The Relationship Between Multicultural Self-Efficacy and Cultural Bullying Awareness Among Students in Public and Islamic Senior High Schools

While research has highlighted a rise in bullying among senior high school students, limited investigations have examined its correlation with self-efficacy and cultural factors. This study investigated the relationship between Multicultural Self-Efficacy (MSE) and Cultural Bullying Awareness (CBA) among students attending public and Islamic senior high schools. Correlation and comparison analysis were performed involving a total of 400 students, equally drawn from both types of schools, and aged between 15 and 17 years (39% male, 61% female), selected through stratified random sampling. This study employed the Self-Efficacy in Multicultural Relationships Scale (λ = 0.492 – 0.823; α = 0.922) and the Culturally Driven Bullying Awareness Questionnaire (λ = 0.510 - 0.890; α = 0.776) to measure students' self-efficacy and awareness. A Pearson correlation analysis was conducted to investigate the relationship between these variables, whereas independent samples t-tests were employed to assess the differences among the student groups. The results indicated a moderate positive correlation between the two variables (r = 0.456, p < 0.01). The variance in MSE between public and Islamic senior high school students was not statistically significant (p = 0.237 > 0.05), while the CBA showed a significant difference (p = 0.032 < 0.05), with Islamic school students performing better than their public school peers. These results clarified that although multicultural self-efficacy had a positive correlation with awareness of cultural bullying, they emphasized the differences in educational systems between the two types of schools in promoting inclusivity and fostering anti bullying.