Effect of yoga on self-concept of adolescents

Self-concept is one of the very significant dispositions of human personality. It determines our approach to see, the way we respond, our motivation and attitude. With a positive self-concept, a person can respond in the way which is beneficial for him and for the society. A well-developed self-concept helps us defend ourselves from the negative feedbacks from others. Although the self-concept formation is lifelong and different stages have their specific significance in this process, the significance of adolescence is exclusively unique in this respect. This stage of transition from childhood to adulthood marked by remarkable changes in respect to physical, sexual, motor, mental and social aspects heighten greater self-awareness among the adolescents. Although many studies have been conducted to investigate the impact of home, peer group, school or other such environment amidst of which adolescents grow, researches on the prospective means that may help the adolescents to develop positive self-concept have been limited. Yoga based interventions have been found significantly beneficial in restoration of mental health and its nourishment. On the basis of the findings of the previous researches that show significant positive effect of yogic intervention on various aspects of mental health, it is perceived by the investigators that such intervention may also be effective in development of positive self-concept of adolescents. With this background in view the present study is conducted. The objective of the present study is to see whether practice of yoga brings any significant changes in the level of self-concept of adolescents. The research design opted by the investigator was a quasi-experimental design. The comparison of experimental and control group at pre-test revealed no significant difference between them in respect self-concept. The post-test comparison revealed higher mean score of the experimental group over control group and the mean difference was found to be significant. The findings revealed significant positive effects of the practice of yoga on self-concept of adolescents.