A Comparative Study of the Psychological Hardness of Excellent and Normal Students in the Secondary Stage in Saudi Arabia in Light of Specialization and Gender

Abstract

The study aimed to identify the level of psychological rigidity among the outstanding students in the public schools in Saudi Arabia, and to identify the significance of the relationship between psychological rigidity and academic achievement, and identify the significance of differences in mental rigidity due to student classification, gender and specialization and interaction between them. The study sample was randomly selected from 300 students with an average age of (17.05) years, 150 of whom were superior students and 150 ordinary students. The results showed that the level of mental rigidity in the sample of students was 78.2% and was high in the sample of ordinary students (73.8%) was mean, and that the highest dimensions of mental rigidity in the sample was after commitment and then after the challenge, and then control. The results showed a statistically significant positive correlation (α 0.05) between the psychological rigidity and the scholastic achievement of the outstanding students. The statistical variable was statistically significant (5.9%) of the variation in scholastic achievement in the sample. The results showed that there were statistically significant differences in the students' psychological rigidity due to the classification of students for the benefit of outstanding students, specialization in favor of scientific specialization, and the absence of statistically significant differences due to sex. The study recommended the importance of enhancing the psychological hardness of students, especially the ordinary students, for their positive impact on student achievement.