An Analysis of University Students’ Levels of Self-control According to Their Ego States

Abstract

Problem Statement: Although it is well known that parents’ methods of raising their children significantly affect their children’s personalities and how they face life, this study has been designed because there is a lack of specific research on which ego states of adults are associated with selfcontrol. In the present study, self-control and ego states have been taken into consideration together and answers to the following questions were sought. Is there any association between the subdimensions of ego states and self-control? Do ego states predict self-control? Purpose of the Study: The purpose of this study is to investigate the association between ego states of university students and their levels of self-control, and to determine whether or not ego states predict their levels of self-control. Methods: Since this study aims to investigate whether subdimensions of ego states and self-control are correlated, an associational survey model was used. The study was conducted with 290 participating university students. The data were collected using an ego states scale and a selfcontrol scale. The results suggested that the parent ego state, adult ego state, and child ego state dimensions are significantly correlated with the experiential self-control reformative self-control and redressive selfcontrol subdimensions of the self-control scale. Findings and Results: Based on the findings, it was concluded that the parent ego state is associated with reformative self-control, the adult ego state is associated with reformative and redressive self-control, and the child ego state is associated with experiential self-control. According to the results of the one way ANOVA, which tested the significance of the regression model, ego states predict the self-control levels of individuals significantly, F3-274: 6.356; p < .001. Conclusion and Recommendations: Results suggest that students with high parent ego states make decisions using reformative self-control; students with high adult ego states make decisions using reformative and redressive self-control; and students with high child ego states make decisions using experiential self-control. Keywords: Ego states, self-control, experiential self-control.

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