Self-Knowledge in Relation to College Adjustment

Author: Fu-ming Chia

Abstract：

The acquisition of self-knowledge is an important task of learning, for findings in psychology and psycotherapy show that mental health is related to self-knowledge, In education, one of the objectives is to provide opportunities to students to acquire self-knowledge and adjustment. In conjunction with eduction, the main purpose of student personnel is to help an individual to get better self-understanding and good adjustment. If the aim of education, to increase self-knowledge of students is accompl-ished, a student who has learned from elementary school to college, degree ought to have a considerable amount of self-knowledge and an adequate of adjustment. Then college students, as expected, should know themselves well and adjust themselves to a satisfactory degree. This study was to investigate the extent of self-knowledge and adjustment of college students.
In this study, self-knolwedge was defined as abilities, interests, and behavior patterns known by a student himself as well as known by three other people, and adjustment is defined as proper study habits and satisfactory social relations, judged by self and others.
At the beginning of the study, hypotheses were drawn as follows:
1. Most college students have acquired a certain amount of self-kn-owledge of their abilities, interests, and behavior patterns.
2. College students who have adequate self-knowledge can make accurate choice of courses and activities and display adjustment to study and social life.
3. College students who lack self-knowledge will make inaccurate choice of courses and activities and display maladjustment to college life.
4. The adjusted students make more successful academic achievment, are more interested in their studies, and establish more satisfactory interpersonal relations than the maladjusted stedents.
A random sample of 114 students, consisting of fonr undergraduate classes from freshman through senior and a graduate class, were drawn form National Taiwan Normal University. Measuring instruments were composed on purpose of this study to measure abilities, interests in courses, behavior patterns, study habits, study efforts, and social adjustment.
The following conclusions were drawn from the findings of this study.
1. Most of the colldge students have knowledge of their interests and behavior patterns but only a few know their abilities accu-rately. Thus the first hypothesis is partly supported.
2. Students who have self-knowledge judge their abilities and behavior patterns correctly, and their social adjustment is significantly better than those who lack self-knowledge. Thus the second hypothesis is supported except the variable of adju-stment to study.
3. Students who lack self-knowledge show a tendency to debase their abilities and behavior, which is related to the third hypothesis but no evident conformation.
4. Students who lack self-knowledge show wide interests and mu-ltiple study habits, but these manifestations have not affected their academic achievement in concern with their grade marks.
5. College student adjustment to study is unrelated to their academic achievement; thus, the fourth hypothesis is partly unsupported.

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