Social Support Among Counseling Students in Malaysia

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to look into the level of social support among counselling students at seven Malaysian public universities (N = 299). The findings of the study show that the mean score of counseling students' social support is high which is 5.34 (SP = 1.41). Social support from the family aspect shows a higher score compared to the aspect of friends and the aspect of significant people. The statement most agreed by the participants in the aspect of social support is item 3 "My family really tries to help me," agreed by 41.8% of the participants. While the second most agreed upon statement is two, item 4 "I get the emotional help and support I need from my family," and item 11 "My family is ready to help me in making decisions," marked by 35.1% of the participants. This shows support from family is the main social support for counseling students in Malaysia. Social support from family members is a source that always provides help during a crisis. As for the difference in social support between genders, the findings of the study show that there is no significant difference in social support between genders t(297 )= 2.42, p>.05. This finding shows that both genders are equal in social support. The findings of this study are expected to help the parties concerned such as educational policy makers or the higher learning institutions to prepare appropriate programs to establish social support relationships especially in terms of family. This is because this study shows that the family aspect is the most important aspect in the social support of students.