Abstract

ALBUQUERQUE, Paloma Pegolo de  and  WILLIAMS, Lúcia Cavalcanti de Albuquerque. “Two sides of the same coin”: students’ perception about benefits of the worst school experience. Gerais, Rev. Interinst. Psicol. [online]. 2021, vol.14, n.3, e17135.  Epub Jan 20, 2025. ISSN 1983-8220.  https://doi.org/10.36298/gerais202114e17135.

Despite the negative effects that peer violence can cause on victims, students may also report benefits after experiencing aversive events. This study aimed to characterize students’ perceptions of the positive impacts of their worst school experience. To that end, 313 university students answered a retrospective instrument about their worst school experiences and the impact of these experiences on their emotional well-being. The benefits described by 36.1% of the students were improved skills (behavior changes and expanded range of skills, self-confidence and self-esteem, assertiveness, self-control, respect for others and acceptance of differences, self-acceptance and empathy); 24.9% indicated attributing new meanings to the aversive experiences (such as maturing, overcoming adversities and resilience and a new interpretation of the events); and 21.2% indicated social benefits (improvement of interpersonal relationships and friendships and closer family ties). The identification of such benefits may stimulate the development of interventions.

Keywords : peer violence; impact on well-being; benefits.

        · abstract in Portuguese     · text in Portuguese     · Portuguese ( pdf )