Using the Personal Orientation Inventory to measure change in student self-actualisation

Abstract

[Abstract]: Access and Equity students meet the requirements of being disadvantaged in some geographical, physical, or financial sense and thus gain entrance to higher education in the absence of normal admission criteria. Aside from educational profile, little is known about other characteristics of this group which may affect performance in a higher educational setting. In this study, Shostrom's (1980) Personal Orientation Inventory (POI), developed to measure factors related to self-actualisation, was administered to a group of 74 Access and Equity students undertaking a university preparatory studies programme. Results showed that at the commencement of the course, the group profile was typical of what Shostrom would describe as a non-selfactualised group. At the end of the programme, however, the profile had shifted towards normal with significant improvements in the areas of Selfacceptance and Spontaneity. The study leaves little doubt that this category of students differs in important ways from the normal student body. It also demonstrates that initial feelings of doubt and inadequacy can be modified quite quickly with the right sort of preparation.