Sociometrik Status and Life Satisfaction Among Turkish Elemantary School Students

Problem Durumu: Bireylerin, psiko-sosyal açıdan sağlıklı bir şekilde gelişebilmeleri ve yaşadıkları çevreye uyum sağlayabilmeleri için çevresindeki bireyler ile olan olumlu sosyal etkileşim ve ilişkileri oldukça önemli unsurlardır. Yaşın artması ile birlikte sosyal ilişkilerin rolü de giderek artmaktadır. Çocukların okula başlamasıyla birlikte özellikle arkadaşlık ilişkileri ön plana çıkmaktadır. Çocuk ya da ergenin arkadaş grupları içerisindeki pozisyonunu gösteren ölçütlerden birisi sosyometrik statüsüdür. Sosyometrik statülerine göre çocuklar; popüler, reddedilen, ihmal edilen, ihtilaflı ve ortalama statü olmak üzere 5 grupta toplanmaktadır. Okul çağında akran ilişkileri ve bu ilişkilerde akranlar tarafından kabul edilme önemli bir belirleyici olmakta ve bireyin yaşam doyumunu etkileyebilmektedir. Yaşam doyumu, Diener tarafından tanımlanan iyilik hali kavramının üç unsurundan birisidir ve bireyin yaşam kalitesini bilişsel olarak değerlendirmesi olarak tanımlanmaktadır. Çocuk ve ergenlerde yaşam doyumunu değerlendiren çalışmalar görece az olmasına rağmen yapılan çalışmalar yaşam doyumu ile fiziksel sağlık, benlik algısı, depresyon ve sosyal ilişkilerin niteliği arasında ilişki olduğunu göstermektedir. Benzer şekilde çeşitli araştırmalar da sosyometrik statü ile depresyon, benlik algısı, sosyal beceriler arasında ilişki olduğunu ortaya koymaktadır. İlgili yazın incelendiğinde, sosyometrik statü ile ilişkili pek çok kavramın yaşam doyumu ile de ilişkili olduğu görülmektedir. Ancak sosyometrik statü ile yaşam doyumu arasındaki ilişkiyi inceleyen herhangi bir araştırma bulgusuna rastlanmamıştır. Araştırmanın Amacı: Bu çalışmada, farklı sosyometrik statülerdeki ilköğretim öğrencilerinin yaşam doyumu düzeyleri arasında anlamlı düzeyde fark olup olmadığı incelenmiştir. Yöntem: Araştırmanın örneklemini, Malatya il merkezindeki 2 farklı ilköğretim okuluna devam eden toplam 421 öğrenci (191 erkek, 230 kız) oluşturmaktadır. Örneklem gurubunu oluşturan öğrencilerin %22’si dördüncü sınıfa, %19.2’si beşinci sınıfa, %20’si altıncı sınıfa, %21.6’sı yedinci sınıfa ve %17.3’ü sekizinci sınıfa devam etmektedir. Seksen bir öğrenci sosyometrik olarak sınıflandırılamadığı için bunlara ait veriler analiz dışı bırakılmıştır. Öğrencilerin yaşam doyumlarının değerlendirilmesinde Çok Boyutlu Öğrenci Yaşam Doyum Ölçeği-Kısa Formu (ÇBÖYDÖ-K) kullanılmıştır. 6 maddeden oluşan ölçek öğrencilerin hem yaşamın geneline ilişkin hem de aile, arkadaş, okul, benlik ve yaşanılan çevre olmak üzere beş boyutta algılanan yaşam doyum düzeylerini değerlendirmektedir. Alt boyutlardan elde edilen puanların toplanması sonucunda yaşam doyum düzeyi bulunmaktadır. Sosyometrik verilerin toplanması ve sosyometrik sınıflamanın yapılmasında klasik sosyometrik sınıflama yöntemi kullanılmıştır. Buna göre öğrencilere bir yönerge verilerek sınıflarında en çok sevdikleri ve sevmedikleri üç arkadaşlarının isimlerini yazmaları istemiştir. Ardından her bir öğrencinin sevilme ve sevilmeme frekansları sayılmış, bu frekanslar her bir öğrencinin sevilme ve sevilmeme ham puanları olarak kabul edilmiştir. Bu ham puanlar, her sınıf düzeyinde standart z puanlarına dönüştürülmüş böylece her bir öğrencinin bir standart sevilme (Liking Puani-L) bir de sevilmeme (Disliking Puani -D) puanı elde edilmiştir. Daha sonra sosyometrik statünün kavramsallaştırılmasındaki iki temel boyut olan Sosyal Tercih Edilme (Social Preference- SP) ve Sosyal Etki (Social Impact-Sl) puanları hesaplanmıştır. Sosyal tercih edilme puanı SP=L-D, sosyal etki puanı SI=L+D formülleriyle hesaplanmıştır. Böylece her bir öğrencinin hangi sosyometrik statüde yer alacağına karar vermede kullanılacak olan dört temel kriter her bir öğrenci için hesaplanmıştır. Bu kriterler: standart sevilme puanı L. standart sevilmeme puanı D. sosyal tercih edilme puanı SP ve sosyal etki puanı SI’dır. Bunlara göre; bir öğrencinin hesaplanan bu puanlarından SP> 1.0 L>O. D

Farklı Sosyometrik Statülerdeki İlköğretim Öğrencilerinin Yaşam Doyumu Düzeylerinin İncelenmesi

Problem Statement: As age advances, peer relations play an increasingly significant role in children’s lives. One indicator of a child’s social relationships and position within a peer group is his or her sociometric status. Many of the variables associated with sociometric status are also related to life satisfaction. For example, previous research indicates that both higher life satisfaction and popular sociometric status are associated with higher self-esteem. At the same time, both lower life satisfaction and rejected sociometric status are associated with various psychological and social problems, such as depression, lower self esteem, and declining physical and mental health. Based on their common relationships to other variables, one might speculate that sociometric status and life satisfaction are somehow related; however, our review of the literature has not revealed any published research that is related to life satisfaction and sociometric status. Purpose of study: This research was conducted in order to discover whether sociometric status creates any difference in the perception of life satisfaction and dimensions of life satisfaction for elementary school students. Methods: The study included 340 students between fourth and eight grades in a small province that is located in the eastern part of Turkey. In the study, sociometric status was determined, and the Turkish form of Brief Multidimensional Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale (BMSLSS) was used to assess their perception of life satisfaction. Frequency analysis, one way ANOVA, and LSD tests were used to analyze the data. Findings: The findings of this study showed that the perceived life satisfaction of students differed according to sociometric status, i.e., popular students have much higher life satisfaction than students from neglected and rejected groups. Also, the results demonstrated that sociometric status creates meaningful differences in scores belonging to dimensions of life satisfaction. According to these results, students who are accepted by popular group have a much higher life satisfaction for family domain than the neglected group; popular students have a much higher life satisfaction for friends domain than neglected and rejected groups; and students of rejected groups have lower life satisfaction than controversial groups. Recommendations: Life satisfaction is possibly an important part of an individual’s success in dealing with peer relations. As a result, educational programming should be planned to increase life satisfaction of students from kindergarden through high school. Also, sociometric status is not only predictive of the social, behavioral, and cognitive adaptation over a short term period but also predictive of behavioral problems in later years. Therefore, social skills training should be given to the students within the school curriculum starting during the pre-school period and beyond. This method would allow the acquisition and development of these skills early in life and would likely prevent problems, such as rejection by friends later on when the student is older.

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