The Impact of Therapeutic Writing on College Students’ Self-Efficacy : Focusing on Classical Chinese Literature

This paper originated from the intent to explore how self-efficacy, defined as the level of confidence in individual task performance, increases through writing in a literature therapy course. Selected texts for therapy were drawn from well-known Eastern classics such as "Analects," "Zhuangzi," "Shiji," and "Du Fu." Group discussions, therapeutic writing, and reflective journals were conducted concurrently in the class. In order to assess numerical significance of students' self-efficacy, pre-and post-tests were administered, consisting of a total of 24 items categorized into three sub-domains: self-regulation efficacy, confidence, and task difficulty. Despite students' earnest participation and engagement, unfamiliarity with Eastern classics and initially low literary literacy levels hindered significant numerical outcomes. However, post-mean scores showed some improvement across all the items of the three subdomains in self-efficacy. Because self-efficacy is a complex competence intertwined with other psychological factors, the need for future analyses correlating with other aspects such as self-esteem, self-identity and writing efficacy is suggested to provide a more comprehensive and rational interpretation. The results of this study might provide empirical data for future studies to yield more meaningful results in planning in a more systematic approach.