(By Danica Gem I. Alcala / Elaine Rose A. Aranas / Kristine Joanne B. Casia / Jennyvel Marie M. Credo / Faye Faith A. Garcia / Rae Dawn B. Maestrado)
OUR RESEARCH paper is finally done. All the waiting, revisions, approvals, and defense are finally over!
We proposed our thesis with the Title, “Levels of Anxiety, Personality Traits, and Readiness for Work of the Graduating Students of Holy Name University” to our panelists who reviewed our paper diligently and introduced a new variable – personality traits – that worked to enrich our research study. Basically, the gist now is, how is it possible that some people thrive and are decidedly ready for work despite having anxiety whereas some do not?
We gathered data using three instruments namely: Zung Self-Rating Anxiety Scale developed by William WK Zung in 1971, Big Five Inventory developed by John, O. P., Donahue, E. M., & Kentle, R. L. in 1991, and a modified Work Readiness Instrument derived from two studies written by Ramisetty and Desai (2017) and Caballero, Walker, and Fuller-Tyszkiewicz (2011).
We found that the respondents felt mild to moderate anxiety symptoms both in the physical and emotional aspects. And the top personality traits found among the respondents were agreeableness, openness, and conscientiousness. For context, agreeableness is a trait displayed in people who tend to be cooperative, compliant, compassionate, and trusting of others’ intentions. Those who are low in this are considered hostile, antagonistic, competitive, and skeptical.
Openness on the other hand, relates to one’s enjoyment of having new experiences in life. People who score high on this dimension are often described as creative, artistic, and interested in a wide variety of things. Scoring low on openness means that one tends to like routine and the familiar over new experiences that could potentially bring change in their lives.
Lastly, conscientiousness is closely related to self-discipline. People who score high on this dimension are responsible, organized, self-disciplined, and deliberative. They are also able to control their impulses and direct their energy towards goals and achievements. Those who score low are considered spontaneous as these people are impulsive, careless, disorganized, tend to procrastinate, and not fulfill clear life goals.
The respondents’ readiness for work was also quite promising because most of them agreed that they had the skills necessary for work, that they were eager to work, and that they were competent.
Based on the results gathered in the study, the respondents’ mild to moderate anxiety levels do not have a significant relationship with their readiness for work. In other words, their anxieties are not detrimental to their work readiness. Furthermore, their optimistic personality traits are good indicators and are impactful in determining how ready they are to work.
From our findings and conclusions, we the researchers recommend the following:
* Investigate how to harness and cultivate positive personality traits among students in order to utilize these for the improvement of their resilience amid adversities. Because it is only one’s self that an individual can count on. Hence, knowing how to improve certain traits can be a good foundation for coping in adulthood and the demands of the expanding world.
* As influenced by Lipson’s (cited in the study of McAlpine, 2021) suggestion in a co-led nationwide study on college students, investigate the effects of feedbacking between educators and students, and find out its effects on alleviating anxiety.
* Encourage educators to offer constant and personalized feedback to their students as these create rapport and increase the students’ awareness of their performance, specific strengths, potentials, and shortcomings – outlining their personal action plans for self-improvement and building their coping strategies that can be used at any given point in their life trajectory.
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Generation Z (Gen Z)
An article by McKinsey and Company explains that Gen Z comprises people born between 1996 and 2010. This generation’s identity has been shaped by the digital age, climate anxiety, a shifting financial landscape, and COVID-19.
“Gen Z is currently the second-youngest generation, with millennials before and Generation Alpha after. The first Gen Zers were born when the internet had just achieved widespread use. They’re called “digital natives” – the first generation to grow up with the internet as a part of daily life.”
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The writer hosts Woman Talk with Belinda Sales at 91.1 Balita FM Tagbilaran City every Saturday, 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. She can be reached at belindabelsales@gmail.com. Twitter @ShilohRuthie./PN
