Proposed Styles and Strategies for Peace-mindedness Development of Thai Undergraduate Students

Abstract

The purposes of this research were 1) to study about the state of peace-mindedness of Thai undergraduate students; 2) to propose the styles of peace-mindedness of Thai undergraduate students. It involved in-depth study of data based on documentary analysis and interview of senior experts on peace-mindedness. Then, the quantitative study was carried out through the survey of the sample group of 1,600 students. Moreover, data were analyzed by performing Exploratory Factor Analysis with element extraction and varimax rotation. Research instruments included the questionnaire regarding the characteristics of peace-mindedness of Thai undergraduate students, while Cronbach’s alpha internal consistency was estimated for the reliability. Naming of the styles of peace-mindedness has been conducted based on connoisseurship.

Research Findings:

1. With respect to the state of peace-mindedness, it was found that
   1.1 The students continually gained peace-mindedness knowledge with the highest percentage (45.81%) in lower secondary school; then, the primary school. Meanwhile, the least percentage (7.5%) was found in the higher education.
   1.2 When the students encountered certain conflicts, they tended to consult their friend most at 78.81%; then, parents (64.56%), teachers-lecturers (37.00%) and no consultation (9.4%), respectively. 
2. The styles of peace-mindedness derived from the analysis of 8 factors: 1.) empathy, 2. optimistic, 3.) merciful, 4.) campaign, 5.) tolerant, 6.) analytical thinking, 7.) intermediate and 8.) harmony.