The Effect of Self-Awareness and Communication Skills on Problem-Solving Ability: A Structural Equation Modeling Analysis
Keywords:
Self-awareness, communication skills, problem-solving ability, structural equation modeling (SEM), students, Kish International Campus.Abstract
Objective: This study aimed to examine the relationship between self-awareness and communication skills with problem-solving ability among students of Kish International Campus using structural equation modeling (SEM).
Methods and Materials: This research employed a descriptive-correlational design. The statistical population included all students of Kish International Campus, from which a stratified random sample was selected based on Cochran’s formula. Data were collected through a researcher-made questionnaire for self-awareness and communication skills and the standardized Problem-Solving Inventory (PSI) by Heppner, adapted to the Iranian context. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS, AMOS, and Mplus software, applying SEM and the bootstrap algorithm to estimate direct and indirect effects among variables.
Findings: Findings revealed that communication skills (verbal and nonverbal) and self-awareness—especially emotional self-awareness—had significant direct effects on problem-solving ability. Moreover, self-awareness played a mediating role in the relationship between communication skills and problem-solving ability. Model fit indices (APC, ARS, AVIF, GoF=0.498) indicated a good overall model fit, supporting the proposed conceptual framework.
Conclusion: The results highlight that enhancing communication skills and self-awareness simultaneously serves as a key strategy in improving students’ problem-solving abilities, particularly in multicultural academic settings. It is recommended that educational and counseling programs in universities emphasize developing these competencies to foster adaptive and analytical problem-solving skills.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Hadis Zargham (Author); Ali Moghadamzadeh; Gholamali Afrooz, Masoud Gholamali Lavasani (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
