Master's Theses

Department

Social Work

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Abstract

The visual arts lend themselves naturally to contemplation of, and a more complete and total development of self (McNiff, 1981). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of art therapy in increasing self-awareness using university students enrolled in an art therapy class. The independent variables were: participation status, university classification, and age. Change in self-awareness as measured by a Personal Orientations Dimensions (POD) inventory (Shostrom, 1975) was the dependent measure. The sample consisted of 47 students in an age range of 18 to 59 years, classified as freshmen through graduate students, and enrolled in either Art Therapy, Interpersonal Communication, or Psychology of Human Motives. Three composite null hypotheses were tested at the .05 level of significance, employing a single-factor analysis of covariance. Of the 39 comparisons made, the comparison for the independent variable type of instruction and the dependent variable Mission was statistically significant at the .05 level, indicating students who received Interpersonal Communication instruction had a statistically higher mean Mission score than those who received instruction in Psychology of Human Motives. The mathematical assumption homogeneity of regression was met for 38 of the comparisons. Due to the nature of the data and the size of the sample, 1 of the analysis for homogeneity of regression could not be completed. The results of the present study appeared to support the following: 1. No association between participation status of university students in an art therapy class and self-awareness. 2. No association between college classification (sophomore, junior, senior, graduate) and self-awareness for those participating in an art therapy class, and 3. No association between age and self-awareness for those participating in an art therapy class.

Keywords

Counseling

Advisor

Dr. Bill C. Daley

Date of Award

Summer 1996

Document Type

Thesis - campus only access

Rights

© The Author(s)

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