Reality Therapy Group Counseling for Self-Adjustment Enhancement in Vocational Students Enrolled in Non-Preferred Majors

Abstract

Vocational students enrolled in non-preferred majors often experience low self-adjustment, reduced motivation, and difficulty engaging with their academic environment. This study examined the effectiveness of Reality Therapy-based group counseling in improving self-adjustment among vocational students experiencing major incongruence. A quasi-experimental pretest-posttest control group design was employed at SMK Negeri 4 Batam. The participants were 30 students who met the criteria of being enrolled in non-preferred majors and having low self-adjustment scores. They were divided into an experimental group (n = 15), which received six sessions of Reality Therapy-based group counseling using the WDEP system, and a control group (n = 15), which received conventional counseling services. Data were collected using a validated self-adjustment questionnaire with excellent reliability (Cronbach’s α = .95). Because the data were not normally distributed, Wilcoxon signed-rank and Mann-Whitney U tests were used for analysis. The results showed a significant increase in self-adjustment scores in the experimental group from pretest to posttest (Z = -3.41, p = .001), while the control group showed no significant change (Z = -1.25, p = .213). The gain score comparison also revealed a significant difference between groups (U = 18.00, p = .002). These findings indicate that Reality Therapy-based group counseling may support vocational students’ self-adjustment by strengthening personal responsibility, acceptance, peer support, and constructive planning.