The development of a positive youth programme (psy4life) module based on the yale attitude change approach

• Main Authors: Getrude Cosmas, Chua Bee Seok, Shazia Iqbal Hashmi
• Format: Proceedings
• Language: English; English
• Published: Universiti Malaysia Sabah 2016
• Subjects: BF1-990 Psychology; HQ793-799.2 Youth. Adolescents. Teenagers
• Online Access: https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/31590/1/The%20development%20of%20a%20positive%20youth%20programme%20%28psy4life%29%20module%20based%20on%20the%20yale%20attitude%20change%20approach-ABSTRACT.pdf; https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/31590/2/THE%20DEVELOPMENT%20OF%20A%20POSITIVE%20YOUTH%20PROGRAMME%20%28PSY4LIFE%29%20MODULE%20BASED%20ON%20THE%20YALE%20ATTITUDE%20CHANGE%20APPROACH.pdf; https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/31590/; http://eprints.umbjm.ac.id/1126/1/ProsidingSPK-III2016.pdf

A positive youth development programme was developed based on the Yale Attitude Change Approach (Hovland, Janis & Kelly, 1953). The programme was named Psy4Life programme and it focuses on the two elements of positive youth development (i.e., psychological well-being & life effectiveness). The module consists of 13 activities to enhance participants’ psychological well-being and eight components of life effectiveness (i.e., achievement motivation, active initiative, self- confidence, leadership, emotional control, intellectual flexibility, time management & social competence). There were seven steps in the process of developing the programme module: 1) identify location and collect data from significant informants such as the village head, teachers, and youths; 2) create activities based on the information provided by the informants and by using the Yale Attitude Change approach as a guideline to develop the module; 3) Check the content validity of the module with the experts in the field of social psychology, 4) Modify and amend the module based on the experts’ evaluations, 5) conduct a one day training workshop for the facilitators that will conduct the structured activities; 6) implement the programme; 7) evaluate the effectiveness of the module by conducting the pre- and post-ttests design. This module can be used as a good platform to monitor the effects of structured activities on positive youth development programmes. It can also be used as a guideline for youth organisations to organize programmes that are relevant to the youths.