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Journal of Social Studies Education Research
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2019:10 (4), 75-96
75
Emotive Behavior Control to Reduce Intolerance and Depression among
Secondary School Students in Tulungagung Indonesia
Sokip1
Abstract
The present study attempts to examine the impact of emotive behavior control in determining self-
efficacy among students through mediating role of depression and intolerance in students.
Following the quantitative approach, the primary data has been collected through purposive
sampling from the 307 students of the educational institutions of Indonesia. Data has been analyzed
with AMOS and SPSS. Several tests were applied including descriptive analysis, Confirmatory
factor analysis, convergent and discriminant validity and structural equation modeling to test the
hypothesized relationships. The results show significant differences in direct and indirect effects.
The direct effects indicated that emotive behavioral control techniques are the significant and
positive drivers of self-efficacy among secondary level students. While the indirect effects show
that depression and intolerance do not act as a significant mediator between emotive behavioral
control and self-efficacy. Also, the study embraces several theoretical, practical and policy-making
implications for the practitioners of mental health and academicians to promote self-efficacy and
emotional wellbeing among students. In addition, the findings elaborated the mechanism of
behavioral control and highlighted the associated outcomes which can be used for designing the
emotional control curriculum. In the last, various limitations have been given along with the
recommendations for in-depth findings by future researchers.
Keywords: Emotive Behavior Control, Intolerance, Depression, Indonesia
Introduction
The goal of education is to teach value systems and the development of abilities that can make
contribution to the harmony of society. Education is a learning phenomenon that develops self-
identification, self-esteem, intellectual and emotional skills among individuals (Hulten, 2017).
Through learning systems, the individuals are able to conceive the favorable and prohibited
behavior and norms of the society and become a responsible citizen and individual. It enables a
person to understand emotional intelligence with the understanding of tolerance for disagreeable
belief systems (Smith et al., 2017). Therefore, in order to achieve the desired objectives of
educations, it is essential to facilities students with the learning processes and conditions which
allows them to be active learners and recognize learning opportunities (Lalic, Ciric, Gracanin, &
1Dr. State Islamic Institute (IAIN) of Tulungagung, Indonesia, sokiptagung@yahoo.com
mailto:sokiptagung@yahoo.com
Journal of Social Studies Education Research 2019: 10(4), 75-96
Anisic, 2018). In the learning conditions, the notion of self-efficacy is the crucial factor, emerged
from Bandura’s social cognitive theory and its significance in learning systems was supported with
practical and theoretical implications by several scholars (Connolly, 2017). Self-efficacy is the
perceived self-esteem, sense of self-worth and the self-confidence of abilities held by an individual
(Shehzadi & Krishnasamy, 2018). It is the belief of an individual in the possessed capabilities to
perform a particular behavior. According to Bandura (2001) “self-efficacy reflects confidence in
the ability to exert control over one's own motivation, behavior, and social environment”. It enables
an individual to control and evaluate the thought process, feelings and their associated outcomes
(Kong, Deng & Zhang, 2019). The degree of self-efficacy perceived by an individual drives the
emotions desired performance and the selection of behaviors and ultimately drives the efforts for
a particular activity (Lent & Brown, 2019). Self-efficacy is also believed to be a source of positive
mental health and satisfaction of students with their life’s and their executed behaviors. As the
students who considered themselves successful in their academics are more satisfied with regards
to their performance (Lau, Fang, Cheng & Kwong, 2019). It is observed that the students with
high self-efficacy are more inclined towards their career and set challenging goals whereas, the
students with low levels of self-efficacy or self-confidence feel disappointed and discouraged in
their academic activities and easily falls into depression (Brenninkmeijer, Lagerveld, Blonk,
Schaufeli & Wijngaards-de Meij, 2019). As shown from the global statistics of mental health of
students (figure 1), depression and anxiety are the most prevailing negative mental health element.
