The foundation of good mental health should always start at home. As they say “Home is the safest place on earth”, this means that even the protection and the evolution of an individual can be and should start at home and be applied to the outside world. But in contrast to the earlier statement, different abuse sometimes starts at home. One example of these abuses a child can face is what we so-called emotional abuse. And as this happens the well-being of a person may be affected as well.
According to LeNaya Smith, “Emotional Abuse is one of the hardest forms of abuse to recognize. It can be subtle, covert, and manipulative. It chips away at the victim’s self-esteem, and they begin to doubt their perceptions and reality. It is a vicious cycle that many, unfortunately, never escape.” As this continues, a person’s well-being may be affected as well. Psychological Well-Being of a person’s inter-and intraindividual levels of positive functioning can include one's relatedness with others and self-referent attitudes that include one's sense of mastery and personal growth.
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Emotional abuse is experienced both by men and women but is more likely to be experienced by women. An Australian study found that around 1 in 4 women and 1 in 6 men experience emotional abuse by a partner in their lifetime. Emotional abuse and neglect of children also occur but can be hard for authorities to detect and it may go unrecognized.
Emotional abuse is like brainwashing in that it systematically wears away at the victim’s self-confidence, sense of self-worth, trust in their perceptions, and self-concept. Whether it is done by constant berating and belittling, intimidation, or under the guise of “guidance,” “teaching,” or “advice,” the results are similar. Eventually, the recipient of the abuse loses all sense of self and remnants of personal value. Emotional abuse cuts to the very core of a person, creating scars that may be far deeper and more lasting than physical ones (Engel, 1992, p. 10).
The underlying goal of emotional abuse is to control the victim by discrediting, isolating, and silencing.
In the end, the victim feels trapped. They are often too wounded to endure the relationship any longer, but also too afraid to leave. So the cycle just repeats itself until something is done.
The phrase “psychological well-being” is used to describe an individual’s emotional health and overall functioning. The author of a study published in Applied Psychology: Health and Well‒Being describes psychological well-being as “the combination of feeling good and functioning effectively.”
Psychological well-being refers to inter-and intraindividual levels of positive functioning that can include one’s relatedness with others and self-referent attitudes that include one’s sense of mastery and personal growth.
At the most basic level, psychological well-being (PWB) is quite similar to other terms that refer to positive mental states, such as happiness or satisfaction, and in many ways, it is not necessary, or helpful to worry about fine distinctions between such terms. If I say that I’m happy, or very satisfied with my life you can be pretty sure that my psychological well-being is quite high!
Knowing that information, levels are put under each variable to measure the relationship of these to each other. Another factor to be considered is the profile of the respondents, which may lead to some information on why he/she is experiencing this type of abuse.
Hence, the researchers want to conduct this research because they somehow witnessed and experienced emotional abuse. The researchers are also curious to know how this particular happening in one’s life can affect the psychological well-being of a person and to know if their profile is one of the reasons why they’re experiencing this type of abuse. Furthermore, researchers want to give recommendations to the respondents on the importance of having healthy psychological well-being and what to do to improve it.
Theoretical framework
Parental acceptance-rejection theory (PARTheory)
According to PARTheory, rejected persons are likely to develop a negative worldview characterized by the belief that people and the world, in general, are hostile, treacherous, threatening, or negative in some other way. Negative worldview, negative self-esteem, negative self-adequacy, and some of the other personality dispositions described above form the basis of mental representations or social cognitions of rejected people. In theory, mental representation refers to individuals' more or less coherent but usually implicit beliefs and expectations about themselves and significant others that are constructed from emotionally important past and current experiences. The theory assumes that mental representations tend to influence individuals' memories, perceptions, interpersonal relations, and behaviors.
It is important to note here that not all accepted children and adults necessarily develop favorably. Some accepted individuals develop adjustment problems similar to those of rejected individuals for reasons other than parental acceptance rejection. Moreover, not all rejected individuals develop serious adjustment problems. Some can cope with the pain of perceived rejection more effectively than others.
The Psychodynamic Theory
The psychodynamic perspective is largely based on the groundbreaking idea of Sigmund Freud. It is sufficient to note that Freud thought that human behavior, including violent behavior, was the product of “unconscious” forces operating within a person’s mind. Freud also felt that early childhood experiences had a profound impact on adolescent and adult behavior. Freud, for example, believed that conflicts that occur at various psychosexual stages of development might impact an individual’s ability to operate normally as an adult. For Freud, aggression was thus a basic (Id-based) human impulse that is repressed in well-adjusted people who have experienced a normal childhood. However, if the aggressive impulse is not controlled, or is repressed to an unusual degree, some aggression can “leak out” of the unconscious and a person can engage in random acts of violence. Freud referred to this as “displaced aggression”. Sigmund Freud is of the view that many of the young people exposed to domestic violence have the possibility of developing low self-esteem, self-hate, and prejudice, making them function abnormally.
