The Effect of Taoist Values on Academic Anxiety Reduction Among Secondary School Students

• In Event: Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism in Education SIG Paper Session

Abstract

Students commonly struggled with academic stress. An innovative classroom intervention aimed at reducing students' academic anxiety was developed and implemented using ideas from Taoist ideology to transform students' beliefs and values. This study involved 458 high school students and used a 3 (group: Taoist-based intervention, cognitive-behavioral intervention (CBI) , waiting list) × 2 (time: pre-test and post-test) experimental design to verify the effectiveness of the Taoist-based intervention for academic anxiety. The results indicated that the Taoist-based intervention effectively reduced students' academic anxiety, with effects comparable to those of the CBI. This study integrates Taoist philosophy into a psychological curriculum for academic anxiety intervention, which was grounded in Chinese culture and provided effective mental health intervention for Chinese high school students.

Authors

• Xuming Li, Tsinghua University

• Yu Zhang, Tsinghua University