Open AccessTHE EFFECTS OF PREVIOUS ADVERSITY, HAPPINESS AND RELIGIOUS FAITH IN ENHANCING UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ RESILIENCE TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
Author(s) -
Getrude C. Ah Gang,
Bee Seok Chua,
Carmella E. Ading
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
psychological applications and trends
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Conference proceedings
ISSN - 2184-3414
DOI - 10.36315/2021inpact044
Subject(s) - faith , happiness , worry , psychology , psychological resilience , pandemic , covid-19 , anxiety , social psychology , medicine , philosophy , theology , disease , pathology , psychiatry , infectious disease (medical specialty)
"The start of 2020 marked a fresh beginning when people moved forward with new resolutions, all hoping for the best in their career, family, relationships, and academic pursuits. All those wishes were disrupted, however, by the Covid-19 pandemic, which has especially affected university students regarding their academic goals. The new learning norms that were adopted in universities to contain the spread of the pandemic have caused worry, anxiety, and stress in many students. To deal with these unexpected circumstances, university students must augment their inner strengths to enhance their resiliency during the Covid-19 pandemic. To better understand the situation, this study examined previous adversity, happiness and religious faith that were predicted to enhance students’ resiliency. There were 415 university students in Sabah, Malaysia participated in the study. The mean age was 21.96 years (SD=4.08). Among the participants, there were 330 females (79.50%), 84 males (20.20%) and one person (0.2%) who did not disclose a gender. The study found that students who were happier and stronger in religious faith tended to be more resilient while the experience of many previous adversities had a significant negative effect on students’ resiliency. Based on these findings, we hope that more university programs will be devised to elevate students’ happiness, build stronger faith and offering psychological programs for students who have experienced many previous difficulties."