The Effects of Character Strengths on School Adjustment of Elementary School Students in Lower Grades

Objectives This study aim to investigate the character strengths of elementary school children in the lower grades and to explore which character strengths effect school adjustment separately for all students and by gender. Methods The data were analyzed from 1292 elementary school lower grades children in Seoul, Suwon, Osan, Goyang, Ulsan, Geoje, Jinju, and Tongyeong. The average of 24 character strengths was calculated to identify representative character strengths, and t-test was conducted to confirm the differences between males and females. Correlation analysis was conducted between character strengths and school adjustment. Regression analysis using the stepwise method was conducted by dividing the entire students and male and female groups to find out which character strengths significantly effect school adjustment. Results First, the character strengths of children in the lower grades of elementary school were high in the following order: teamwork, fairness, and prudence. Second, the t-test results to find out the difference between male and female students showed that males had significantly higher strengths in bravery and perseverance than females, and females had significantly higher strengths in judgement, love of learning, love and so on than males. Third, all 24 character strengths showed significant positive correlations with school adjustment and subfactors. Fourth, as a result of a regression analysis of all students, character strengths such as social intelligence, gratitude, teamwork and so on significantly effect school adjustment. Fifth, as a result of regression analysis for male and female students, some differences were found in character strengths effecting school adjustment. Conclusions This study examined the characteristics and positive influence of character strengths of elementary school students in the lower grades. The results of investigating the distribution and characteristics of 24 character strengths of students and their influence on school adjustment by males and females can serve as basic data for future research on character strengths of elementary school students in the lower grades. In addition, the results of this study can be usefully utilized in developing programs related to character strengths and school adjustment for elementary school students in the lower grades.