Figure 1. Common mental health problems among students
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For the achievement of desired performance in academics, it is essential for students to enhance
their self-worth and reduce academic burnout and depressive behaviors as sound mental health are
the vital factor for boosting self-confidence. Throughout the world, almost every country is facing
the challenge of student’s mental health which needs to be resolved as due to this the capabilities
and potential of students are underutilized as for the growth of any country, effective education
systems and students capabilities in the form of human capital are the major contributors (Sperry
& Binensztok, 2019). Therefore, in view of the discussed findings, it is observed that the researches
have been focused on the impact of cognitive-behavioral interventions and therapies but no such
study has been conducted to analyze the role of emotive behavioral control on self-efficacy of
students particularly. Also, the mediating role of depression and intolerance in students in the
relationship between emotive behavioral control and self-efficacy of the students not examined
earlier. These observations highlighted the literature gap which needs to be fulfilled, therefore in
order to fulfill the identified gap, by following the suggestions of previous studies of (Sutherland,
Conroy, McLeod, Kunemund & McKnight, 2019; Vernon & Bernard, 2019) the present study
proposed the following research objectives:
1. To determine the impact of emotive behavior control on the self-efficacy among Secondary
School Students in Tulungagung Indonesia
2. To investigate the mediating role of depression in students in the relationship between
emotive behavior control and the self-efficacy among Secondary School Students in
Tulungagung Indonesia.
3. To explore the mediating role of intolerance in students in the relationship between emotive
behavior control and the self-efficacy among Secondary School Students in Tulungagung
Indonesia.
Similarly, the other contribution was the inclusion of Indonesia’s education sector to investigate
the impact of emotive behavior control on the self-efficacy among Secondary School Students in
Tulungagung Indonesia with the mediating role of depression and intolerance. As, the education
system is the 4th largest in the world with more than 50 million students, 2.6 million teachers, and
250k schools as shown in figure 1. The education of primary and high school is compulsory.
Journal of Social Studies Education Research 2019: 10(4), 75-96
Figure 2 Overview of Indonesia’s Education System
Moreover, unlike previous studies, the current study incorporated advanced methodological
techniques such as Structural equation modeling and confirmatory factor analysis. The explanation
of the proposed mechanism is significant for mental health practitioners and educators to develop
recovery therapies and promote mental health. Thus, the rest of the research covered the relevant
literature and formulation of hypotheses, in section 3 the methodology of the study is discussed,
whereas in section 4 data analysis and results are discussed while section 5 includes a conclusion
and future policy implications.
Literature Review and Theoretical Background
In order to analyze the role of emotive behavior control on the self-efficacy of students, the study
incorporated the framework of “rational-emotive behavior therapy (REBT)” (Ellis & MacLaren,
1998). The application of REBT for the treatment of mental health problems of school students
was pioneered by Alber Ellis in the 1950s since that long history was evidenced in terms of its
application to school students (Turner, 2016). This intervention was proposed as a significant
framework to understand and promote mental health as mentioned by (Ellis, 1995) that “I have
always believed in the potential of REBT to be used in schools as a form of mental health
promotion and with young people experiencing developmental problems”. REBT emphasized the
inclusion of prevention curriculum in the schools as it helped students in learning of mental health
mechanisms through which the present and future benefits are associated. In the context of
education and schools, REBT is derived as REBE i.e. “rational-emotive behavior education” which
can be applied to teach emotional control behavior and practices (Wood, Barker & Turner, 2017).
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As the learning of social and emotional competence is vital for the wellbeing of students. Also, it
fosters their academic performance, self-confidence, and sense of responsibility (Cunningham &
Turner, 2016). The core characteristics of REBT comprises of prevention, promotion and
intervention approach to teaching the students the skill of rational evaluations of their behaviors
including self-worth, tolerance of frustration, and risk-taking. It also enhanced the ability to
challenge irrational thoughts with the incorporation of several change methods based on emotional,
behavioral and cognitive aspects (MacLaren, Doyle & DiGiuseppe, 2016). The mental health of
students is affected in various forms including depression, career anxiety, intolerance, suicide or
suicide ideation, eating disorders, and substance abuse result when they are unable to deal and
control their emotions and behaviors (Iftene, Predescu, Stefan & David, 2015). Several studies
have incorporated REBT framework for an in-depth understanding of mental health promotion
and its outcomes in the educational context and for the reduction of depression and academic
anxiety among student (Ellis, 2019; Ogbuanya, Eseadi, Orji, Anyanwu, Ede, 2018). Thus, the
present study proposed the following conceptual model presented in figure 3 by taking into
consideration the role of emotive behavior control (independent variables) as the determining
factor of self-efficacy among students in Indonesia (dependent variable). The study also assumed
that depression in students and intolerance acts as a significant mediator in the relationship
between emotive behavior control and self-efficacy among students of secondary schools.
