Multicultural tolerance of university students – results of verification of Tolerance Stimulation Program

Following the theoretical and empirical findings, the aim of the study was to verify the shift in multicultural attitudes by observing the change towards tolerance in university students after applying the Stimulation Tolerance Program. In the introduction, the paper presents research findings on th...

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Main Authors: Katarína Hennelová, Eva Szobiová
Format: Article
Language:ces
Published: University of Ostrava 2018-11-01
Series:Psychology and its Contexts
Subjects:
Online Access:http://psychkont.osu.cz/fulltext/2018/18-2_Hennelova-Szobiova.pdf
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author Katarína Hennelová
Eva Szobiová
author_facet Katarína Hennelová
Eva Szobiová
author_sort Katarína Hennelová
collection DOAJ
description Following the theoretical and empirical findings, the aim of the study was to verify the shift in multicultural attitudes by observing the change towards tolerance in university students after applying the Stimulation Tolerance Program. In the introduction, the paper presents research findings on the issue of (in)tolerance in the Central European area in different population groups. Based on the results of research stating deterioration in perception of foreigners by Slovak citizens, the intention was to develop a program developing multicultural tolerance through creative group activities. The research sample consisted of 40 students in the 3rd year of bachelor study at the Faculty of Psychology, Pan-European University in Bratislava, with 5 men and 35 women. The average age of students was 23 years (20–43 years). Students‘ attitudes were examined through the Semantic Differential Scale with five relevant concepts as stimuli: “I”, “Slovak citizen”, “Migrant”, “Refugee”, “Multicultural Tolerance”. Participants scored the concepts on a 7-point scale between 12 pairs of bipolar adjectives. The Semantic Differential Scale was administered in the 1st week of the semester before the application of the 12-week program and the week after its end. The core of the program was to provide students with an educational and experimental form of basic orientation on the issue of tolerance to differences, to present multicultural (in)tolerance as a part of today’s world and to develop social skills of multicultural communication with other groups of people in terms of culture, nation, race, religion or minority. The collected data were processed through the SPSS statistical program using descriptive statistics, non-parametric Wilcoxon test and measure of effect size. Findings have shown that the program has induced changes in students with more favourable perception of themselves (concept “I”). There have been changes on scale in three pairs of adjectives (beautiful – ugly, friendly – hostile, hot – cold), that were statistically significant and showed small/medium/large effect size. There were positive shifts in adjectives mighty, close, calm and hot in the concept “Slovak citizen”, that were on the edge of statistical significance and effect size was small/medium. Even more positive significant average values of the meaning of the concept “Migrant” on all scales after the intervention programme indicate its effectiveness. Positive shifts were also found on all scales of the concept “Refugee” (except for the adjectives – active – passive). In four scales there is a moderate effect size, in one scale (friendly – hostile) there was a small effect size. The concept “Multicultural Tolerance” showed statistically significant positive changes in 10 out of 12 scales, very large effect size was noted in 6 scales. In line with other research, the intervention program has induced positive changes towards the personality maturity of students. Moreover, on the basis of new experiences with effective behavioural patterns in social situations in a safe and supportive environment, students have acquired more favourable perceptions of themselves (as Slovaks) and other people (migrants, refugees). The most positive changes were found in the concept Multicultural Tolerance, which shows the positive impact of the program on students‘ attitudes towards cultural, social, ethnic, religious or racially different people. The differences in the results of both measurements (before and after the program) showed the effect of the implemented program in the direction of positive changes in attitudes of university students towards themselves, but also to other people in terms of a more tolerant perception of differences. The results confirmed the programme’s potential for developing attitudes in the area of tolerance and especially multicultural tolerance.
