IIUM JOURNAL OF HUMAN SCIENCES

A SWOT Analysis on the Concept of Spirituality among Muslim Support Staff in a Faith-Based Higher Learning Institution in Malaysia

2022-06-18T13:32:15+08:00

Spirituality and religion are two different concepts that are closely related to one another. For its strategic planning, the organisation under study (a faith-based higher learning institution) needs to conduct a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis related to the concept of spirituality. Therefore, a hermeneutic research design was used to identify the institution’s Muslim support staff’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Purposive sampling was used to recruit eight participants who were Muslim full-time support staff currently working at the institution. Data were collected via a focus group discussion through the Google Meet platform. The findings revealed strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats at both theoretical and practical levels. Although all participants agreed that spirituality is an innate human nature expressed via good deeds, it is still difficult for them to differentiate between spirituality and religion. In terms of opportunities, spirituality becomes the institution’s branding as a faith-based organisation, and this organisation conducted many spiritual-based programmes and community service activities. However, the financial constraints, generational gap, and organisational change might threaten the practice of spirituality in the organisation. The findings serve as an essential basis and guideline for the organisation to develop interventions related to spirituality. Some limitations and recommendations for future research were also discussed.

Strength-Based Parenting Scale Adaptation and Validation for Adolescents in Eastern Culture

2022-08-23T13:32:39+08:00

Parenting has long been identified as a potential factor that affects children and adolescents' ability to cope with stress. Strength-based parenting is a parenting approach that strives to develop and nurture children's positive states, processes, and qualities. This paper presents the adaptation and validation of the Strength-Based Parenting scale for Adolescents in eastern culture. Two studies were conducted for this paper. The first study consisted of the translation process and a pilot study. The translation process used a back-translation process and followed WHO guidelines for scale adaptation. It was then piloted to 150 adolescents. The second study involved 582 adolescents in calculating the reliability and validity of the adapted scale. Cronbach's alpha is used to confirm scale reliability, and Confirmatory Factor Analysis is conducted to confirm the validity of the adapted scale. Findings of the first study found that in the pilot stage, the adapted scale had a value of Cronbach alpha α= 0.94, 95% [CI = 0.922, 0.951]. Meanwhile in the second study, with a larger number of participants, the Cronbach value was α= 0.94, 95% [CI = 0.935, 0.948]. The EFA test found two factors, the same as the original SBP scale. Statistical analysis of the Strength-Based Parenting scale that has been adapted and validated shows a good fit. It is appropriate for measuring adolescents in eastern cultures, including Indonesian and Malay.

Religious Beliefs as Coping Strategies: Exploring the Conceptualisation of Hope in Islam

2022-12-01T09:22:56+08:00

Hopelessness tends to correlate with suicidal behaviours. Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS) has been claimed to have a good predictive value in predicting suicidality. However, the low rate of suicide in most Muslim nations as compared to non-Muslim nation indicates hopefulness may be a better variable to explain the low rate of suicidality among Muslims. As the BHS lacks this element of hopefulness, especially in integrating the role of religious beliefs as the source of hope to Muslims, the current paper proposes an initiative for BHS to be used in predicting suicidality among Muslims by exploring Quranic verses related to hopefulness. These verses are believed to be the source of strength, comfort and hope for Muslims in facing life difficulties and indirectly predicting the low suicide rate among Muslims.

The Role of Social Support and Spirituality with Subjective Well-being in Husbands/Wives of Healthcare Workers During the Covid-19 Pandemic

