Influence of Bibliotherapy Education on the Social-Emotional Skills for Sustainable Future

Abstract

The aim of this study is to evaluate the influence of bibliotherapy education on the social-emotional skills of psychological counselling and guidance candidates. The test group of the study consisted of psychological counselling and guidance students who participated voluntarily in the course named “Applied Counselling and Bibliotherapy”. A pre-test and post-test experimental design without a control group was used in the study. The Social Skills Inventory was used, for determining the social skills level of students before and after they are provided with bibliotherapy education. It was concluded from the study that there is a significant difference in the general scores for the social skills of female students after bibliotherapy education and the scores they obtained in the sub-dimensions of social expressivity. With the given reading materials and method of delivery, when the effect of bibliotherapy education on social skills level was compared, it was found in the final test that female students’ scores in the sub-dimensions of emotional expressivity and social control were significantly higher than those of male students. However, it was concluded that male students’ scores in the sub-dimension of emotional control were higher than those of female students.

1. Introduction

In Turkish literature, when sustainable education is considered, school buildings, equipment and physical environment generally come to mind. Many studies have shown that sustainable education can be achieved by improving the physical structure of the school [1,2]. However, in developing countries such as North Cyprus, it is mentioned that besides physical environments, social and emotional environments are also becoming important in education [3]. Therefore, the necessity of having social emotional skills in the context of sustainable education is a key factor. In the study of Kaya and Tomal [4], a social studies course program was examined and it was determined that concepts such as cultural sustainability, sustainable peace and sustainability of living spaces have achieved prominence. However, in this study, the researchers stated that studies focusing on the development of social skills are quantitatively very inadequate on the basis of sustainable education and that new studies should be conducted. The starting point of this study is an attempt to increase the qualifications of school counsellors, who will be the focus of social-emotional skills development in higher education via an empirical study. Thus, to the aim is to increase the school counsellors’ social emotional skills, along with education sociology and the sustainable education which will start in the future.

Cognitive and affective gains are as important as social skills in education. In fact, in the twenty-first century, parallel to changing living conditions, one of the expectations of the education system is the development of all aspects of the students [5]. Therefore, it is very valuable to conduct studies on the social development of individuals. Improved social skills individuals constitute the basis for a sustainable future. They are also important in education and human relations as well as for the information they transmit to future generations, and they are a valuable resource in this sense. This research aims to obtain sociological findings and results on the basis of counselling and guidance with an interdisciplinary approach.

While Bank [6] was explaining the content of the educational sociology, he underlined the importance of the “socialization process”, “education and social change”, “education and gender”, and “school as a social system”. In this research, a framework has been determined on the basis of the above issues regarding the sociology of education. Firstly, the focus was on the socialization processes of school counsellors who participated in this research, and therefore the aim was to improve their social-emotional skills. Thus, through the experimental process of this research, education has been used as a tool for social change. In addition, specific importance was assigned to the gender factor and the fact that the school is a social system in this study, which are the main topics of the sociology of education.

In order for psychological counselling and guidance candidates to develop in and practice their profession effectively, it is important that they have healthy relationships with others, understand others’ emotions and show empathy towards them. It is vital that psychological counselling and guidance students understand themselves in personal and social aspects, know their strengths and weaknesses and have self-confidence [7]. Thus, psychological counselling and guidance students should have the ability to understand their clients’ emotions, thoughts and attitudes that are integral components of the counselling process. Furthermore, it is necessary to have the skills of conversing with others, sharing opinions, understanding verbal messages and learning social norms, and to act accordingly [8].

