The relationship between religious commitment, peer relations, and social behavior of adolescents at the International Islamic School Malaysia

Abstract

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the association among religious commitment, peer relations and behavior of adolescents. The study also assessed how the variables predict behavioral/relational problems of the Muslim Secondary School Adolescents, specifically in International Islamic Secondary School Gombak, Malaysia. With the increased level of freedom which he youths have today, the level of academic motivation lowers and the level of other life risk activities like smoking, sniffing, drinking alcohol, sexual promiscuity, risky motorcycle driving, abortion increases significantly. To the youth, school becomes more and more boring because, it is not as challenging and motivating as what he/she sees and learns from the media and peers. This study was done to investigate on the relationship between Religious commitment, Peer Relations and Behavior of International Islamic Secondary School. The sample of 103 students was asked to fill in Questionnaires on their Religious Commitment and Peer Relations. Seven of the Home Room Teachers were requested to fill in questionnaires on behaviors of these 103 students. The data collected through the questionnaires were analyzed through SPSS version 11.5 for windows Using Descriptive Statistics and “T” test. Results of descriptive statistics indicated that students have a moderate religious commitment, moderate peer relations and moderate positive behavior which indicate a significant relationship between religious comment, peer relations and behavior. However the results of both descriptive and “T” test indicated that boys are more religious than girls; yet girls are having more social peer relations and more positive behavior. More in-depth study is recommended to know cause and effect of these variables.