The phenomenon of self-improvement books is mushrooming among early adult readers or students. Many students spend their time reading self-improvement books as a way to improve their self-quality. For this reason, the Student Creativity Program (PKM) team in the field of Social Humanities Research (RSH) Gadjah Mada University researched the effectiveness of self-help books and their influence on readers with members Annisa Safira Azzahra (Psychology 2021), Bolivia Rahmawati (FIB 2021), Lazuardi Choiri Imani (FIB 2021), Ridho Alfadri (FIB 2022) and Hilmy Azka Zul Amali (Psychology 2022) accompanied by Ardian Rahman Afandi, S.Psi., M.Psi., Psychologist.
Annisa, as chairman, admitted that this idea emerged from her observations of her friends in the lecture environment who were increasingly reading self-improvement books. “Many friends even claim to feel development or change after reading self-improvement books,” he added. Lazuardi, as a student of the Indonesian Language and Literature study program, said, “My friends are also starting to follow the trend of reading self-improvement books under the pretext of developing themselves.” Apart from that, Ridho, one of the team members admitted that his friend could even spend millions of rupiah to buy self-improvement books.
The team with the research title “Illusion of Progress: The Effectiveness of Self-Help Books and Its Implications for Early Adult Readers” carried out a research process on UGM students in August-September 2023. The effectiveness of this self-improvement book was assessed using the Rosenberg self-esteem scale. In the research process, this five-member team received full support from accompanying lecturers, faculty, and the university. The team also targets to be able to submit their scientific articles to be uploaded to the Q1 journal.
