TPC-Journal-V4-Issue4

The Professional Counselor \Volume 4, Issue 4 387 desire to be stronger in these traits. On the other hand, four preferred-self traits decreased over the three phases: support seeking, self-blaming, security seeking and intellectualistic. As mentioned before, the constant decrease in support seeking is concerning because it indicates that students prefer not to seek support and advice when they encounter problems or issues. Undergraduate students showed less desire to be more intellectualistic, suggesting that they prefer not to emphasize versatility, unconventionality and individuality. In addition, eight preferred-self traits decreased during phase 2, but increased again in phase 3 (enthusiasm, communality, psychologically perceptive, change, personal adjustment, structure valuing, playful and scientific), while the negativity trait increased during phase 2 but decreased again in phase 3. Clearly, postgraduate and undergraduate students shared similar trends in their preferred-self traits (Figures 9 and 10). Both the postgraduate and undergraduate students recorded constant increases in the same 12 preferred traits (optimism, achievement, dominance, endurance, order, social energy, exhibition, self-confidence, self- satisfaction, creativity, respectful and work centered) and constant decreases in three of the preferred-self traits (support seeking, self-blaming and security seeking). Discussion Findings on the personality profile of undergraduate and postgraduate students at this research university in Malaysia are promising. The results suggest that students are coping well with the institutional transformation. In fact, personality traits such as optimism, endurance, dominance, order, exhibition, self-confidence and creativity were highly expressed and developed, as profiled in phase 3 of the study. These highly expressed and developed traits indicate that students are dignified, flexible, hopeful and unyielding in their desire to excel. They also value cognitive activity and insight. However, their profile shows some concerns in traits such as support seeking and security seeking, which dropped continuously during the study. Such findings suggest that students may not be ready for counseling and prefer not to seek help and support when they encounter problems. Figure 10 . Changes in undergraduate students’ preferred-self personality traits across phases 1, 2 and 3. * p < 0.05 . ** p < 0.01. 30 40 50 60 70 *Enthusiasm **Optimism **Negativity *Communality **Achievement **Dominance *Endurance *Order *Psychologically Perceptive *Nurturance **Affiliation **Social Energy **Exhibition Autonomy Aggression *Change **Support Seeking **Self-Blaming Deference Counseling Readiness Self-Control **Self-Confidence *Personal Adjustment **Self-Satisfaction **Creativity **Structure Valuing Masculinity Femininity Fault Finding **Respectful **Work Centered **Playful **Security Seeking Affected *Intellectualistic Pragmatic **Scientific Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3 ( N = 44) ( N = 62) ( N = 97)