One of the best learning experiences in an individual’s life is the moment when they learn how to read and write, which opens the doors to many opportunities in life. They will be able to make choices freely in this world and it will open new avenues in their careers. They will be able to learn everything that people have experienced throughout history by using literary resources. In this way, they will be able to understand people, develop real world values and have new experiences [9]. Students of psychological counselling and guidance have the opportunity to learn about individuals and their personal characteristics, emotions, and their relationships with their environment through books [10]. Books have many therapeutic properties and can provide guidance in people’s lives. The students of psychological counselling and guidance can use the bibliotherapy technique by opening new paths in their future professional lives, by considering facts from a different angle and benefiting from previous literary works. According to Riordan and Wilson [11], bibliotherapy can be defined as "the guided reading of written materials in gaining understanding or solving problems relevant to the person’s therapeutic needs". It is particularly beneficial to use this technique in group counselling works [12]. Moreover, it is possible that students of psychological counselling and guidance can understand their lives through their studies in order to have new experiences and access new information [13].

When examining the historical development process, it can be seen that mental health specialists, librarians, nurses and instructors have used bibliotherapy effectively for different purposes [14]. “Bibliotherapy is a treatment method which is used in determining the requirements peculiar to development periods of an individual, in handling individuals’ adaptation problems to life and in understanding their social emotional problems by bringing the proper individual together with the proper book at the proper time” [15]. Bibliotherapy is used for meeting the needs of an individual as both a developmental approach and as a clinical approach. The bibliotherapy technique is used in preventing and solving the problems individuals confront in their daily lives during their period of development [16,17]. When today’s developing technology and information resources are considered, the definition of bibliotherapy as “improvement through knowledge” can be considered appropriate. The information resource to be chosen is dependent on the bibliotherapy practitioners [18].

In summary, bibliotherapy is used as a non-test technique in the field of psychological counselling and guidance. Psychological counsellors perform apply the bibliotherapy technique by using novels, stories and tales in guidance practices as well as individual or group counselling.

It is believed that bibliotherapy will help the students of psychological counselling and guidance to understand and discover themselves, to realise that there are other individuals that have the same problems as them, to develop more positive self-respect, to apply their self-perceptions to the solutions of problems, to see that there could be many different ways of solving problems and to enable them to see through the eyes of others by feeling empathy [15,19]. In the light of such acquisitions, new generations that will be trained by the students of psychological counselling and guidance will be encouraged to become more self-confident and independent individuals. In this regard, the social-emotional acquisitions are important [20].

Social emotional skills are the special qualifications that allow individuals to perform effectively in social environments. In order for individuals to have such qualifications and to apply their skills, fulfilling verbal and nonverbal behaviours plays an important role [21]. A social qualification is the evaluation made regarding the behaviours that an individual shows in his/her social environment; consequently, social qualifications have parallels with emotional development. According to Çiftçi and Sucuoğlu [22], social emotional skills are influenced by many environments in which intelligence, personality, perception, value, attitude and skills are utilised. Segrin [23] stated that social skills are the qualifications related to establishing effective and appropriate relationships with other people.

From the literary perspective, it can be seen that the social skills scores of women were higher than those of men in the research conducted by Yıldırım and Özcan [24]. Furthermore, Atkins and Burnett [25] stated that there were differences in terms of the social skills of female and male students in their research on the social skills of students. It can be said that female students have greater speaking skills due to the family environment in which they are raised, thus allowing them to easily express their emotions and confront the circumstances they experience in life. It was also expressed in the mentioned research that females have more social skills and the fact that they enter puberty before males means that they mature faster. It was revealed also in the research of Kalafat [26] that the general social skills level of females is higher than males. It was observed in the study conducted by Çilingir [27] that females are more qualified than males in using non-verbal messages in the dimension of emotional control on the social skills scale, indicating that they have an increased capacity to regulate and control their emotions. Moreover, it was found in the research conducted by Deniz [28] that in the total scores for emotional expressivity, emotional sensitivity, social control and social skills of female students studying at university were higher than those of male students, whereas the emotional control scores of male students were significantly higher than the average scores of the female students. On the other hand, it was observed in the research conducted by Altınbaş [29] that the level of social support that female students receive from their family and friends is higher than for male students. However, Şenol and Türkçapar [30] stated in their research that the difference in emotional sensitivity and emotional control dimensions, which are among the sub-dimensions of social skills based on gender, is statistically significant. In a similar vein, it was concluded in the study conducted by Avşar [31] and Tekin et al. [32] that the difference between the scores that students obtained from the sub-dimensions of emotional control and social control is statistically significant.