Emotive Behavior Control and Student Self-Efficacy
Emotive behavior control refers to the degree to which individuals are able to control their
emotions. It is the identification of rational thoughts and addressing existing mental health
disorders and irrational beliefs. It includes the discovery of one’s self-worth and the detection of
potential weak areas that need to be improved (Zahrakar & Kasaee, 2019). It is a self-oriented
perspective focused on the promotion of wellbeing and mental health which allows the individuals
to work on their self-satisfaction and self-worth by controlling their emotional responses to various
situations of the environment in which they live through the development of positive attitude. It
works on the principle of prevention, promotion, and intervention which emphasizes implementing
best mental health promotion practices and ultimately high self-worth (Turner & Davis, 2019).
It is argued by the authors that emotive behavior control generates solutions to the underlying
behavioral problems faced by individuals. Without the adoption of this intervention the individuals
Journal of Social Studies Education Research 2019: 10(4), 75-96
are unable to resolve mental problems and fulfill the needs of self-satisfaction and confidence it
has a significant impact on an individual’s self-efficacy (Haydon, Alter, Hawkins, & Theado,
2019). Also, emotive behavior control leads towards consistency in perceiving high self-value and
capacity to perform and targeted towards solutions of the existing issues like low self-esteem and
academic anxiety, etc. (Krispenz, Gort, Schültke & Dickhäuser, 2019; Etherington, 2019). Also,
emotive behavior control is an approach based on mental health-driven practices to explore the
existing potentials and strengths among individuals for the enhancement of self-efficacy
(Wijayanti, Sugiharto & Wibowo, 2019). In order to archive high levels of self-worth, the schools
incorporate the activities comprising of emotional control techniques to promote positive mental
health among students and for the reduction of stress levels (Pannebakker et al., 2019). Also,
multiple studies have emphasized the importance of being emotionally strong and intelligent
responsive to high performance and ultimately for self-confidence (Ogbuanya, Eseadi, Orji,
Anyanwu & Joachim, 2018). While studying the major determinants of self-efficacy and high
self- satisfaction, the findings highlighted that the implementation of emotive behavior control
techniques is effective in generating solutions with creating a favorable environment for the
students (Boutelier, 2019; Fernández & Do Nascimento, 2019; Wood et al., 2017). Therefore,
based on the reviewed literature and the recognition of the importance of emotive behavior control
in the determination of self-worth or self-efficacy among students, the current study hypothesized
that:
H1: Emotive behavior control has a significant impact on student self-efficacy.
