The Relative Contribution of Higher-Order Thinking in Predicting Psychological Hardiness of University Students

Abstract

Higher order thinking skills include critical, logical, reflective, metacognitive, and creative thinking. They are activated when individuals encounter unfamiliar problems, uncertainties, questions, or dilemmas. They play an important role in developing University students to encounter any stressful situations. This study aims at identifying the extent to which higher-order thinking degrees contribute to predicting the psychological hardiness of university students and at identifying the differences between males and females in higher-order thinking skills and psychological hardiness The higher order thinking scale (prepared by the researchers) and the psychological hardiness scale (by Mukhaimar, 1996) were completed by (485) male and female Minia University students. The current research adopted the descriptive research approach. According to the statistical analysis, results revealed that there was a statistically significant positive relationship between higher-order thinking and psychological hardiness among the study sample and there were no statistically significant differences between males and females in higher-order thinking. In addition, higher-order thinking skills contributed holistically in predicting the psychological hardiness among the university students. This study recommended that higher order thinking skills should be an integral part of higher education. Lastly, this study offers specific suggestions for higher education stakeholders.