In this study, the gender variable was specifically addressed by the researchers. On the basis of bibliotherapy, reading is very important. In Turkish literature, studies on reading skills have found that the attitudes of women are significantly positive. For example, in the study conducted by Arslan [33], 52 studies were examined and 70% of these studies showed positive results in relation to women in terms of reading skills. Therefore, it is considered that the gender variable should not be ignored in a study based on Turkish culture. Thus, this study aims to contribute to the literature by examining whether bibliotherapy is effective in changing the gender-based reading skill difference.

Referring to the studies in the field of psychological counselling and guidance, it was found that the use of bibliotherapy education conducted through stories is rare. It is believed that this kind of education will be an effective method for developing the socio-emotional skills of psychological counselling and guidance students. The aim of this study is to investigate whether or not female and male students will show development in social emotional terms through bibliotherapy education.

1.1. Problem Sentence

What is the impact of bibliotherapy education on the social and emotional skills of psychological counselling and guidance students?

1.2. Sub Problems

As a result of the bibliotherapy education applied in this study, the sub-problems are as follows:

• Is there any significant difference between the pre-test and post-test scores of psychological counselling and guidance students (female and male students are evaluated separately) regarding their total and sub-dimension scores obtained from the “social skills” scale?
• Is there any significant difference between the “social skills” and sub-dimension post-test scores based on gender?

2. Materials and Methods

A single group pretest-posttest experimental design was used in the study. Affordability, accessibility and time factors were considered at the university of one of the researchers who conducted the research and the purposeful sampling method was therefore used to select the study group.

2.1. Case of the Study

The university where the research was conducted was founded in 1988. The Near East University (NEU) campus is located in Nicosia, North Cyprus. NEU provides education with 19 faculties, 8 institutes, 7 colleges and 28 research centres. In NEU, approximately 30,000 students are educated in undergraduate and graduate education. The Faculty of Education and Psychological Counselling and Guidance Department, which is the sample of the study, was established in 2005. The Psychological Counselling and Guidance Department offers Turkish education. The aim of the department is training people to be able to provide psychological counselling and guidance in various fields where this service is needed. The people who graduate from this department are expected to be subject specialists who are equipped with skills, theoretical knowledge and abilities to deal with institutional and personal needs of their clients. The courses given by the department such as communication skills between people, basic living skills, theory of physical, cognitive and psycho-social development have a significant role in training happy, productive, responsive and easy-going individuals [34].

2.2. Study Group

The participants of the study consisted of 3rd grade psychological counselling and guidance students who were studying at the Near East University Faculty of Education in Cyprus in the 2016-2017 academic year. The random sampling method was used in determining the participants. This sampling method is defined as the selection of a part of the population according to the sample size determined by the researcher [35]. The participants who had voluntarily selected the bibliotherapy education course to be applied in this study and who had finished the main courses of “Psychology, Developmental Psychology, Psychological Counselling and Guidance, Psychometrics, Ethical and Legal Issues in Psychological Counselling, Learning Psychology, Psychological Counselling Principles and Techniques, Educational Sociology” given by the Department of Psychological Counselling and Guidance at the Faculty of Education of the Near East University. The participants comprised 16 females and 14 males, with a total of 30 students. The average age of the participating students was determined to be 22.

2.3. Experimental Application Process

At the beginning of the experimental implementation process, it was considered necessary to evaluate the reading interests and habits of the psychological counseling and guidance candidates. The participants in the study group generally stated that they preferred to read books on culture, psychology, science and humor. According to the gender variable highlighted in this study, it was stated by participants that reading interests differed in the individual interviews before the experimental application. For example, while women were interested in texts on emotional, psychological and personal development, it was found that men were interested in texts on crime, adventure and science fiction. Thus, while selecting bibliotherapy texts to be used in the experimental process of this research, based on the interests and needs of the students, a balance was established between the reading interests of both men and women. Finally, the relevance of the texts to bibliotherapy in the context of developing social emotional skills for the purpose of the study was evaluated. For this purpose, the opinions of three field experts were taken.