Mediating Role of Student Intolerance
Tolerance in students is the willingness to accept difference of opinion that occurs due to
personality, religion and cultural differences. Whereas, intolerance in students refers to the
unwillingness of the acceptance of beliefs, opinions, and views that are not similar to the opinions
and beliefs of one's self (Si & Zhang, 2017). It is necessary for the schools to promote tolerant
environment in order to teach the acceptance of differences of opinion which exists due to different
value systems and diverse perceptions among individuals (Vu, 2019; Warren & Hale, 2016), also
it is important to understand cultural differences. Because high tolerance behavior among students
encourages participation and collaboration and provides multiple opportunities for learning new
skills and abilities through gaining knowledge from different mindsets (Phelps-Naqvi & Katz,
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2017). This skill development ultimately boosts the self-confidence and self-worth of individual
as positive perceptions of being able to achieve the desired tasks emerged (Cândea et al., 2018). It
is observed in the literature that tolerance behavior can be taught with high emotional self-control
as it requires the courage to respect and understand the belief systems that are different from self-
perceptions about a particular mechanism (Matweychuk & Dryden, 2017). Moreover, it is argued
by several scholars and practitioners of REBT that emotive behavioral control is the effective and
significant way to reduce irrational negative emotions and behaviors such as intolerance, and
anxiety among students as in the present era the schools evidenced high trends of diversity in terms
of cultural and regional characteristics that resulted in diverse opinions and self-concepts (Dryden,
2019). Therefore, in order to boost high self-esteem and self-confidence among students, it is vital
to teaching them tolerance behavior through emotive behavioral control techniques and
interventions as REBT emphasized the inclusion of prevention curriculum in the schools to help
students in learning of mental health mechanisms (Bennett & Turner, 2017). The confidence in
one’s self can only be achieved when an individual realizes the importance of his or her unique
perceptions and identities. This confidence can be injected among students with the promotion of
positive emotions and the avoidance of intolerance behaviors that resulted in negative emotions
and lowers the self-esteem (Stephenson, Watson, Chen & Morris, 2018). Thus in view of the
existing relationship between, intolerance in students, emotive behavioral control and self-
efficacy, the present study hypothesized that:
H2: Intolerance in students significantly mediates the relationship between emotive
behavior control and student self-efficacy.
Mediating Role of Depression in Student
Depression in the form of mental disorder and is a common and serious medical illness which
negatively impacted the behavior of an individual, it affects how the person feels and observes the
surroundings and also the acts. The feelings of sadness are caused by depression and ultimately
result in loss of interest in the activities which were important earlier (Damush et al., 2016). It is
argued by the authors that depression in students, their ability to control the emotions and their
self-efficacy are interrelated. As mentioned above, the core characteristics of REBT comprises of
prevention, promotion and intervention approach deal with negative mental health aspects such as
depression, as enhanced the skill of rational evaluations of behaviors. It also enhanced the ability
of students to challenge the irrational thoughts with the incorporation of several change methods
Journal of Social Studies Education Research 2019: 10(4), 75-96
based on emotional and behavioral aspects (Cherenack, Sikkema, Watt, Hansen & Wilson,
2018)With the adoption of emotive behavior control, the individuals are able to avoid negative
emotions and mental disorders fulfill the needs of self-confidence and increased their trust in their
capabilities (Blackburn & Owens, 2015). With high depression levels, the need to control such
disorder emerges in the individual and it has a significant impact on self-worth of the students
(Harries & Brown, 2019). Also, the effective reduction of negative emotions like depression
requires well-designed prevention and emotive behavior control approach that results in strong
emotional control and provides ways for them to cope up with the challenging environment and
leads towards enhanced self-worth (Adams et al., 2019; Kato, 2018). Moreover, it was highlighted
by Muris, Meesters, Pierik, and de Kock (2016)_ENREF_27 that for the enhanced self-worth, it is
essential that the individual must possess positive perceptions about the overall wellbeing and
enjoys sound mental health as its plays a significant role in the process of fostering high self-
confidence, self-esteem and build trust in the capabilities of one’s self. Thus in view of the existing
relationship between, depression levels of students, emotive behavioral control and self-efficacy,
the present study hypothesized that:
H3: Depression in students significantly mediates the relationship between emotive
behavior control and student self-efficacy.
Figure 3. Conceptual model
Methods
Population and Sampling
Researcher accompanied this research study for checking the effect of emotive behavior control
on student self-efficacy, in mediating role of tolerance in students and depression in students.
Researcher observed this specific research study in population of Indonesia because education
Emotive
Behavior
control
Student Self-
Efficacy
Intolerance
in student
Depression in
student
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quality has been questioned a lot in Indonesia, as Indonesian government provides the free to
charge education to students from one to nine grade in schools but still it has been evaluated that
after completing the school students still not much literate. Moreover, self-efficacy in students has
not been observed due to attitude of teacher towards students learning and behavior, as many
schools have been owned by politics officers that’s why teachers were more attentive rather than
students learning. There is need to change the culture of education system and teachers should
focus on building the character and behavior of students, in this regard researcher accompanied
this research study for checking that if emotive behavior control policies have been implemented
then what will be the effect on self-efficacy of students. Researcher targets the Tulungagung
Indonesia region for data collection, as it has been observed that schools in this specific region
have poor education quality and due to high misconduct practices of students in this region.
