CORRELATION BETWEEN EMOTIONAL REGULATION AND PERSONAL GROWTH INITIATIVES AMONG FIRST-YEAR PSYCHOLOGY STUDENTS

Abstract

Emotional regulation is essential for young adults to manage feelings in stressful situations. It promotes mental health, improves decision-making, and enhances resilience. Personality, environment, and culture influence how emotions are regulated. Personal Growth Initiatives involve active self‑improvement and play a key role in individual development. This study aims to determine levels of emotional regulation and personal growth initiatives among first‑year psychology students and to explore the relationship between these variables. This study employs a quantitative design with cluster sampling. Slovin’s formula is used to select 290 first‑year psychology students from Bestlink College of the Philippines. Data are collected through the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire and the Personal Growth Initiatives Scale II. Responses are analyzed using frequency and percentage distributions, weighted mean, and Pearson correlation coefficient. The findings revealed a weighted mean of 4.93 for emotional regulation and 3.70 for personal growth initiatives. In the emotional regulation domains, cognitive reappraisal scored highest (mean 5.15), and expressive suppression scored lowest (mean 4.60). In personal growth initiatives, intentional behavior recorded the highest mean (4.10), followed by planfulness (3.72), readiness for change (3.63), and using resources (3.24). Pearson correlation analysis yielded an r value of 0.05 with a p-value of 0.37, exceeding the 0.05 significance threshold and indicating no significant relationship. The results highlighted that first‑year psychology students exhibited strong cognitive reappraisal but lower levels of other personal growth skills. As a result, it was recommended that programs focusing on mindfulness training, strategies for addressing negative thought patterns, structured action planning, and peer support groups be implemented to enhance students’ emotional regulation and personal growth.