A Comparison of Rational-Emotional Approach and Strict Discipline Efficiency on Rational, Emotional, and Behavioral Skills among High School Students

Rational, emotional, and behavioral skills include self-awareness, as well as critical and creative thinking, which assist individuals in acquiring a deeper understanding of their personality, weaknesses, strengths, emotions, values, and identity. The present research aimed to compare the effect of the rational-emotional theory and strict discipline on rational, emotional, and behavioral skills among high school second-grade students.

The current study was conducted based on a pre and post-test design on three groups, including one control and two test groups. The statistical population consisted of  90 male second-grade high school students in Tehran during 2019-2020. The G*Power software was used to calculate the sample size. A number of 75 second-grade students were recruited for this study via the convenient sampling method. After that, the participants were assigned to three groups of 25 students. A self-made questionnaire of life skills, similar to Saatchi, Kamkar, and Askarian, was employed for data collection. Fifteen experts in curriculum planning confirmed the internal and external validity of the questionnaire. Moreover, its reliability was confirmed, rendering a Cronbachchr('39')s alpha coefficient of 0.92. The data were analyzed in SPSS software (version 21) using multi-variant analysis of the covariance and Scheffechr('39')s Post Hoc test.

Based on the results, the rational-emotional method had a more significant effect on studentschr('39') rational (F=11.56, P<0.001), emotional (F=20.33, P<0.001), and behavioral skills (F=16.67, P<0.001), compared to the strict discipline.

It can be concluded that life skill training through rational-emotional theory brings about a marked increase in studentschr('39') rational, behavioral, and emotional skills. Nevertheless, the strict discipline method revealed no significant association between training students on life skills and increased rational, behavioral, and emotional skills.