The phenomenon of self-improvement books is burgeoning among early adult readers and college students. Many students spend their time reading self-improvement books to enhance their quality of life.
Observing this phenomenon, the Student Creativity Program (PKM) team in the Social Sciences and Humanities Research field at UGM became interested in researching the effectiveness of self-help books and their influence on readers.
The team consists of Annisa Safira Azzahra (Psychology 2021), Bolivia Rahmawati (Cultural Sciences 2021), Lazuardi Choiri Imani (Cultural Sciences 2021), Ridho Alfadri (Cultural Sciences 2022), and Hilmy Azka Zul Amali (Psychology 2022), supervised by Ardian Rahman Afandi.
The team leader, Annisa Azzahra, stated that the idea emerged from her observations of her friends in the academic environment, who are increasingly engaged in reading self-improvement books.
“Many friends even claimed to experience personal development or change after reading self-improvement books,” she added.
One common reason is that many students follow the trend of reading self-improvement books under the guise of personal development. There are even those willing to spend millions of rupiah to buy self-improvement books.
The team, whose research title is “Illusion of Progress: The Effectiveness of Self-Help Books and Their Implications for Early Adult Readers,” conducted research on UGM students from August to September 2023.
The effectiveness of self-improvement books was evaluated using the Rosenberg self-esteem scale.
Author: The UGM Self-Help Book Research Team
Editor: Ika