Further, researcher used simple random sampling technique for selecting schools from this region,
in order to maintain balance and researcher used purposive sampling technique for selecting
students from sampling frame, as it enables to selects only those who have interest in study and
have knowledge about variables. For data collection, researcher distributes the questionnaire
among 360 respondents, only 523 responded and researcher considered only 307 valid because
rests of them have been rejected.
Data Collection Procedure
Structured questionnaire has been taken into consideration for the collection of quantitative,
objective and primary responses form large no of responses. Researcher categorized the
questionnaire into two types of closed ended questions such as first one is variable scale items
related to emotive behavior control, intolerance in students, depression in students and student
self-efficacy and second one is demographic questions. Researcher originally wrote the
questionnaire items in English language but for data collection from Indonesia, researcher
converted into native language. Afterward, researcher used back-translation method for converting
questionnaire back into English language, for easy data analysis. Further, researcher checked the
content validity of measured through feedback of industrial practitioners and also checked the
understandability of items through feedback of 30 selective respondents. For administration of
questionnaire, researcher accompanied self-administering technique because some respondents
Journal of Social Studies Education Research 2019: 10(4), 75-96
were unable to understand the specific terms of questionnaire that’s why researcher self-visits the
respondents to solve the queries.
Measures
Different authors have already used the proposed variables in their earlier studies in the previous
literature, in totally different context but due to reliability and authenticity of outcomes, researcher
adapts the survey items from their research work for the assessing the roles of variables. In this
study, researcher measured the emotive behavior control through 24 survey items, adapted from
(Macavei, 2005), researcher takes into account research study of (Fibert & Ressler, 1998), for
adapting 4 survey items for the measurement of intolerance in students and researcher adapts the
7 measurement items form earlier study of (Inam, Saqib & Alam, 2003), for the measurement of
depression in students. Further, student’s self-efficacy measurement, researcher takes into account
earlier work of (Walker, 2003) for adapting 10 survey items. All these measurement items, have
been assessed through 5-point Likert scale, in this scale response ranges from1 (strongly disagree)
to 5 (strongly agree).
Data Analysis
For statistical analysis of the collected data or responses, researcher takes into account two
software such as (1) SPSS and (2) AMOS, which analyzed the data by accompanying different
tests. Researcher accompanied the SPSS for running the diagnosis of reliability test, regression
test, correlation test and descriptive statistics test, all these tests examined different criteria to
statistically analyzed the collected data. In reliability test, researcher examined two criteria such
as composite reliability and Cronbach’s alpha, both must have the values in threshold range,
greater than 0.70 in order to ensure the internal consistency and items reliability. Further,
researcher accompanied AMOS for running the diagnosis of confirmatory factor analysis and
structure equation modeling. CFA has been taken into consideration for assessing convergent
validity, model fitness and discriminant validity. Contrary to this, SEM runs for checking that
which hypothesis get accepted or which get rejected.
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Results and Discussion
The data for this study has been collected from 307 residents of Tulungagung, Indonesia consisting
of 40.7% males and 59.3% females. Moreover, about 48.9% of the sample respondents have done
their post-graduation and 40.4% have done their masters, which makes the sample highly educated.
The largest portion of the sample, almost 60%, belonged to the age group 31-40, making the
majority sample mature and able to understand the intricate details of the study.
Table 1.
Descriptive Statistics
N Minimum Maximum Mean SD Skewness
Statistic Statistic Statistic Statistic Statistic Statistic SE
SSelfEfficacy 307 1.00 4.90 3.5609 1.08867 -.837 .139
IntolStud 307 1.00 5.00 3.3550 1.21409 -.523 .139
DeprStud 307 1.00 5.00 3.4597 1.12641 -.553 .139
EmBehvCont 307 1.00 5.00 3.4851 1.13219 -.563 .139
Valid N (listwise) 307
Table no. 1 is showing descriptive statistics results of this study. Minimum and maximum statistic
values show that none of the variables acted as an outlier in the data. Mean values show an average
inclination towards 3.5, making it easy to interpret that most of the respondents either stated
neutral responses or agreed with the statements in the questionnaire. The skewness measures were
used to check the normality in the data. The results of skewness lie between the threshold range
for normal distribution, i.e. -1 and +1. So it can be said that the data was normally distributed
against all variables.
