Scientific Attitude Cognitive Styles and Spiritual Belief as Predictors of Integrated Development Among University Students

Abstract

This study is planned to ascertain the predictors of integrated development towards scientific attitude, cognitive styles and spiritual belief amongst university students. The integrated development has been dependent variable and scientific attitude, cognitive styles and spiritual belief constituted the independent variable for the research. The study also explored the prediction of demographic variables viz. gender and academic stream with respect to scientific attitude, cognitive styles, spiritual belief and integrated development amongst university students. The study employed descriptive survey method. Purposive method of sampling technique was used. Two universities of Agra and Aligarh District of Uttar Pradesh with Random probability sampling technique were used to select 1064 university students of two academic streams viz. science and arts. As a whole, Mix sampling technique was used. The researcher used self-constructed integrated development questionnaire, Sahilaja Bhagwat Scientific Attitude Scale, by Dr. Shailaja Bhagwat, Cognitive Style Inventory, by Dr. Praveen Kuamr Jha, Spiritual Belief Scale, by Dr. Hemant Deshmukh and Dr. Neelam Deshmukh to collect personal information and to measure scientific attitude, cognitive styles, spiritual belief and integrated development amongst university students. This research employed both descriptive and inferential statistics such as frequency, percentage, mean, median, mode, standard deviation, kurtosis, skewness, critical ratio, Pearson Product Moment Correlation, Multiple regression analysis. The findings of the study reported that majority of university students were found to have moderate level of scientific attitude, cognitive styles, spiritual belief and integrated development. Gender plays a significant role in determining scientific attitude, whereas gender plays an insignificant role in determining cognitive styles, spiritual belief and integrated development of university students. It is also inferred that there is statistical significant and positive relationship of scientific attitude and cognitive styles, whereas insignificant and negligible negative relationship of spiritual belief of university students. The study further revealed that there is positive and significant contribution of scientific attitude, cognitive styles and spiritual belief towards integrated development of university students. newline