Social Adjustment Profiles Of New Santri : A Comparative Study Of SMP And Mts Students At Pondok Pesantren Putri Sunan Drajat

Tsuroyyah Hamidah; Fitri Wahyuni; Yuliati Hotifah

doi:10.63922/ijevss.v5i03.4915

Tsuroyyah Hamidah Universitas Negeri Malang, Malang, Indonesia
Fitri Wahyuni Universitas Negeri Malang, Malang, Indonesia
Yuliati Hotifah Universitas Negeri Malang, Malang, Indonesia

DOI: https://doi.org/10.63922/ijevss.v5i03.4915

Keywords: social adjustment, new students, Islamic boarding school, SMP, MTs, guidance and counselling

Abstract

The social adjustment of new students (santri) is a critical issue that directly affects psychological well-being and academic success in Islamic boarding school (pesantren) environments. This study aims to describe and analyze differences in social adjustment between new students from junior high school (SMP) and Islamic junior high school (MTs) tracks at Pondok Pesantren Putri Sunan Drajat, Lamongan, East Java. A quantitative approach with a cross-sectional comparative design was employed, involving 145 respondents (75 MTs students at Al Masyitoh dormitory and 70 SMP students at Al Aisyah dormitory) selected through total sampling. Social adjustment was measured using a scale adapted from Ni'mah (2016) based on Hurlock's (1978) framework, encompassing four dimensions: overt behavior in interaction, adjustment to social groups, social attitudes, and personal satisfaction (α = 0.860). Data were analyzed using Independent Samples t-test, Welch's t-test, and Mann-Whitney U according to the results of normality and homogeneity assumption tests. The findings reveal two principal conclusions. First, 85.7% of instrument items showed no significant difference between groups, indicating substantially similar social adjustment profiles across both tracks, most notably in the social attitudes dimension, where none of the 11 items yielded significant differences. Second, significant differences were concentrated in the personal satisfaction dimension (KP1: W = 18.675; p < 0.001; KP9: p = 0.003; KP6: p = 0.016; KP13: p = 0.023), overt appearance (PN8: p = 0.024), and group adjustment (PDK3: p = 0.027), with SMP students consistently scoring higher. These findings suggest that what distinguishes the two groups is not explicit social behavior, but rather the subjective experience of satisfaction and self-confidence in social interactions. The practical implication of this research calls for differentiated guidance and counseling services based on students' educational track, employing expressive-creative intervention approaches suited to the tendency of santri to struggle with verbalizing their social experiences.

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