Comparison of the Effectiveness of Positive Thinking Skills Training and Acceptance / Commitment Therapy on Self- Concept of Shy Female Students

Evidence has shown that shy people have a weaker self-concept than normal people, which makes it necessary to provide psychological interventions to this group of people. This study aimed tocompare the effectiveness of positive thinking skills training and acceptance/commitment therapy on the acceptance/commitment of shy girl students.

The statistical population of this experimental research included all female high school students in Tabriz in the academic year 2020-2021, that 45 students who received the diagnosis of shyness in accordance with the cutoff score in the Revised Cheek and Buss Shyness Scale were selected by multi-stage cluster and targeted sampling and they were randomly assigned to two experimental groups and one control group (15 people in each group). All three groups completed the Beck (1990) Self- concept Questionnaire and after completing eight sessions of positive thinking skills training (two sessions a week for 4 weeks) and eight sessions of acceptance/commitment therapy (two sessions a week for 4 weeks) in the experimental groups, the mentioned questionnaire was completed in the groups. The results were analyzed using univariate analysis of covariance.

Both positive thinking skills training and acceptance and commitment therapy have a significant effect on the self-concept of shy female students (p<0.001); while acceptance/commitment therapy to positive thinking skills has a greater effect on increasing self-concept of shy female students (p<0.001).

Due to the superiority of the effectiveness of acceptance/commitment therapy to improving self-concept of shy female students, is recommended the use of this method and the importance of holding training courses on this approach should be informed to students' parents.