National Psychology Conference

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Intellectual Discourse,2001Vol 9, No 2, 231-236

ConferenceNational Psychology Conference13-14July, 2001. International Islamic University MalaysiaThe Department of Psychology in collaboration with the PsychologyStudent Forum of the International Islamic University Malaysia(IIUM) , and the Malaysian Psychological Association organized anational conference from 13th o 14thJuly 2001 at the InternationalIslamic University's main campus n Gombak near Kuala Lumpur, thecapital of Malaysia. The theme of the Conferencewas: 'Psychology:Towards Individual Well Being and Self-Actualization.' The objectivesof the conference were: 1) to address the issue of the family andsociety at large, 2) promote he qualities of family as well as work lifeand well-being, and 3) address he psychological ssues from Islamicperspectives,self-actualization nd individual well-being. Two keynoteaddresses and 36 papers on various aspects of psychology werepresented. The conference was attended by an estimated 300academics,practitioners, and students.

In the opening ceremony, the Deputy Rector (Academic Affairs),of IIUM, Dato' Dr. Jamil Osman, expressed his hope that theconference would serve as a forum for academics and scientists-practitioners to disseminate heir findings, share their thoughts anddiscuss solutions to the issues that concern ndividuals' well-being invarious aspectsof life. In her opening speech, he Minister of NationalUnity and Social Development, Government of Malaysia, Dato' Dr.Siti Zaharah Sulaimanpointed out that the conference s timely. It isbeing organized at a time when the number of social problems are onthe rise and the government s very much in-need of psychologists'assistance in offering their expertise to solv~ the problems. TheMinister suggested hat a psychology-basednstitution be established nthe nation's capital in order to help the country resolve he problems.Keynote AddressesThe first keynote address,presentedby Dato' Prof. Dr. Wan RafaeiAbdul Rahman, President- of PSIMA, covered pertinent issues


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[232] INTELLECTUALDISCOURSE, OL 9, No 2, 2001concerning globalization, the changing workforce, emergingemployment relationship, information technology, work team,organizational behaviour and virtual corporation. He outlined someinterventions that are of help for individuals to meet the challenge atpersonal and organizational evels. In highlighting the importance ofaccounting cross-cultural perspective, he presented cases that areworth considering n addressing ssuesposedby the millennium.

In the second keynote address, Prof. Malik Badri brought in hispersonalexperience o clarify the confusion surrounding he conceptofIslamization. He presented he summary of his yet-to-be publishedbook "out-of the lizard's hole" which aims at helping MuslimPsychologists o get rid of their dilemma. Prof. Badri outlined the needand the process for the Islamization of Western Psychology, and thecontent of the Islamization efforts. He pointed out that Islamizationprocessdemands ntelligence and a creative ability from thoseengagedin it.PapersThe papers presented during the conference were wide-ranging andintellectually thought-provoking. The papers presented in theconferencecan be categorized hematicallyas ollows:(A) Work, Stress and Well-BeingUnder this theme, Assoc. Prof. Iran Herman discussed he importanceof work motivation as an internal drive to increase ob performanceand productivity, of both employeesand organization. He related thisissue o a numberof work motivation measures hat can gaugeboth theintrinsic and extrinsic motivation of an individual. Assoc. Prof. Dr.Noraini Mohd Noor presented her findings on work-family conflictand social support that have bearings on a better understandingof therelationship between the number of work hours and distress. Shereported that while the support from spouses moderated therelationship between the number of work hours and work-familyconflict, only the direct effect of spouse support was found in therelationship between work-family conflicts and distress. Dr. IntanHashimah Mohd Hashim presentedher findings on the real perceptionof stress and support, and how the perceptions of matching betweenspecific demandsand specific supportare conceptualized.She reportedthe likelihood of having discrepanciesbetween he support recipientand support provider. More importantly, she highlighted the effect ofcultural context on demands and supports. She found that an


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CONFERENCE [233]individual's cultural context determines the kind of demands she/hepicks up, like in the case of Malaysian participants who tend not topick up emotional demands because they may not be appropriatewithin their culture.

In her interesting and stimulating paper, Mai Sumiyati Ishakhighlighted .~the mportance to having knowledge on human factorswhen suggesting some measures for healthy dealings with machines.The paper also suggested the efforts to reduce machine-stress byreviewing the roles of those involved in the design of machine, and ofthe novice end-users. As far as organizational culture is concerned,Che Su Mustafa and Prof. Dr. Wan Rafaei Abdul Rahman eported thatthere was a significant positive relationship between organizationalcommunication and organizational commitment. They also established hatthe cultural dimension of uncertainty avoidance, collectivesm-induvidualismand long-term orientation have served as moderator between the twofactors.