Behavioral theory
Behavioral theory maintains that all behavior including violent behavior is learned through interaction with the social environment. Behaviorists argue that people are not born with a violent disposition; rather, they learn to think and act violently as a result of their day-to-day experiences. These experiences, proponents of behaviorists’ tradition maintain, might include observing friends or family being rewarded for violent behavior, or even observing the glorification of violence in the media. Studies of family life, for example, show that aggressive children often model the violent behaviors of their parents. Studies have also found that people who live in violent communities learn to model the aggressive behavior of their neighbors.
Six-factor Model of Psychological Well-being
The Six-Factor Model of Psychological Well-being is a theory developed by Carol Ryff that determines six factors that contribute to an individual's psychological well-being, contentment, and happiness.
Ryff’s model of psychological well-being draws widely from various theories, such as the humanistic understandings of Maslow, Allport, and Rogers (Ryff & Keyes, 1995), the utilitarian philosophy of Mill and Russell (Ryff, 2013a), and life-span theories of human development such as Erikson’s stages of development (Burns & Machin, 2009; Ryff & Keyes, 1995; Triadó, Villar, Solé & Celdrán, 2007). The final model of psychological well-being proposed by Ryff consists of six factors, which are described below (Ryff, 1989c):
- Self-acceptance: To have a realistic perception of the self, including both good and bad qualities, and still be able to accept oneself:
- Positive relations with others: To be able to form warm, caring relationships with others; the capability to develop intimacy and to show empathy with others.
- Autonomy: The ability to make one’s own decisions without relying on, or waiting for, the approval of others; the ability to measure oneself according to one’s own beliefs and not the beliefs of others.
- Environmental mastery: The ability to manage the environment and to mold environments, or to choose environments, which align with one’s needs and values:
- Purpose in life: Having goals in life and a sense that one’s life has purpose and meaning; living intentionally and with clear direction.
PERMA Model Theory
The PERMA Model is a well-being theory developed by positive psychologist Martin Seligman. It identifies five essential elements of well-being. These are:
- Positive Emotions (P).
- Engagement (E).
- Positive Relationships (R).
- Meaning (M).
- Achievement/Accomplishment (A).
By focusing on all five of these elements, we can flourish in life, and find the happiness we want. As such, PERMA gives us the starting point for living a great life!
Conceptual framework
The research paradigm shows the Profile of the Respondents and its relation to the Emotional Abuse and its relation to the Psychological Well-Being of College Students. The Profile of the Respondents consists of; Gender, Age, Number of Siblings, and Family Status. The independent variable consists of Emotional Abuse which has the following sub-variables; Aggressing, Denying, Minimizing. The dependent variable consists of the Psychological Well-Being which has the following sub-variables; Autonomy, Personal Growth, Environmental Mastery, Positive Relations with Others, Purpose in Life, and Self-Acceptance.
Statement of the problem
This study wants to determine the Effect of Emotional Abuse on the Psychological well-being of College Students.
Hypothesis:
- There is no significant relationship between emotional abuse on the respondent’s profile.
- There is no significant relationship between the profile of the respondents to their psychological well-being.
- There is no significant relationship between the psychological well-being of emotionally abused respondents.
Significance of the study:
The study wants to identify the effect of emotional abuse on the psychological well-being of college students.
This study is for:
Other Researches. This study can give some knowledge and information regarding the effect of emotional abuse on the psychological well-being of college students.
Researchers. As psychology students, this study will be very helpful especially when they will be assigned an industrial field of work in the future. This study will also be beneficial to the researchers to know the importance of having healthy psychological well-being among college students.
Respondents. This study will help them to have better learning about the effect of emotional abuse on their psychological well-being.
Society. This study is significant to society because it may provide insights into the effect of emotional abuse on the psychological well-being of college students.
Scope and limitations
This study shall be limited to the investigation of the effect of emotional abuse on the psychological well-being of college students, specifically the students who suffered emotional abuse. Also, this research will investigate the relationship of experiencing emotional abuse and their current psychological well-being to the profile of the respondents.
Definition of terms:
The key terms in the study are given the following operational definitions.
Aggressing – this refers to the form of abuse including name-calling, accusing, blaming, threatening, and ordering.
Autonomy- refers to self-government and responsible control of one's life.
Denying – this refers to not confessing the wrongdoing of the abuser or failing to acknowledge the reality. This also includes two forms; withholding which is sometimes called “silent treatment” which means refusing to listen to the other person; and countering refers to refusing to accept any viewpoint different from their own.
Environmental Mastery- emphasizes the ability to choose or change the surrounding context using physical or mental actions as well as being able to control events.
Minimizing – this refers to questioning the recipient’s emotional response to the event. This includes another form called Trivializing which refers to invalidating or making any achievement seem unimportant.
Personal Growth - sees self as growing and expanding; is open to new experiences; etc.
Positive Relations with Others - capable of strong empathy, affection, and intimacy; and understand the give and take of human relationships.
Purpose in Life- refers to the tendency to derive meaning from life's experiences and possess a sense of intentionality and goal-directedness that guides behavior.
Self-acceptance - an individual's satisfaction or happiness with oneself, and is thought to be necessary for good mental health.
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