PSYCHOLOGICAL LITERACY IN FUTURE TEACHERS: A STUDY AMONG SLOVAK UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Research on psychological literacy began in the early 1990s.It is defined as the ability to apply psychological principles to personal, social, and organizational issues in work, relationships, and the broader community.However, little attention has been given to psychological literacy components in teachers, and such measures have not been developed in Slovakia.This study focuses on components developed within pre-service teacher training programs to examine if their development is sufficient or if changes are needed to improve psychological preparation for teachers.Specifically, we focused on resilience, self-perception, self-control, and self-efficacy.The aim of this study was to explore whether there are differences in these variables based on the year of study (i.e., whether studying psychology-related courses improve psychological competencies).A total of 646 studentsfuture teachers (68.4%women), aged 17 to 34 (Mage=20.89,SD=1.90), participated in the research.Of the participants, 54.6% were in their first bachelor's year, 14.7% were in their second, 3.6% in their third, and 27.1% in their first master's year.The sample was selected based on availability, with students approached directly during lectures.Data collection was anonymous and voluntary (extra points were awarded) and took place in four rounds, from February 2019 to January 2024, using a paper-based questionnaire.The questionnaire included sociodemographic data (age, gender, year of study), the Resilience Scale, the Self Perception Scale, the Self-Control Scale, and the General Self-Efficacy Scale.ANOVA for independent samples in SPSS 21.0 was used to analyze the differences.Results revealed significant differences based on the year of study in the following areas: a) resilience (social competence (p<.001), family cohesion (p<.001), social resources (p<.001)); b) self-perception (school competence (p=.002), close friendship (p=.030)); c) self-efficacy (p=.015).Post-hoc tests showed that differences predominantly manifest negatively: social competence, family cohesion, and social resources decrease in higher years.Results for school competence and close friendship were mixed, with occasional decreases and increases.The only variable showing improvement was self-efficacy, where students in higher years scored higher.These results highlight the need for improved psychological training in pre-service teacher education, with more psychology-related courses focused on enhancing key psychological competencies.