Reduction of Social Anxiety and Increase in Academic Adjustment through Motivational Enhancement Therapy in Freshmen College students in Indonesia

Abstract

Academia in college is different from high school because college students will meet people who have different cultures, personalities, points of view, and interests. Personal adjustments are essential for these college students in this different scenario. Not only can it boost social interaction but it will help how to be persistent and resilient in their academic life. Failure in developing personal adjustments could turn the college students into anxiety in their social interaction which the freshman students may encounter when they face the changes in their environment and culture. An attempt to increase personal adjustment and decrease social anxiety through Motivational Enhancement Therapy (MET) is possible. There are five stages used in MET, that are pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance. This study used an experimental method with one group of pretest and post-test design which included 100 freshman college students. This research aims to know the effect of MET treatment to reduce social anxiety and increase personal adjustment in freshman college students in Indonesia. The instruments are the Social Anxiety Scale (La Greca & Lopez, 1998) consisting of 18 items, and the adjustment scale (Haber & Runyon, 1984) consisting of 25 items. The analysis in this study is a paired sample t-test that examines decrease in social anxiety and increase in personal adjustment before and after being given MET treatment. The results revealed that MET significantly reduced social anxiety and increased personal adjustment in freshman college students in Indonesia. The results have been discussed and recommendations are given.