Relationship between demoralization of the college student with their individual- and social-oriented self.

Abstract

Demoralization has become increasingly prevalent among college students who have lost motivation in life and feel hopeless about their future. Many college students who demonstrate symptoms of demoralization are neglected because they might fail to typical symptoms of depression. Taiwanese college students are simultaneously influenced by bicultural-self system, such as individual- and social-oriented views of self, which vary considerably in the view of self, achievement motivation, and the value of self-realization, and may even create contradictory expectations and behavioral standard. The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent of the relationship between attitude towards demoralization, individual- and social-oriented views of self. Three-hundred fifty-six college students completed the online questionnaire, which was designed to explore their demoralization status and cultural differences. Four groups were divided into bicultural self, individual-oriented self, social-oriented self, and unintegrated self. Bicultural group demonstrated significantly lower demoralization overall scores than other groups. Moreover, the five dimensions of demoralization in college students were mostly significantly and negatively correlated with individual- and social-oriented views of self, indicating that college students' bicultural views of self may contribute to or prevent demoralization.