MULTIPHASIC INTERESTS AMONG ADOLESCENT STUDENTS: A SURVEY

Dr. Mandeep Kaur*

Ms. Navjot Kaur**
Abstract

The objective of this study is to find out the interests among adolescent students. The
survey method was adopted. A sample of 400 adolescent students studying in the 8th and
9th grades in Amritsar city was selected by random sampling. Multiphasic Interest
Inventory (MII) was administered to participants to measure their interests. Qualitative
and quantitative analysis of the data was done. The qualitative analysis of the data
showed that students of 8 and 9 grades had diverse interests. For quantitative analysis,
Mean. Standard deviation and t test were used to analyze the data. The findings of the
present study revealed no significant difference in Multiphasic Interests of 8th and 9th
grade adolescents with respect to gender. In term of locale, the study showed no
significant difference in Multiphasic Interests of 8th grade adolescents studying in urban
and rural schools. However, a significant difference was observed in Multiphasic Interests
of 9th grade adolescents studying in urban and rural schools.
Keywords: Multiphasic interest, Interest, Adolescents, Adolescent students

Theoretical framework
At the age of eleven or twelve, a tide begins to rise in the veins of youth. If that tide can be
taken as the flood and a new voyage begins in strength and along the flow of its current,
then it will move on to fortune (Hadow Report,1926). This age is called adolescence.
Adolescence is the transitional period that emerges from childhood and merges into
adulthood. Adolescents undergo many physical, emotional, and social changes and, as a
result, they develop idiosyncratic interests which are crucial for the development of self
(Krapp 2002). These interests are important for them as these determine their
engagement with the content of their interests both in and out of school and achievement
in school (Ainley 2012).

*Associate Professor, Khalsa College of Education, Ranjit Avenue, Amritsar

** M.Ed. Student, Khalsa College of Education, Ranjit Avenue, Amritsar

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 Interest of adolescents also contributes to their identity formation and consequently
affects their educational choices (Hofer 2010; Krapp 2002).

Adolescents tend to display wide-ranging interests (Scales, 2010) and all of them have
certain specific interests that fall within different categories. The most important universal
interests of adolescents fall into seven major categories. These are: recreational interests,
social interests, personal interests, educational interests, vocational interests, religious
interests and interests in status symbols (Manichander, 2016). Different types of interests
play crucial role in the life of adolescents. Young adolescents are eager to learn about
topics they find interesting and useful—ones that are personally relevant (Brighton, 2007).
Adolescents with social interests are mentally healthy (Overholser, 2010), less addicted to
internet or cyber delinquent (Jeong, 2012). Religious interest groups play a significant role
in the formulation and/or implementation of educational policies.

From the plethora of literature reviewed above, it is clear that adolescents have varied
interests which are related to their success in academics, sports, or other areas of life
(Hidi & Harackiewicz, 2000). Hence appropriate interest of adolescents is the critical
prerequisite for their success in life as it minimizes the chance of mismatching while
channelizing their potentialities in right direction. Most of the researchers have studied
the vocational interests of the adolescents. However, the vocational interest does not
develop independently or has no independent identity without other interests. So after a
thorough scrutiny of the available literature, the researchers felt the need to investigate
a wide spectrum of interest patterns among adolescents with the following hypotheses:
1. There exists no significant difference in Multiphasic Interests among adolescent
students with respect to gender.
2. There exists no significant difference in Multiphasic Interests among 8th grade
adolescent students with respect to locale.
3. There exists no significant difference in Multiphasic Interests among 9th grade
adolescent students with respect to locale.

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 Methodology
Design of the Study
Survey method was used to study the varied interest among adolescent students.

Participants
Four hundred (400) adolescent students studying in the 8th and 9th grades from the urban
and rural areas of Amritsar City were randomly selected as sample.

Data Collection
For data collection, Multiphasic Interest Inventory (MII) by Bawa, 2011 was administered
to 400 participants.

Data Analysis and Interpretation

This section is divided into two sub-sections: (1) Qualitative; (2) Quantitative.

Section 1. Qualitative Analysis of Total Sample

For the qualitative analysis of Multiphasic Interest, Multiphasic Interest Inventory was
administered to adolescent students of the 8th and 9th grades. The types of interest as
reported by students were drawn on the commutative scores on the Multiphasic Interest
Inventory. The scores of responses of students on each type were pooled and transformed
into percentages. Out of 400 (8th and 9th grade) students, 19.07% of them had occupational
interest (OI), 23.28% had religious interest (RLI), 18.31% showed interest in social activities
(SI), 19.71% showed intellectual interest (II) while 19.60% of them preferred recreational
interest (RCI).

Locale wise qualitative analysis of Multiphasic interests

Qualitative Analysis of Multiphasic Interests of 8th grade students studying in rural
and urban schools
In case of rural schools, 24.60% of the students showed religious interest followed by
20.00% of them revealing intellectual interest; 18.72% of students had occupational
interest, 17.12% social interest and 19.56% interest in recreational activities. With respect
to urban area, 19.07% of the students showed occupational interest, 22.59% religious

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 interest, 18.98% social interest, 19.56% intellectual interest while 19.80% showed interest
in recreational activities.

