The Effect of Psychological Training Program on Self-esteem

Abstract

Objective :

To examined the effects of a psychological capital training program on self-esteem by comparing psychological capital and self-esteem scores of the experimental group before and after participating in the PsyCap training program, comparing psychological capital and self-esteem scores between the experimental and control groups, and assessed the relationship between psychological capital and self-esteem.

Methods :

This research was a quasi-experimental study, following a pretest-posttest control group design. Subjects were young adult workers aged 20-40 years. Twenty-four participants were divided into an experimental group and a control group, with 12 members each. The experimental group participated in the psychological capital training program whereas the control group conducted regular daily activities. The PsyCap training program that included a one-time psychological capital training session (3.5 hours) and four follow-up sessions (1 hour/time), once a week for five consecutive weeks. PsyCap was assessed by the Thai Psychological Capital Inventory (TPCI) and self-esteem was assessed by the Pictorial Thai Self-Esteem Scale (PTSS). Statistic analysis used the Friedman Test, the Mann-Whitney Test, and Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient.

Results :

The results of this study revealed statistically significant differences between the experimental group’s pretest, posttest, and follow-ups 1 to 4 PsyCap and self-esteem scores (p<.05), but no statistically significant differences between the PsyCap and self-esteem scores of the experimental group and the control group (p>.05). It was found that psychological capital was positively related to self-esteem at a significance level of .01

Conclusion :

The findings suggest that the PsyCap training program may help to improve psychological capital and self-esteem in young adult workers. This program can be developed into a standard program, and may be applied as an activity to enhance psychological capital and self-esteem in the future.