stanwyck (1983) added that a person tends to behave in ways that reinforce

his/her overall appraisal of self.

Rosenberg (1979) and Simmons, Rosenberg, and Rosenberg (1973) found that

self-esteem declines during the student years. The researchers maintained that

adolescence is a time of self-consciousness when a person regards what others think

about him/her and therefore, is a time of self-concept disturbance.

Expectations of success are likely to result in action, feelings of competence, and

increased self-esteem for the university students. Expectations of failure are likely to

result in inaction, feelings of incompetence, and lowered self-esteem for the university

students. The probability estimates of success or failure presumably mirror university

students’ convictions that they are, or are not, able to cope with life events that are

encountered.

1.9.3 Social Support

Social support has been studied extensively in the literature with numbers of

diverse measures and definitions that emphasize its multidimensionality. Social support

refers to the psychosocial and tangible aid provided by the social network and received

15

by a person. Because social support is reciprocal and mutual, it is also returned by the

person to those in the network (Tilden & Weinert, 1987). Comprehend (perceived)

social support is the person's personal and subjective meaning attributed to those persons

who can be relied on to meet relationship functions (Weinert, 1987).

Stewart (1989) studied social support from three perspectives; network structure

(basic ties between members of a social network), support functions (functions of

supportive resources which flow through these network ties), and the nature of the

relationships (persons' contact with network members). Other investigators have

suggested that it is not the size and frequency of social interactions, but the quality of the

interactions that is important. Several studies focusing on the qualitative nature of social

support ties statement a relationship to mental health, morale, and psychological well-

being. A main hypothesis is that social ties act as a buffer against the effects of stress.

During times of stress, persons can draw upon others for aid available in their network.

Social support then may lessen the exposure to stressful events (Hibberd, 1985).

Brandt and Weinert (1981) conceptualized social support as the belief that a

person's "human climate" plays a significant role in the maintenance of health and in

responding to life stressors. Weiss (1974) suggested that social relationships have

multiple functions including: (a) provision for attachment/intimacy, (b) social

integration, that is, being an integral part of a group, (c) opportunity for nurturing

growth, (d) reassurance of worth as an person and in role accomplishments, and (e) the

availability of informational, emotional, and material help. This model of relational

functions, as delineated by Weiss, provides the basis for the student's comprehend social

support in this study.

Student social development consists of building a mutually reciprocal

relationship with both parents and peers (Hunter & Youniss, 1982). Hunter (1984)

16

distinguished two types of interpersonal relationships manifested in adolescence,

unilateral authority and mutual reciprocity. The parent-child relationship exemplified the

unilateral relationship in which one member possesses a knowledge system and the

authority to impose this knowledge onto the less knowledgeable member. Friendship, on

the other hand, is a form of mutual reciprocity relationship in which both members share

equal privileges in expressing opinions.

1.10 Summary

The background for the study, the statement of problem, and the significance of

the study were presented. Research questions were formulated to achieve the purpose of

the study. A discussion of the conceptual framework that is guided the development of

the study also described. The chapter concludes with assumptions that underline the

study and limitations of the study (research).