On the Relationship of Religious Identity and Attribution Factors with Self-esteem for English-Major University Students

The present study aimed at examining the association of religious identity and attribution factors with self-esteem for English language learners. The study adopted a quantitatively dominant sequential mixed-methods research. A sample of 45 students majoring in English language and a pool of 20 experts in psychology and language from different Universities participated in the qualitative phase of the study based on data saturation method. The data collection procedure in the qualitative methods included semi-structured interview method. The qualitative phase of the study, after determining the inter-rater reliability of the data yielded 14 common codes. Moreover, a sample of 163 students majoring in English language from different Universities participated in the quantitative phase of the study based on availability sampling. The data were collected by means of the newly-developed religious identity questionnaire, attribution questionnaire, and self-esteem questionnaire. To develop and validate the questionnaire of religious identity, the researchers employed Factor Analysis and Structural Equation Modelling by means of SPSS Version 22 and Amos 20. Cronbach Alpha estimated the internal consistency of the whole items including 34 items as 0.82. The validated questionnaire composed of four factors including Ideal Religious Identity, Real Religious Identity, Ought to Religious Identity and Feared Religious Identity. Following this, the results of Pearson Correlation Coefficient confirmed that the relationship between religious identity and attributions with self-esteem was significantly positive and large for EFL learners. Religious values act as assistance for learners to exert more effort in the face of possible failure and indeed, small success increases self-esteem.