糖心原创

HomeLAMDAGvol. 12 no. 1 (2021)

Existential Anxiety and Academic Self-Determination Among Senior High School Students During Covid-19 Pandemic

Jo Augustine Corpuz

 

Abstract:

At the heart of this COVID-19 pandemic lies the students’ inner being and their weaving through these given trials. This study aimed to explore the students’ levels of existential anxiety and their academic self-determination. To test the relationship of these two variables, descriptive correlational method was employed. Respondents of the study were 169 senior high school students in a private school in Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines. Results showed that students’ experience in existential anxiety significantly differed in terms of sex, where females showed to be more affected than males, though its levels appeared to be mild. It also transpired that their level of academic selfdetermination was high which differed across their type of family, indicating that students who were in a nuclear family tended to experience more psychological needs satisfaction compared to others. Apparently, no significant relationship was revealed between their levels of existential anxiety and academic self-determination during this crisis. Hence, the seemingly unrelenting harsh occurrences that this COVID-19 pandemic has brought to the lives of the students have moderately risen certain anxiousness to their beings. It further moderately increased the students’ awareness of their vulnerability to be nonexistent, which simultaneously caused them to ponder more about their fate and reflect on the quality of the way they live.



References:

  1. Asfani, K., Suswanto, H., & Wibawa, A. (2016). Influential factors of students’ competence. World Transactions on Engineering and Technology Education, 14(3), 416-420.
  2. Chettiar, C. (2015). A study of need satisfaction in joint and nuclear families in mumbai. Journal of Psychosocial Research, 10(1), 95-90.   
  3. Chiu, T. (2021). Applying the self-determination theory (SDT) to explain student engagement in online learning during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Journal of Research on Technology in Education.
  4. Corey, G. (2011). Theory and practice of psychotherapy (9th ed). Cengage Learning. 
  5. Deci, E., & Ryan, R. (2017). Self-determination theory: Basic psychological needs in motivation, development, and wellness. The Guilford Press.
  6. Doll, A., et al. (2011). Strategies for academic self-determination. University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
  7. Farnam, A., & Delijou, B. (2020). To be or not to be: COVID-19 pandemic, a time for dasein’s most fundamental conflicts. Philosophical Investigations, 14(31), 31-35.
  8. Farr, P. (2020). In this moment, we are All dr. Rieux: COVID-19, existential anxiety and the absurd hero. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 1-8.
  9. Guerin, E., Bales, E., Sweet, S., & Fortier, M. (2012). A meta-analysis of gender on self-determination theory’s motivational regulations for physical activity. Canadian Psychology, 53(4), 291-300. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0030215
  10. Henri, D., Morrell, L., & Scott, G. (2017). Student perceptions of their autonomy at university. Higher Education, 75(3), 507-516.
  11. Hou, Y., & Fang, J. (2019). The relationship between death anxiety and personality traits in college students: Mediating effect of negative coping. 2019 International Conference on Education, E-learning, and Economic Research.
  12. Jalnapurkar, I., Allen, M., & Pigott, T. (2018). Sex differences in anxiety disorders: A review. Journal of Psychiatry Depression & Anxiety, 4(12).
  13. Jensen, T., & Harris, M. (2016). Stepfamily relationship quality and stepchildren’s depression in adolescence and adulthood. Emerging Adulthood, 5(3), 191-203.
  14. Maxwell, M. & Gayle, S. (2013). Counseling adolescent existential issues. American Counselling Association.   
  15. McLean, C., Asnaani, A. Litz, B., & Hoffman, S. (2011). Gender differences in anxiety disorders: Prevalence, course of illness, comorbidity, and burden of illness. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 45(8), 1027-1035.
  16. Nicomedes, C., Arpia, H., Roadel, R., Venus, C., Vega, A., Ibuna, J., & Avila, R., (2020). An evaluation on existential crisis of Filipinos during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. Research Gate.   
  17. Nerona, R. (2020). Parenting, major choice motivation, and academic major satisfaction among Filipino college students: A self-determination theory perspective. Journal of Career Assessment, 1-16.
  18. Platt, R., Williams, S., & Ginsburg, G. (2016). Stressful life events and child anxiety: Examining parents and child mediators. Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 47(1), 23-34.  
  19. Scott, B. & Weems, C. (2013). Natural disasters and existential concerns: A test of Tillich’s theory of existential anxiety. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 53(1), 114-128.  
  20. Shah, S., Shah, A., Memon, F., Kemal, A., & Soomro, A. (2021). Online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic: Applying the self-determination theory in the new normal. Revista de Psicodidactica.
  21. Shumaker, D. (2011). An existential – integrative treatment of anxious and depressed adolescents. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 0(0), 1-26.
  22. Siamak, S. (2010). Family types in the family process and content model. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 5, 727-732.
  23. Sullivan, D., Kay, A., & Landau, M. (2012). Toward a comprehensive understanding of existential threat: Insights from Paul Tillich. Social Cognition, 30(6), 734-757.
  24. UNCTADSTAT. (2021, March 31). Classification update.
  25. World Health Organization. (2020, December 20). WHO Coronavirus (COVID-19) dashboard. World Health Organization.
  26. Yalom, I. (2020). Existential psychotherapy. Hachete.
  27. Yinru, L. (2019). Existential anxiety and the courage to be: A discussion on the human possibilities revealed by existential anxiety. Boston College Electronic Thesis and Dissertation.
  28. Zill, N. (2020, April 6). Family still matters for key indicators of student performance. Institute for Family Studies.