The Effectiveness of Positive Thinking Training in Physical Education Classes on Psychological Flexibility and Social Adjustment among Female Secondary School Students in Neyshabur

Mehri Abolfazli

Authors

Mehri Abolfazli MA، Department of Psychology، Sab.C., Islamic Azad University، Sabzevar, Iran. https://orcid.org/0009-0005-7689-5562

Keywords:

Positive Thinking Training, Physical Education, Psychological Flexibility, Social Adjustment

Abstract

Purpose: The present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of positive thinking training in physical education classes on psychological flexibility and social adjustment among female upper secondary school students in Neyshabur.

Methods and Materials: In terms of purpose, this study was applied research, and in terms of methodology, it was a quasi-experimental study with a pretest–posttest design and a nonequivalent control group. The statistical population consisted of all female upper secondary school students in Neyshabur (N = 4,800). From this population, 60 students were selected through convenience sampling and were randomly assigned into two groups of 30 participants each, including an experimental group and a control group. Data collection instruments included the Psychological Flexibility Questionnaire developed by Izjak (2014) and the Student Adjustment Questionnaire developed by Sinha and Singh (1993). These instruments were initially administered to the students as a pretest. Subsequently, the participants in the experimental group received positive thinking training for 8 weeks, with one session per week. After the intervention, the aforementioned questionnaires were administered again as a posttest. For data analysis, mean and standard deviation were used in the descriptive statistics section, while one-way analysis of variance and multivariate analysis of variance were employed in the inferential statistics section. Levene’s test was used to examine the assumption of homogeneity of variances, and the Shapiro–Wilk test was applied to assess the normality of data distribution.

Findings: The results of data analysis indicated that positive thinking training in physical education classes had a significant effect on the psychological flexibility of upper secondary school students (p ≤ .05). Furthermore, positive thinking training in physical education classes had a significant effect on the social adjustment of female upper secondary school students in Neyshabur (p ≤ .05).

Conclusion: Based on the findings of the present study, it appears that the implementation of positive thinking training in physical education classes can be recommended as an effective approach for improving psychological flexibility and social adjustment among secondary school students.

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