The Effect of Assertiveness Psychoeducation Program on Increasing the Assertiveness of University Students

Abstract

This study examined whether or not the psychoeducation program, which was revised by field experts for university students with low assertiveness level, increased participants’ assertiveness. The study was designed using pretest, posttest and follow-up test. In order to compare the effect of the program, the study employed the experimental model in which a control group was formed. The study group consisted of a total of 16 students who were attending a university’s vocational school in Central Anatolia during the academic year of 2017-2018. There were eight students in the experimental group, and eight in the control group. The participants were selected on a volunteer basis. Developed by Voltan-Acar and Öğretmen (2007) to measure the assertiveness levels of university students, Voltan-Acar Assertiveness Inventory was used to collect the study data. The difference between the assertiveness levels of the participants in the experimental and control group was examined. Mann-Whitney U-test was used for different groups to analyze the differences between groups. Wilcoxon signed ranks test was employed to analyze the change within the same group. At the end of the study, there was a significant increase in the assertiveness levels of the participants in the psychoeducation program. This training will contribute to theoretical and practical studies and to field experts in the field of assertiveness and social skills acquisition. It will also encourage future studies on assertiveness.