Table 2.
KMO and Bartlett's Test
Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy. .809
Bartlett's Test of Sphericity Approx. Chi-Square 23986.996
Df 990
Sig. .000
The results of the KMO and Bartlett’s Test has been shown in the Table no. 2. The sampling
adequacy for the data taken for calculation is given as an output of KMO testing. The result for
this study, .809, lies between the threshold range of this test, 0.8 and 1. The sample size for this
study was therefore adequate.
Table no. 3 represents the results of rotated component matrix. The results of all the components
show that their carry factor loading is almost above 0.7, with only one component having .699
Journal of Social Studies Education Research 2019: 10(4), 75-96
result, which is insignificant due to its closeness to 0.7, it is validated greater that there is no issue
of cross loading, meaning that the validity of data is good.
Table 3.
Rotated Component Matrix
Component
1 2 3 4
SE1 .699
SE2 .769
SE3 .842
SE4 .858
SE5 .829
SE6 .811
SE7 .815
SE8 .835
SE9 .854
SE10 .829
IS1 .782
IS2 .828
IS3 .820
IS4 .830
DS1 .826
DS2 .880
DS3 .876
DS4 .885
DS5 .888
DS6 .890
DS7 .876
BC1 .865
BC2 .906
BC3 .885
BC4 .877
BC5 .873
BC6 .874
BC7 .817
BC8 .905
BC9 .888
BC10 .882
BC11 .858
BC12 .884
BC13 .907
BC14 .868
BC15 .894
BC16 .874
BC17 .902
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BC18 .860
BC19 .822
BC20 .901
BC21 .883
BC22 .892
BC23 .845
BC24 .875
Table 4.
Convergent and Discriminant Validity
CR AVE MSV MaxR(H) BC IS DS SE
BC 0.921 0.819 0.279 0.991 0.905
IS 0.931 0.771 0.271 0.992 0.521 0.878
DS 0.965 0.796 0.233 0.994 0.336 0.438 0.892
SE 0.938 0.755 0.279 0.995 0.528 0.484 0.483 0.869
Table no. 4 shows results of the convergent and discriminant validity tests. The CR and AVE are
indicators of convergent validity while the rest are indicators of discriminant validity. Threshold
of CR values is 0.7 and for AVE is 0.5. The results for all variables for these indicators are above
threshold which confirms that there is convergent validity in data. The diagonal portion of this
table shows that IS and DS are more associated with themselves instead of being dependent on
each other while IS has more association with BC and SE is more associated with DS.
Table 5.
Confirmatory Factors Analysis
Indicators Threshold range Current values
CMIN/DF Less or equal 3 2.188
GFI Equal or greater .80 .800
CFI Equal or greater .90 .956
IFI Equal or greater .90 .956
RMSEA Less or equal .08 .065
Table no. 5 is for confirmatory factor analysis that shows the fitness of model. The fitness of model
is confirmed if the results for all the indicators are above threshold like in the present study results
that are proving that the developed model is a good fit.
Journal of Social Studies Education Research 2019: 10(4), 75-96
Figure 4. CFA
Table 6.