Chua Bee Seok and Dr. Mohammad Haji Yusuf presented thestudies on response strategies to cope with occupational stress. Byusing a number of measures, they found that almost all aspectsofrespond strategies were not used by those with high mental andphysical distress.(B) Social Psychological ProcessesUnder the theme social-Psychological process, Dr. Shukran Abd.Rahman eported his frndings on the attitude of the three major ethnicgroups towards the New Performance Appraisal System (NPAS) inMalaysia. He found that the ethnic origins and their cultural indexhave no bearings on the teachers'attitude towards the appraisal systemand that teacherswith favourable attitudes towards the NPAS have ahigher degree of commitment towards their work. He outlined anumber of important suggestions to improve the NPAS process.Rosnah smail, Mumizam Mohd Malik and Habibie Ibrahim presentedtheir findings on social axioms among Malay, Chinese andKadazandusun n Sabah. They found that Malay and KadazandusunPsychology studentshighly believe that hard-work and self-confidencedetermine one's success and failures. The study highlights theimportance of noting within-group differences and dissenting factorsamong respondents, when working in the areas of cross-culturalpsychology. Dr. Abd. Main Hj. Salimondiscussed he conceptof self-actualization in problem seeking and problem solving in innovativework behaviour. His paper also reported the factors relevant to


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CONFERENCE [235]who were trying to enter into entrepreneurship that have closerelationshipwith their cultural valuesand religious beliefs.

Sabeenapresented her work on Islamic model of mental healthguidance, which among other things, highlighted the views and worksof Muslim physicians such as


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[236] INTELLECTUALDISCOURSE, OL 9, No 2, 2001

(D)Specific Groups: Women, Adolescentsand ChildrenUnder this theme, Salma Ishak's paper focused on the well-being ofyoung children. Her fmdings were related to the questionsconcerningchildren's choice of friend among their peers, the tendency o changeor maintain friendship, the degree of friendship and how it fluctuatesand changes.She reported that peer group formation took place whenchildren interacted in pre-school, in play and peer-relationshipactivities. The activities had contributed to positive development nmany domains such as social, emotional, intellectual, academiclearning and self-concept.She emphasized hat children who have beenidentified to have poor peer friendship be helped so that they canbecome more competent in their interactions and avoid rejectionsamongpeers.

Prof. Dr. Noran Fauziah, Anne Christopher, Mizuar Nasruddin,Azmi Abu Samahand Rosna A wang Hashim presented heir findingson 'Bullying among Malaysian School Children.' Interestingly, some80 percent of students admitted to being involved in some form ofindirect or psychological bullying. They recommendedmobilizingteachers to address he problem in their teaching activities, trainingteachers to handle the problem, having schools to organizedintervention programs that involve several parties and creatingawarenessamong parents so that they play their roles in handling thematter. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Habibah bt Elias, Assoc. Prof. Datin Dr.Sharifah Modh Nor, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Rahil Mahyudin and Dr; JegakUli reported their findings on the effects of combined strategyinstructions and attributions retraining on student's learning. Theyconcluded that the strategy instruction and attribution retraining becombined n order to yield positive effects on Students'Learning....Prof. Dr. Siti Maimon Hj. Karnso's reported two profiles ofwomen entrepreneurs from Kelantan and Terengganu respectively.Paper was interesting as the presenter. She outlined the details ofprofiles, which consisted of types of industries, work and businessexperiences, ownership of companies, company founders, capitalinvestment, age, motivating individuals, marital status, education,


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CONFERENCE [237]training, place of work of husbands, opportunities identification,reasons for entry into entrepreneurshipand non-financial problemsfaced by entrepreneurs.

Mirinda, Dr. Rahil Mahyuddin, Dr. Minni and Dr. Mohd MajidKonting investigated music preferences of 35 randomly selectedteenagersusing 24 brief music experts, namely ethnic-related music(commercial pop/rock) as opposed o ethnic-related Malaysian music.She suggested ntroducing news strategies n teaching approaches ndthat the choice or preparationof learning material for music KBSM torealize the government's aim to instill in students he spirit of mutualrespectand national ntegration.The Closing SessionThe closing session was officiated by the Honorable Rector of theInternational Islamic University Malaysia, Prof. Dr. MuhammadKamal Hassan. In his speechhe reiterated the importanceof studyingpsychologyand islamizing its input so that it is suitable or, and able tobenefit, Muslims and the humanity at large.Shukran Abd RahmanDepartmentof PsychologyInternational slamic University Malaysia

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