Qualitative Analysis of Multiphasic Interests of 9th grade students studying in rural

and urban schools.
Highest percentage of 9th grade rural students had religious interest (23.63%), followed by
19.82% with intellectual interest and 19.57% interest in recreational activities. 18.99% of
the students had occupational interest followed by 17.99% with interest in social activities.
In the case of urban schools, 19.52% of the students showed occupational interest, 22.70%
interest in religious activities, 18.80% interest in social activities, 19.49% interest in
intellectual activities and 19.49% with recreational interest.

Discussion
From the results mentioned above, it should be clear that students of the 8th and 9th grades
studying in different areas had diverse range of interests. Findings of the study showed
that maximum number of students had interest in religious activities followed by
intellectual activities. The reason for these findings is that parents of adolescents want that
their wards may not indulge in wrong activities and must be good in academics as well. So
they inculcate religious values to their wards. In the schools also, prayer helps the
adolescents to sublimate their energies through right channels. These findings are
consistent with the findings of Marcie, Laura, Christine, Peter and Cummings (2014).
Section 2 - Quantitative Analysis
To test the difference in Multiphasic Interests among the 8th and 9th grade adolescent
students with respect to gender, t-test was employed. The results are presented in Table 1.
Table 1: Showing the difference in Multiphasic Interests of the 8th and 9th grade Boy
and Girls
Grade Gender N Mean S.D. SE t-value
D

8 Boys 100 249.17 19.78

3.01 0.78
Girls 100 251.53 22.78
9 Boys 100 252.64 22.13 2.91
0.17
Girls 100 252.12 18.49

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 The ‘t’ values in the above table show that there is no significant difference in interests of
boys and girls. It means there is no significant difference in the mean scores of interest of
boys and girls of 8 and 9 grade. The above findings are in line with the findings of Narang
and Narang (2015) who found that girls and boys have similar educational interests.
To test the difference in multiphasic interest among 8 and 9 grade adolescent students with
respect to locale, t-test was employed and results are shown in table 2.

Table 2: Showing Difference in Multiphasic Interest of 8 and 9 grade adolescent

students with respect to locale
Grade Gender N Mean S.D. SED t-value
8 Urban 100 252.19 22.04
3.00018 1.70
Rural 100 247.79 20.34
9 Urban 100 255.3 19.75
2.88 2.02*
Rural 100 249.46 21.06
*Significant at 0.05 level
Table 2 shows that the mean scores of students studying in urban areas are more than that
of their counterparts. The t- value between two variables is 1.70 which is insignificant
indicating locale does not influence the interests of 8th grade students.
Table 2 further reveals that the calculated t- value between two variables is 2.02 which is
significant. It means that locale in case of 9th grade students influences their interests.
Hence It can be concluded that there exists no significant difference in multiphasic interest
among 9 grade adolescent students with respect to locale.

The results of the present study are in line with the findings of Malhotra, Sharma, Kant
and Singh (2015) who found that rural and urban area students differ significantly in the
scientific, literacy, executive, constructive, artistic and social interests. The reason is that
at this age students are more mature to differentiate between different interests. Their
interests become prominent at this stage. The result further shows the difference due to
various types of activities available in urban schools, students studying in these schools
showed different interests.

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 Educational Implications of the Study
The implications of this research are critically important to teachers, parents, policy
makers and students themselves. As the moods of adolescents swing at this age, they
exhibit varied interests. Therefore, parents and teachers can avoid taking controversial
teenage behaviour personally or indulge into controversial statements rather than guiding
them educationally or vocationally according to the interests of their wards. Teachers can
plan a variety of activities to facilitate the positive learning outcomes and assign work to
adolescent students according to their interest. In a similar way, curriculum developers and
policy makers must work out for the introduction of a variety of subjects in the
curriculum.
With cut-throat competition in the employment market, there must be right pegs in right
holes. To be successful in the changing world of work, it is essential that adolescents must
have the knowledge of their interests and aspirations. So teachers and parents should help
them to identify and develop more self-awareness of their own emotions, interests,
strengths and weaknesses at an early age to avoid mismatching. As parents are the most
important facilitators of developing interests in their children, they should also be
regularly orientated through lectures and seminars regarding the importance of knowing
the interests of their wards. They should not force their wards towards career path without
knowing their interest. After knowing the varied interests of adolescent students, school
administrators can arrange the demonstration of different occupations to acquaint the
adolescents with multiple avenues. This will help them to make vocational choices in a
better way.

Conclusion

In the present scenario, children are unable to make adjustment due to lack of interest in
studies or career. They flirt from one interest to another and also experience more
difficulty in adjustment. This study sheds light upon the varied interest of adolescents.
Generally parents, teachers, administrators and curriculum designers have the notion of
intellectual and vocational interests, leaving other types of interests in domains of leisure,
school, socializing and media. As a result, they themselves are not aware of the interest
the students have at this stage of their development. Furthermore, being a very crucial

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 stage of development, adolescents must be made aware of their interests so that they can
channelize their energies in the right direction and also to take risks in positive ways.

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