Names, acquisitions during the activities, materials used and the process applied in the 10 sessions realised during this research are provided in the following

Table 1. Experimental process of applied activities.

Name of Activity	Objective, Acquisitions	Materials	Process
Shall we be friends	-Increasing awareness on friend relationships -Take the opportunities	-The story of “How many dovetails did you chase” -One piece of blank A4 paper	-Selecting a volunteer student, asking questions on friendship and listing of the answers to the questions by the students
Let’s solve a problem	-Not avoiding the problems -Being able to realise solutions	-The story of “Be like a lake”	-Transcription of problem -solving phases by the practitioner on the board, distribution of the questions including problem solving skills to the students and ensuring group interaction
Trust	-Students do not feel alone -Students comprehend the importance of trust	-The story of “Footprints” -One piece of blank A4 paper -A scarf allowing the eyes to be hidden	-Students are separated into groups of two by the practitioner, the eyes of one of the couples are blindfolded and the other member directs him/her
Our Objectives	-To help students increase their skills in determining their own objectives	-The story of “Hidden treasure”	-The practitioner distributes the principles including the criteria for students determining their objectives, the students determine five objectives that they want to achieve, the students are asked to debate the determined objectives within the class
Feeling of emotions	-Students act by listening to the voice coming from their heart -Helping them become aware of their emotions	-The story of the “filled cup” -Dice which are made of cardboard with the dimensions 3*3*3	-The practitioner draws on table the symbols showing the dice faces from 1 to 6, a character represents the emotions for each symbol, students throw the dice in turn, students are asked to talk about an event they experienced before regarding the emotion corresponding to the dice face
Mirror	-Students realise that the world is a reflection of themselves	-The story of “Visitor” -One blank A4 paper	-The students are grouped in threes by the practitioner, they do gestures and mimics each other, they imitate one another, a third person arbitrates, roles change every three minutes and the questions are debated in a process of group interaction
Effective communication	-Students meet the needs of people in their surroundings	-The story of “Mirror of the painter”	-Students are grouped in fives by the practitioner, they talk about their feelings at the end of the speaking and listening activity
Things annoying us	-Students notice their anger -Students distinguish the importance of controlling negative behaviours	-The story of “Joe’s new boat” -One piece of blank paper	-The practitioner writes down the list about anger on the board divided into three parts, volunteer students go to the blackboard and they are asked to make a list of their feelings and events that make them angry regarding each item
Here and now	-Time and location help students increase their awareness level -Helping students understand their perceptions for that moment and give attention to their self-evaluation	-The story of the “Blind man”	-Students are asked to indicate the persons in the pictures distributed to them in terms of which one belongs to the past, future or current time, students are divided into groups and they are asked to debate and state their emotions by asking questions to each other about the importance of staying in the here and now
Our Concerns	-Helping students increase their coping skills with their fears	The story of “The child afraid of the tiger”	-Talking about the concerns of students, answering the questions about concern and sharing them with students in the class

.

2.4. Data Collection Tools

In terms of data collection tools, the personal information form, which was prepared by the researchers, and the Social Skills Inventory-SSl, which was developed by Riggio [36] and whose adaptation into Turkish was realised by Yüksel [37], were used in the study. The Social Skills Inventory was prepared with the aim of measuring basic social skills. The Social Skills Inventory measures the social skills under six different sub dimensions, which are: 1. Emotional Expressivity, 2. Emotional Sensitivity, 3. Emotional Control, 4. Social Expressivity, 5. Social Sensitivity and 6. Social Control. In total, there were 90 items in the scale [38].

Scoring in the Social Skills Inventory is easy and fast. The higher the scores are, the higher the level of social skills [39]. Overall, the Social Skills Inventory is a scale oriented for adults. The applicable lower limit of the scale is the age of 15.

