The Role of Positive Psychology in Preventing Violence, Developing Tolerance and Empathy, and Promoting Mental Health Among Students of Upper Elementary Stage

Abstract

The study aims to examine the levels of school violence behavior, tolerance, empathy, and mental health among upper elementary students. It also explores the contribution of variable: gender, the previous year’s academic average, and grade level- to these factors. Furthermore, it aims to test the validity of a proposed structural model and to investigate the effectiveness of a counseling program based on positive psychology in developing students’ tolerance and empathy. The study uses a correlational descriptive approach based on path analysis. Data collection tools are distributed to a convenient sample of (383) male and female students. To examine direct, indirect, and total effects, the bootstrapping method is applied using AMOS software. Additionally, a quasi-experimental design is used on a sample of (30) students who scored lowest on the tolerance and empathy scales. These students are equally divided into two groups: experimental and control. A counseling program based on positive psychology is designed and applied to the experimental group across (13) sessions, with two sessions per week, each lasting (60) minutes. The results from the correlational analysis indicate that levels of school violence, tolerance, empathy, and mental health are moderate among the students. Significant differences are found in the study variables based on gender and previous academic average. However, grade level shows no statistically significant differences regarding mental health. The findings also highlight the mediating role of empathy and tolerance in reducing the direct and indirect negative effects of school violence behavior on mental health, thus supporting the validity of the proposed structural model. As for the quasi-experimental method, the counseling program shows statistically significant effectiveness in improving tolerance and empathy among the experimental group compared to the control group. Its effects persisted during a one-month follow-up. The program showed strong effect sizes: (.962) for tolerance and (.938) for empathy. The study recommends implementing this counseling program in Palestinian schools and incorporating tolerance and empathy development into the guidance plans of school counselors at all educational levels.