Structural Equation Modeling
Total effect EmBehvCont DeprStud IntolStud
DeprStud .331*** .000 .000
IntolStud .502*** .000 .000
SSelfEfficacy .534*** .294** .173**
Direct effect EmBehvCont DeprStud IntolStud
DeprStud .331*** .000 .000
IntolStud .502*** .000 .000
SSelfEfficacy .350*** -.294** -.173**
Indirect effect EmBehvCont DeprStud IntolStud
DeprStud .000 .000 .000
IntolStud .000 .000 .000
SSelfEfficacy -.184** .000 .000
SEM was run on AMOS for testing the hypotheses of this study. Results have been shown in table
no.6 that show that emotive behavior control exerts a significant positive direct effect on the self-
efficacy of the students. Increasing one unit of emotive behavior control has shown to increase
self-efficacy by 35%. However, under the influence of the mediators, indirect effect is insignificant
but negative. Increasing one unit of emotive behavior control increases depression by 33.1% and
intolerance by 50.2%. While increase in depression by one unit reduces self-efficacy by 29.4%
and increase in intolerance by one unit reduces self-efficacy by 17.3% in the students. This
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negative impact of mediators can be seen in the decrease of 18.4% in self-efficacy under indirect
effect of emotive behavior.
Figure 5. SEM
This study focused on how emotive behavior in secondary level students affected their self-
efficacy. The major aim was to discuss the reduction of depression and intolerant behavior of
secondary level students by promoting the use of the technique of emotive behavior control by the
teaching staff. During this study, the author generated three major hypotheses that were used to
test the said effects of emotive behavior control. The first hypothesis proposed that emotive
behavior control directly effects the self-efficacy of the students. This hypothesis was accepted by
the SEM testing steps, as depicted in table no.6 given above. Some studies have mirrored these
results (Wood et al., 2017; Zee, de Jong & Koomen, 2016). The second hypothesis proposed that
emotive behavior control and self-efficacy have an indirect relationship through the mediating
effects of depressive behavior in secondary level students. The results showed that this variable
had a significant but negative effect on self-efficacy was caused through this mediator, as depicted
in table no.6 given above. A number of previous studies follow this result (Beiter et al., 2015;
Raskauskas, Rubiano, Offen & Wayland, 2015). The third hypothesis presented the fact that
emotive behavior control and self-efficacy have an indirect relationship through the mediating
effects of intolerant behavior in secondary level students. This hypothesis was also rejected as a
significant and negative impact of intolerant behavior was seen over self-efficacy. Few studies
(Jibeen, 2017; Noh, 2016) also mentioned similar research outcomes. This analysis helps in
deducing that if the tolerance level of students is increased through promotion of emotive behavior
Journal of Social Studies Education Research 2019: 10(4), 75-96
control and the depression causing factors for students are also decreased, then the self-efficacy of
the students can be increased efficiently.
Conclusion
Today’s education system imposes a great amount of stress and responsibility on students of very
tender ages. These stress factors cause the students to develop low levels of self-esteem and self-
efficacy. The purpose of this study was to analyze how emotive behavior therapy can be used to
increase self-efficacy in students. The study used reduction in depression and intolerant behavior
of students as the mechanism to improve the levels of efficacy in students. The data for this study
was collected from secondary schools in Tulungagung, Indonesia. The selected sample had 307
respondents. Statistical analysis, estimation techniques and root unit testing were some methods
using which this data was analyzed. Results have been summarized in the analysis and results
section of this paper. The results showed that reduction in depression and intolerance caused the
self-efficacy in students to increase to efficient levels. The author of this study has outlined several
policy making, theoretical and practical implications in the section below.
Implications
Since this study discusses the impact of emotive behavior controlling for the reduction of very
critical behavior issues, intolerance and depression, in young students, it has several implications
in theoretical, practical and policy making contexts. Deep literature review has been presented that
can be used by fellow researchers for clarifying their concepts for their own researchers. In
addition, it provides the school faculties with guidelines and insights that can help them to
recognize and control depressive and intolerant behavior in students. The government officials can
also use this study to guide policy designs for school level laws in their jurisdiction.
Limitations and Future Research Recommendations
It is important to consider few limitations for the improvement and enhancement of future research
in this area of study. Some of the limitations and boundaries of this particular research are based
on the fact that the population taken for this research is very small and the results can prove to be
geographically biased. This limitation implies that in future, researchers should consider
conducting similar research taking a country level or region level data. In addition, the effects of
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emotive behavior control techniques should be tested for other behavioral characteristics of
students, like self-esteem level, self-efficacy and learning power with the aim improving the
volume of research and the quality of education.
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