The Effect of Religious Orientation on Self-esteem, Academic Anxiety, and Academic Angagement
Keywords:
Intrinsic religious orientation, self-esteem, test anxiety, academic engagement, studentsAbstract
Objective: The present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of intrinsic religious orientation training on self-esteem, test anxiety, and academic engagement among high school students in Tehran.
Methodology: This study employed a quasi-experimental design with pretest-posttest, control group, and a two-month follow-up phase. The statistical population consisted of high school students in Tehran during the 2025–2026 academic year. A total of 48 students were selected through convenience sampling and randomly assigned into experimental and control groups. The experimental group participated in eight 90-minute sessions of intrinsic religious orientation training, whereas the control group received no intervention. Research instruments included the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, Spielberger Test Anxiety Inventory, and Reeve Academic Engagement Scale. Data were analyzed using repeated measures analysis of variance and Bonferroni post hoc tests in SPSS-27 software.
Findings: The results of repeated measures analysis of variance indicated that the effects of time, group, and the interaction between time and group were statistically significant for self-esteem, test anxiety, and academic engagement (P<0.001). The findings demonstrated that intrinsic religious orientation training significantly increased self-esteem and academic engagement while significantly reducing test anxiety in the experimental group compared to the control group. Furthermore, Bonferroni post hoc comparisons showed significant differences between pretest and posttest as well as pretest and follow-up stages, whereas no significant differences were observed between posttest and follow-up stages, indicating the stability of intervention effects over time.
Conclusion: The findings suggest that intrinsic religious orientation training can serve as an effective psychological-spiritual intervention for improving self-esteem, reducing test anxiety, and enhancing academic engagement among students, thereby contributing to adolescent psychological well-being and academic adjustment.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Mahboobeh Mehrabi, Zeinab Rashidizadeh, Mohammad Elahi (Author)
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