Ph.D. Dissertation at the College of Education for Humanities Discusses (Self-Defeating Behaviors and Their Relationship to Social Withdrawal and Rumination among University Students)

The Department of Educational and Psychological Sciences at the College of Education for Humanities held on Tuesday, (30/9/2025), the public defense of the doctoral dissertation submitted by the student Zina Amer Mahdi Al-Jubouri, entitled “Self-Defeating Behaviors and Their Relationship to Social Withdrawal and Rumination among University Students.”

The aim of the present study is to identify self-defeating behaviors and their relationship to both social withdrawal and rumination, as well as to examine the significance of differences according to the variables of gender and specialization among a sample of university students. The researcher developed a scale for self-defeating behaviors consisting of (47) items. The reliability coefficient was calculated by test-retest method (0.83) and by Cronbach’s Alpha (0.78). The study also adopted Horney’s Social Withdrawal Scale, translated by Al-Shuwaili (2008), consisting of (48) items. Reliability was calculated by test-retest method (0.82) and by Cronbach’s Alpha (0.80).

The study reached several findings, among them:

1. University students do not suffer from self-defeating behaviors, regardless of gender or specialization.
2. University students do not exhibit social withdrawal.
3. The sample individuals showed no evidence of social withdrawal across gender and specialization variables.
4. University students do not engage in rumination, regardless of gender or specialization.
5. Both social withdrawal and rumination were found to influence self-defeating behaviors among the sample.

The examination committee was composed of the following professors:

1. Prof. Wafaa Kanaan Khudhur – University of Tikrit, College of Education for Humanities – Chair.
2. Prof. Awan Kazem Aziz – University of Tikrit, College of Arts – Member.
3. Prof. Azhar Mohammed Majeed – University of Baghdad, College of Arts – Member.
4. Prof. Qusay Hameed Hameed – University of Tikrit, College of Education for Humanities – Member.
5. Prof. Rana Zuheir Fadel – University of Tikrit, College of Education for Humanities – Member.
6. Prof. Sara Asaad Jameel – University of Tikrit, College of Education for Humanities – Member and Supervisor.

#Media and Government Communication Division – College of Education for Humanities – University of Tikrit