Document Type : Research Article

Authors

1 Master of Psychology Department, Faculty of Educational Sciences and Psychology, Shiraz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shiraz, Iran

2 Assistant Professor, Educational Sciences Department, Farhangian University, Tehran, Iran

3 MA, Department of Educational Sciences, Faculty of Educational Sciences and Psychology Darab Branch, Islamic Azad University, Darab, Iran

4 PhD Student, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Educational Sciences and Psychology, Marvdasht Branch, Islamic Azad University, Marvdasht, Iran.

Abstract

Introduction
Due to the situation of the corona virus epidemic, almost all the important economic, political, social and even military aspects of all the countries of the world have been affected. Researches show that students who contracted covid-19 disease have low psychological tolerance and due to the condition of the disease, these people are highly exposed to psychological disorders such as anxiety, fear, depression and also negative thoughts. Accordingly, in the present study, academic hardness, which is one of the variables related to academic progress and psychological well-being of students, has been considered. Academic persistence is a set of personality traits that serve as a source of resistance in facing stressful life events, including education. Kobasa's tenacity theory(1979) and Kamtsios & Karagiannopoulou's theory of academic motivation (2016) have been proposed with a cognitive orientation in order to understand why some students show more persistence in the face of academic problems than other learners. Kubasa's theory proposes three cognitive evaluation processes of control, commitment, and challenges, which are related to persistence in facing problems. Students with stubbornness usually feel more in control of their lives, have a greater sense of belonging to what they do, and are receptive to new ideas and changes. In the meantime, different techniques have been presented regarding the improvement of academic tenacity, including mindfulness training. Self-motivated students feel capable of achieving academic goals through effort and emotional self-regulation, they want to excel academically through personal sacrifice, and they pursue challenging goals to achieve long-term personal growth. The research results showed that, in general, mindfulness training has been effective on positive things, including stubbornness. Therefore, considering that the middle school period is the stage of transition from school to university and is accompanied by stress, teenagers will need academic tenacity in this stage of transition. Therefore, the current research seeks to answer the question of whether stress reduction training based on mindfulness is effective on the level of academic persistence of girls.

Method
The current research was a semi-experimental study with a pre-test-post-test design and a control group. The statistical population of the research included all female students of the 2nd high school of the 11th year of Marodasht city in the academic year of 2019-2020. From this population, a sample of 30 people (15people for each group) was randomly selected in two experimental and control groups. The method of selecting the statistical sample was as follows: first, the academic persistence questionnaire was administered in the above statistical community, and 30 people were selected based on the lowest score in the academic persistence scale (score below65) and then they were randomly replaced in two experimental and control groups.

Results
The findings of the research showed that the use of mindfulness-based stress reduction training led to an increase in the average scores of experimental group participants in academic tenacity and its components including personal commitment, challengingness, and emotion control compared to the control group. Therefore, it can be suggested that stress reduction training based on mindfulness is effective on the level of academic persistence and its components, including personal commitment, challenge, and emotion control in female students. Students who receive a mindfulness-based stress reduction training intervention typically feel more in control of their lives, feel more connected to what they are doing, and are more receptive to new ideas and changes.

Discussion
In sum, it is concluded that mindfulness educational intervention (MBSR) is a suitable method to increase students' academic persistence. By using this method, students will be able to have the necessary tenacity in the matter of education when problems arise, and most importantly, they will have sufficient awareness and alertness when facing some common issues in daily life, they will be able to have awareness and calmness. To protect themselves while accepting and bearing problems and finally, to be able to be successful not only in education, but in all aspects of life. Considering that the results of the current research emphasize the direct effect of mindfulness on academic persistence, from a practical point of view, it is suggested to launch workshops and to measure the positive states of mindfulness in various educational and educational fields for students and families, and to measure their effectiveness experimentally.

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