2022-11-01T18:07:06+08:00

Husband/wife of healthcare workers experienced a lot of negative emotions which result in a decrease in subjective well-being (SWB) during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research aims to analyze the relationship between social support and spirituality simultaneously and partially with SWB on the husband/wife of healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic and to determine the effective contribution of social support and spirituality simultaneously and partially to SWB. Using Purposive Sampling, this research involved 384 respondents (55.6% husbands and 44.4% wives) of healthcare workers who work in healthcare facilities and live in the Solo Raya area. Data analysis used the moderating variable regression test with the sub-group method. The result showed that social support and spirituality simultaneously have a role in increasing the SWB of all respondents (husbands and wives) of healthcare workers (p=0.000). Simultaneously, social support and spirituality have a role in increasing SWB for both husbands (p=0.000) or wives (p=0.000) of healthcare workers. Partially, social support has a positive role in increasing the wife’s SWB (p=0.000), but not for husbands (p=0.172). Partially, spirituality has a positive role in increasing the SWB of husbands (p=0.007) or wives (p=0.001) of healthcare workers. Based on the contribution both simultaneously and partially, the female partners of healthcare workers have a higher SWB than the male partners. This research implies that efforts to improve SWB need support from the environment and an increase in spiritual values. Future researchers are expected to be more concerned about data collection procedures and pay more attention to cultural aspects.

Initial Construction and Validation of the Islamic Gratitude (I-Gratitude) Scale

2022-05-25T13:30:53+08:00

Gratitude represents a general state of appreciation and is considered the root of most religious traditions. Islam views gratitude as a way Muslims relate to their Creator by appreciating His assistance. Literature founds that many scales measuring gratitude were constructed without the integration of Shukr (i.e., Islamic concept of gratitude), or limit the constructed items on gratitude between human being and Allah alone, and some lacks it empirical psychometric evidence. a Due to this reason, we aim to construct a scale that follows a more comprehensive conceptualization of gratitude encompasses different domains of Muslim’s life. The current study discusses the processes of Islamic gratitude scale construction and its initial validation. The scale aims to measure Muslims’ level of gratitude (Shukr) conceptualized into three domains: Gratitude by Heart, Gratitude by Verbal, and Gratitude by Action. Thirty initial items were constructed, and ten subject matter experts (SMEs) were approached for their professional insights on the necessity of each item. Content Validity Ratio (CVR) was used to decide which item to retain in the scale. Based on the SMEs’ feedback, the number of items was reduced to 26.A test tryout was conducted on 183 participants for a preliminary analysis on the scale’s psychometric properties. Factorial analysis revealed a four-factor structure with internal consistency of .85. Further discussion on the scale’s usefulness, limitations, and future recommendations are also included.

The Evaluation of an Online Peer Support Group on the levels of Internal and External Self-Confidence among Undergraduate Students during Covid-19 Pandemic: A Bandura’s Theory of Self-Efficacy Approach

2022-06-18T12:20:34+08:00

The Covid-19 pandemic had a great impact on individuals of all walks of life in the aspect of psychosocial functioning particularly those from a B40 background as well as students. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a psycho socio-spiritual educational support group using the Bandura’s Theory of Self-Efficacy approach on the levels of internal and external self-confidence among 4th-year undergraduate IIUM students during the Covid-19 pandemic. It also aims to identify the issues of self-confidence from the participants during Covid-19. Seven 4th-year IIUM undergraduate students have been interviewed to identify the self-confidence issues and 22 participants (N=22) from the age of 22 to 24 years old were recruited via purposive sampling method to participate in the online peer support group. The present study used a mixed-method, exploratory approach with a quasi-experimental one-group pre-test-post-test design and a qualitative design. Two questionnaires have been utilized, the internal and external self-confidence scale by Kelsey Evelyn Perkins, and in-depth interviews employed five open-ended questions. The Likert scales consisted of 12-items that required participants to rate from 1“strongly disagree to 7 “strongly agree.” Data were analysed qualitatively by thematic analysis and quantitatively using Paired Sample T-test computed in the 26.0 version of Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) with a P-value <0.5 considered statistically significant. There was a statistically significant increase in Internal Self Confidence pre-test score (M=55.64, SD=9.459) to Post-test (M=69.55, SD=9.012), t(21)=5.670, p<0.05 (two-tailed). There was also an increment for External Self Confidence pre-test score, (M= 41.00, SD=10.156) and post-test (M=50.18, SD=13.800), t(21)=3.217, p<0.05 (two-tailed) after the implementation of the online peer support group among undergraduate students during the Covid-19 pandemic. According to the current research, peer support might be a helpful tool to improve self-confidence among undergraduate students and broaden its function as a coping mechanism to improve the quality of life and well-being. The findings of this research will also shed light on the use of Bandura’s Theory of Self-Efficacy in the fostering of Internal and External Self-confidence.