Evaluating and improving self-confidence in individuals that experience traumatic events, using specific terminology.

Problem Statement: 

There is a problem with self-confidence in individuals who have experienced a traumatic event. Despite hundreds of charities, hotlines, and help resources working to provide the best care and help to these individuals, the individuals may still struggle with their own self-confidence. As the Medical University of South Carolina mentions, individuals of traumatic events deal with 3x more depression and confidence issues. This problem has negatively impacted individuals of traumatic events because it limits their control after the event, and often causes feelings of worthlessness. A possible cause of this problem is the isolation and self-guilt individuals often experience, which can cause them to distance themselves from friends, family, and even their own minds. Perhaps a descriptive study that uses a stratified sample survey, that investigates the effectiveness of using the term 'survivor' vs 'victim in relation to self-confidence, could remedy this situation. 

Key Definitions: 

Growth Mindset: 

-A term heavily developed by American psychologist Carol Dweck, and adopted by many leadership professors and entrepreneurs. A growth mindset means believing that through hard work, a positive attitude, and input from others, one's talent can be developed. 

Maslow's Triangle: 

Describes the hierarchy of human needs, the bottom is physiological needs such as food, water, shelter, rest, then it is the safety needs, then belongingness and love needs, second from the top is esteem needs, and finally, self-actualization is at the top. For this research, the focus will be on the top three tiers of the triangle. 

R.F. Skinner's Positive Reinforcement: 

The theory is that a response or behavior will be strengthened by rewarding that behavior, which can lead to a repetition of the rewarded behavior. The reward can be a reinforcing stimulus. In application to this study the response is an increase in self-confidence, and reinforcing stimulus could be continually identifying and using the terminology the individual prefers to hear or use in their situation. 

Survivor: 

Overcome or made it through an obstacle or event, in this case as a result of a traumatic event. The 6 traumatic events this study will use are sexual assault, car accident, heart attack, physical assault, cancer, and kidnapping. 

Victim: 

An individual harmed or hurt as a result of a crime or action, in this case as a result of the 6 traumatic events this study will use. The 6 traumatic events are sexual assault, car accidents, heart attacks, physical assault, cancer, and kidnapping.

Self-confidence (in application to the study) : 

Trusting and loving oneself’s qualities and abilities.

Cisgender female: 

An individual who was born a female, as in born with female anatomy, and identifies as a female currently. 

Initial Assumptions and Hypothesis: 

The hypothesis of this study was by perceiving oneself as a ‘survivor’ rather than a ‘victim’ of a traumatic event, then the overall self-confidence of an individual will be increased, because of the idea of positive reinforcement, and the terminology acting as the positive reinforcement needed to form the habit of strong self-confidence. 

Results And Findings:

 In total, there were only three responses that fully filled out the survey. 

In regards to the blocking question and groups of traumatic events, two of the three participants experienced a traumatic event in Group Two, and only one experienced a traumatic event in Group One. 

When analyzing data, two major trends occurred. The first identifiable trend was the pattern between the terminology and the number chosen on each Likert scale. For the terminology of ‘survivor’ the most commonly selected number on the Likert scale that evaluated the change in perceived self-confidence, was number four. Rating scale number four was described as Improvement of self-confidence and somewhat confident in one’s qualities and abilities, and was selected a total of 16 times throughout all three participants’ responses. 

For the terminology of ‘victim’ the most commonly selected number on the Likert scale that evaluated the change in perceived self-confidence, was number two. Rating scale number two was described as Lack of self-confidence and feeling less confident in one’s qualities and abilities, and was selected a total of 19 times throughout all three participants’ responses. 

The second noticeable trend was the difference in rating between the two designated groups; Group One (Heart attack, car accident resulting in a serious injury and cancer) and Group Two (Physical assault, sexual assault, and kidnapping). The study found that the two individuals who were a part of Group Two tended to rate their perceived self-confidence at both a higher and lower count, compared to the individual in Group One who rated their perceived self-confidence at a more neutral level; usually choosing the rating of a two or four on the scale. 

Finally, the second Likert rating scale showed a variety of responses on how often the participant called themselves each term. The survey results showed that two of the three participants selected ‘never’ for the term ‘victim’, while the third answered ‘occasionally’ which was number two on the scale. For the term ‘survivor’ all three participants answered differently with one saying ‘never’ which was number one on the scale, another saying ‘often’ otherwise known as number three on the scale, and the third participant answering ‘always’ as number five on the scale. 

Conclusion: 

Due to the fact that the research study was only able to obtain three participants for the survey, the sample size was not statistically significant. With the results being statistically insignificant, it increases the likelihood that the responses on the survey happened by coincidence, and confirms the fact that the results do not cause and effect, nor are the only explanation. Despite only collecting three responses from the survey, a conclusion is able to be drawn from the original hypothesis.

 The original hypothesis was that the term ‘survivor’ would be shown to be a more positive influence on the perceived self-confidence of individuals. The results of the data collection confirm the original hypothesis of the study since each ‘survivor’ scenario was rated higher for the perceived self-confidence on the first Likert scale, than each ‘victim’ scenario

Therefore, the generated conclusion of this study is that in general, when an individual is referred to as a ‘survivor’ rather than a ‘victim’, then the overall self-confidence of that individual is likely to increase. 

On top of confirming the original hypothesis, the data results allow the inference that individuals who experience sexual assault, physical assault, or kidnapping, are more likely to have a more extreme response to each terminology when relating it to self-confidence. Meaning, that individuals who experience those traumatic events are more likely to rate higher and lower on the Likert scale, instead of rating their self-confidence in the middle. 

Implications: 

I would encourage other mental health professionals, such as counselors and therapists, to expand the study by doing a case study or longitudinal study. The longitudinal study would allow for the chance of results occurring from coincidence to decrease because participants would be studied over a longer period of time. A case study would be more individual, but a therapist could use a case study design and apply the principles of this study in order to identify whether a single individual reacts differently to the terminology and if their self-confidence changes over the period of time that the therapist aids them. 

Immediate implications of this study could include non-profit organizations and society addressing the cohort group of traumatic events as ‘individuals’ rather than ‘survivor’ and ‘victim’ because the study showed that each individual experiences a different reaction. Although the overall percentage of responses resulted in a positive correlation between the term ‘survior’ and self-confidence, nonprofit organizations need to keep in mind that a correlation does not mean fact. No matter what, nonprofit organizations, and society as a whole should stay unbiased in terminology when addressing or talking to individuals who experience traumatic events since there is still more information needed to truly identify which term is the better positive reinforcer in encouraging self-confidence. 

Next Steps: 

Taking the information gathered using the survey, and the conclusion drawn, the next step in this research study would be for me to repeat the study in college next year. This would allow for a greater number of participants since I would be around thousands of university students. Since I will be an adult research student, I would also change the cohort age to fit the current ages of college students. 

Another next step I would take is to redo the current study, but expand and do a study cohort on just individuals who have gone through sexual assault. Originally, I wanted to do this study on sexual assault individuals, but due to the fact that I was a minor when I began this research, the IRB deemed it dangerous to my mentality to focus solely on just one traumatic event. By narrowing the study to just sexual assault, it would also allow me to see a clearer connection to my intended career choice. 

Since I am planning on becoming a lawyer and counselor for individuals of abuse and assault, the results from future expansions of this research study will allow me to understand how to help individuals that I will work with daily. 

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