The reliability of the Social Skills Inventory was calculated separately through the test-retest and internal consistency methods. The reliability coefficient for the total score, which was found through the test-retest method, was found to be r = 0.92 for the whole scale. On the other hand, the reliability coefficients that were obtained from the sub scales varied between r = 0.80 and r = 0.89 [38]. The scores of some questions in the inventory (a total of 32 questions) were calculated by reversing the scores. Each sub dimension of the Social Skills Inventory consists of 15 questions. The lowest score was 1, while the highest one was 5 in the Social Skills Inventory. The lowest possible score from the Social Skills Inventory is 90 points, whereas the highest score is 450 points. In terms of the subscales, the minimal obtainable score is 15 points and the highest is 75 points [37].

2.5. Collecting Data

The “Personal Information Form” and “Social Skills Inventory” in line with the hypothesis of the research were administered to the participants. The students’ genders were taken as the basis in the Personal Information Form. The Social Skills Inventory was applied to the students as a pre-test. Subsequently, bibliotherapy education was provided to them in 10 sessions through stories. Attention was paid to identify whether there was a significant difference between the pre-test scores and post-test scores of the students by administering the Social Skills Inventory as a post-test at the end of the sessions.

2.6. Data Analysis

SPSS 21 program was used in the data analysis of the study. The Shapiro-Wilk and Levene tests were used in order to test the homogeneity of variations and the normality of data distribution. The data was seen to be distributed normally according to the findings obtained at the end of the Shapiro-Wilk test (p > 0.05). The variations were seen to be homogeneous according to the Levene test (p > 0.05). Accordingly, an independent t-test was applied in order to determine the difference between the female and male students’ pre-test and post-test scores in the research. The statistical significance level was determined to be p < 0.05.

3. Results

The findings are provided in three tables on the basis of the sub problems of the research.

According to

Table 2. Comparison of the pre-test and post-test Social Skills Inventory scores of female students.

Sub Dimensions	Measurement Time	N	$\overline{\mathit{x}}$	S	t	p
Emotional Expressivity	Pre-test	16	39.31	4.44	−1.585	0.134
	Post-test	16	41.01	7.10
Social Expressivity	Pre-test	16	38.56	11.58	−2.250	0.040 *
	Post-test	16	40.91	11.01
Emotional Sensitivity	Pre-test	16	41.63	7.28	−1.486	0.158
	Post-test	16	43.32	5.73
Social Sensitivity	Pre-test	16	33.44	4.73	−0.395	0.698
	Post-test	16	33.91	3.60
Emotional Control	Pre-test	16	30.06	2.74	0.385	0.706
	Post-test	16	29.51	5.33
Social Control	Pre-test	16	40.13	6.85	−1.349	0.197
	Post-test	16	41.49	5.42
Overall Social Skills Inventory	Pre-test	16	223.13	28.25	−2.190	0.045 *
	Post-test	16	230.14	24.59

N: total number of participants, $\overline{x}$: arithmetic mean, S: standard deviation, t: compare the mean values, p: significant value. * p < 0.05.

, it was detected that the difference between the pre-test and post-test scores that female students obtained from the overall social skills inventory and sub dimension of social expressivity was found to be statistically significant (p < 0.05). It was determined that there was no statistically significant difference between the pre-test and post-test scores obtained by the female students from the emotional sensitivity, social sensitivity, emotional control and social control sub dimensions (p > 0.05).

According to

Table 3. Comparison of the pre-test and post-test Social Skills Inventory scores of male students.

