Mindfulness Exercise, Students' Self-awareness and Emotional Regulation in Ethical Decision-making in Secondary Schools in Ahoada West Local Government Area, Rivers State: Implications for Counselling
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51699/ijise.v4i1.381Abstract
The research investigates how mindfulness training affects the self-perception and ability to manage emotions when making ethical choices among secondary students in Ahoada West, Rivers State. Research was conducted using a quasi-experimental design for studying two research objectives along with research questions and hypotheses. Students from 15 public Senior Secondary Schools in Ahoada West Local Government Area of Rivers State formed the 3,760 individuals in the study's population. A total of 134 students from SSS II participated in the research through a simple random sampling method that distributed 74 students to the control group and 60 students to the experimental group. Researchers used two assessment tools which were Students' Self-awareness in Ethical Decision-making Survey (SSEDS) and Emotional Regulation in Ethical Decision-making Survey (EREDS) to gather required data. The SSEDS instrument displayed reliability of 0.832 and EREDS displayed 0.879 according to Pearson Product Moment Correlation analysis indicating the survey instruments had valid reliability. The experimental group of students underwent 10-minute breathing-focused observations of their mental processes without judgment during each session before intervention data collection. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions, while Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA), was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The study's results indicated that there is a significant difference in the mean rating of self-awareness in ethical decision-making among students exposed and those not to mindfulness exercise, and there is a significant difference in the mean rating of emotional regulation in ethical decision-making among students exposed and those not to mindfulness exercise. The study recommended among others that; teachers should consider incorporating mindfulness exercises into their curriculum to improve students' self-awareness and emotional regulation in ethical decision-making so that students can develop a deeper understanding of their values and beliefs.
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