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spelling doaj.art-e249e2883f614c4eab5934b43d1f32a42022-12-22T01:24:03ZcesUniversity of OstravaPsychology and its Contexts1803-92781805-90232018-11-01924764Multicultural tolerance of university students – results of verification of Tolerance Stimulation ProgramKatarína Hennelová Eva SzobiováFollowing the theoretical and empirical findings, the aim of the study was to verify the shift in multicultural attitudes by observing the change towards tolerance in university students after applying the Stimulation Tolerance Program. In the introduction, the paper presents research findings on the issue of (in)tolerance in the Central European area in different population groups. Based on the results of research stating deterioration in perception of foreigners by Slovak citizens, the intention was to develop a program developing multicultural tolerance through creative group activities. The research sample consisted of 40 students in the 3rd year of bachelor study at the Faculty of Psychology, Pan-European University in Bratislava, with 5 men and 35 women. The average age of students was 23 years (20–43 years). Students‘ attitudes were examined through the Semantic Differential Scale with five relevant concepts as stimuli: “I”, “Slovak citizen”, “Migrant”, “Refugee”, “Multicultural Tolerance”. Participants scored the concepts on a 7-point scale between 12 pairs of bipolar adjectives. The Semantic Differential Scale was administered in the 1st week of the semester before the application of the 12-week program and the week after its end. The core of the program was to provide students with an educational and experimental form of basic orientation on the issue of tolerance to differences, to present multicultural (in)tolerance as a part of today’s world and to develop social skills of multicultural communication with other groups of people in terms of culture, nation, race, religion or minority. The collected data were processed through the SPSS statistical program using descriptive statistics, non-parametric Wilcoxon test and measure of effect size. Findings have shown that the program has induced changes in students with more favourable perception of themselves (concept “I”). There have been changes on scale in three pairs of adjectives (beautiful – ugly, friendly – hostile, hot – cold), that were statistically significant and showed small/medium/large effect size. There were positive shifts in adjectives mighty, close, calm and hot in the concept “Slovak citizen”, that were on the edge of statistical significance and effect size was small/medium. Even more positive significant average values of the meaning of the concept “Migrant” on all scales after the intervention programme indicate its effectiveness. Positive shifts were also found on all scales of the concept “Refugee” (except for the adjectives – active – passive). In four scales there is a moderate effect size, in one scale (friendly – hostile) there was a small effect size. The concept “Multicultural Tolerance” showed statistically significant positive changes in 10 out of 12 scales, very large effect size was noted in 6 scales. In line with other research, the intervention program has induced positive changes towards the personality maturity of students. Moreover, on the basis of new experiences with effective behavioural patterns in social situations in a safe and supportive environment, students have acquired more favourable perceptions of themselves (as Slovaks) and other people (migrants, refugees). The most positive changes were found in the concept Multicultural Tolerance, which shows the positive impact of the program on students‘ attitudes towards cultural, social, ethnic, religious or racially different people. The differences in the results of both measurements (before and after the program) showed the effect of the implemented program in the direction of positive changes in attitudes of university students towards themselves, but also to other people in terms of a more tolerant perception of differences. The results confirmed the programme’s potential for developing attitudes in the area of tolerance and especially multicultural tolerance.http://psychkont.osu.cz/fulltext/2018/18-2_Hennelova-Szobiova.pdfmulticultural toleranceattitudestudentsprogram verification
spellingShingle Katarína Hennelová
Eva Szobiová
Multicultural tolerance of university students – results of verification of Tolerance Stimulation Program
Psychology and its Contexts
multicultural tolerance
attitude
students
program verification
title Multicultural tolerance of university students – results of verification of Tolerance Stimulation Program
title_full Multicultural tolerance of university students – results of verification of Tolerance Stimulation Program
title_fullStr Multicultural tolerance of university students – results of verification of Tolerance Stimulation Program
title_full_unstemmed Multicultural tolerance of university students – results of verification of Tolerance Stimulation Program
title_short Multicultural tolerance of university students – results of verification of Tolerance Stimulation Program
title_sort multicultural tolerance of university students results of verification of tolerance stimulation program
topic multicultural tolerance
attitude
students
program verification
url http://psychkont.osu.cz/fulltext/2018/18-2_Hennelova-Szobiova.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT katarinahennelova multiculturaltoleranceofuniversitystudentsresultsofverificationoftolerancestimulationprogram
AT evaszobiova multiculturaltoleranceofuniversitystudentsresultsofverificationoftolerancestimulationprogram