Sub Dimensions	Measurement Time	N	$\overline{\mathit{x}}$	S	t	p
Emotional Expressivity	Pre-test	14	37.64	4.89	1.190	0.255
	Post-test	14	35.59	5.10
Social Expressivity	Pre-test	14	39.68	5.35	0.323	0.752
	Post-test	14	39.28	6.57
Emotional Sensitivity	Pre-test	14	38.27	7.66	−0.999	0.336
	Post-test	14	40.29	6.58
Social Sensitivity	Pre-test	14	33.80	4.36	1.600	0.134
	Post-test	14	31.85	3.31
Emotional Control	Pre-test	14	34.72	3.60	1.120	0.283
	Post-test	14	33.57	3.86
Social Control	Pre-test	14	39.07	4.62	1.823	0.091
	Post-test	14	36.66	6.88
Overall Social Skills Inventory	Pre-test	14	223.18	17.61	1.816	0.092
	Post-test	14	217.23	20.18

, it was detected that the difference between the pre-test and post-test obtained by the male students from the overall social skills inventory and sub dimensions was not found to be statistically significant (p > 0.05).

According to

Table 4. Comparison of the scores of post-test Social Skills Inventory scores according to their genders.

Sub Dimensions	Sex	N	$\overline{\mathit{x}}$	S	t	p
Emotional Expressivity	Female	16	41.01	7.10	2.368	0.025 *
	Male	14	35.59	5.10
Social Expressivity	Female	16	40.91	11.01	0.485	0.632
	Male	14	39.28	6.57
Emotional Sensitivity	Female	16	43.32	5.73	1.349	0.188
	Male	14	40.29	6.58
Social Sensitivity	Female	16	33.91	3.60	1.624	0.116
	Male	14	31.85	3.31
Emotional Control	Female	16	29.51	5.33	−2.361	0.025 *
	Male	14	33.57	3.86
Social Control	Female	16	41.49	5.42	2.147	0.041 *
	Male	14	36.66	6.88
Overall Social Skills Inventory	Female	16	230.14	24.59	1.557	0.131
	Male	14	217.23	20.18

* p > 0.05.

, it was detected that the difference between the pre-test scores that male students obtained from the overall social skills inventory and the sub dimensions of social expressivity, emotional sensitivity and social sensitivity were not found to be statistically significant (p > 0.05).

It was detected that the difference between the scores that the students obtained according to the gender factor from the sub-dimensions of emotional expressivity, emotional control and social control that were included in the scale were statistically significant (p < 0.05). While the emotional expressivity and social control sub dimension scores of the female students were found to be higher than the male students, the male students’ scores in the sub-dimension of emotional control were found to be higher than those of female students.

The most important finding of this study is that different people in the same experimental group may be affected at different levels from the same experimental practice. Female school counsellor candidates benefited from the experimental application more than men. The reason for this difference may be women’s reading substructures and interests, and their willingness to acquire social skills. On the other hand, the limitation of the research is that male school counsellor candidates do not benefit sufficiently from the experimental application. The bibliotherapy technique for male school counsellor candidates may not have been effective or the reading texts used in bibliotherapy may not be suitable (interesting/intriguing) for them. In the context of improving their social skills, male school counsellor candidates may have needed a longer period of time.

4. Discussion

It was detected that the difference between the pre-test and post-test scores that female students obtained from the overall social skills inventory and the sub dimension of social expressivity was found to be statistically significant. This situation demonstrates that the skills of the female students in terms of engaging in social communication increased positively after receiving bibliotherapy education. One conclusion that can be drawn from this is that female students like to speak with other, to be in groups, are sociable and desire to be part of a group. Herbert and Furner [40] stated in a study they conducted that the bibliotherapy technique is supportive of emotional and social development. On the other hand, Davis and Wilson [41] mentioned that the bibliotherapy technique allows students to understand their social and emotional needs. It was mentioned in the study conducted by Herbert and Kent [42] that it is possible to prevent social and emotional problems before they occur and to provide information that will be beneficial when facing problems and situations that may be encountered in future years.

It was found in this study that there is no statistically significant difference between the pre-test and post-test scores that male students obtained from the overall social skills inventory and sub dimensions. Özçep [43] underlined that there are similarities in ranking the social skills sub dimensions of male classroom teachers according to the arithmetic average. This finding of the study are similar to the findings obtained from the current research. The reason for such a result may stem from the fact that the activities are directed more towards the female students than the male students, or the length of time allocated for the application of the program.

The emotional expressivity and social control sub dimension scores of the female students were found to be higher than the male students in the post-test applied in the study. The increased ability of females to send emotional messages in comparison to males shows that they are more active in their social relationships and have more self-confidence in this respect. Deniz, Hamarta and Arı [44] found in their research they conducted on the effect of the affiliation styles of university students on their levels of social skills and loneliness that the emotional expression level, emotional sensitivity level, social control level and total social skills of female students were found to be higher than male students. This finding is supportive of the present study. Resultantly, it can be seen that after receiving bibliotherapy education, females retain the ability to adapt their behaviours according to their situation, developing the skills of playing a role, expressing themselves and maintaining their social adaptivity. When similar studies are investigated, the following results are obtained; Kazdin and Raine stated in their study that females exhibit more social skills than males [45]. Aktı [46] and Dicle [47] stated in their study that the gender variable creates a significant difference in the social skills scores and social skills levels of females in comparison to males. Furthermore, it was concluded from the study conducted by Seven and Yoldaş [45] that the social skills levels of female students were better than male students. This research has similarities with the current study in terms of the fact that the female students have higher scores than male students regarding their general social skills.

Nevertheless, it can be seen that the male students’ scores in the sub-dimension of emotional control were higher than those of female students. Based on this result, it can be said that the skills of the male students in combining certain emotions and hiding their feelings under a mask in an effective manner is better than the female students. Hence, it is obvious that bibliotherapy education contributes to male students in terms of developing emotional control skills. Kalafat [26] stated that male university students obtained higher scores than female university students in terms of emotional control features. Furthermore, the study conducted by Bedir [48] shows that there is a significant difference in the emotional control sub dimensions in favour of male classroom teachers. The findings of these two studies have similarities to the findings of the current study.

When the findings of this study are evaluated in the context of the sociology of education, the first observation is that the participants in the study contributed to the socialization process. Bibliotherapy training has positively affected the socialization skills of school counsellor candidates. Therefore, it is seen in this experimental study that social change can be realised through education. It was also found that females and males gained different scores in terms of social-emotional skill acquisition in experimental practice. Therefore, it has been seen once again that the gender factor can be effective in learning environments. Based on the findings above, it should be said that the university in which the research was conducted can be considered as a social system.

5. Conclusions and Recommendations

Resultantly, the effect of the bibliotherapy method on the personal social development of students was analysed comparatively and separately according to the sub dimensions of the social skills inventory. While there was a differentiation in favour of the females in terms of overall social skills and social expressivity, no differentiation was seen in the other sub dimensions of the scale. No differentiation was observed in male students regarding the overall social skills and the sub dimensions of the scale. It can be said that female students exhibited more development than the male students in terms of emotional expressivity and social control. It can also be stated that male students showed more development than female students in terms of emotional control. Yükselgün [49] found that there was a significant difference between female and male students in a study comparing the social skill level scores of females and males according to their genders. It was found that female students have higher social skill scores than male students. In this study, it is concluded that female students’ social-emotional skill scores are higher than the scores of male students. Bibliotherapy education given within the framework of the research has shown less effect on the use of social emotional skills by male students than by female students.

The following recommendations can be made based on the results of the study:

• Based on the fact that there is no significant difference between the pre-test and post-test scores of the male students in this study, it is believed that activities differentiated according to gender in bibliotherapy education should be implemented. In particular, male students, just like female students, should be provided with opportunities to increase their social emotional development.
• Considering the post-test results of the female students, it can be seen that they obtained lower scores than male students regarding emotional control skills. Taking into consideration that similar results were obtained in the literature, it can be commented that further studies should be conducted in order to determine how females can increase their emotional control skills.
• In terms of the bibliotherapy studies that will be conducted going forward, it will be beneficial to consider individuals of different ages as the basis and to focus on issues other than social-emotional skills.