A R E L LA N O U N I V E R S I T Y

Jose Abad Santos Campus

College of Arts and Sciences

Chapter 1

The Problem and its Background

INTRODUCTION

In the light of the new decennium, “Bahala na” is often uttered by Filipinos

most likely students before embarking on a difficult task like taking an exam,

presenting a report, being interview or making decisions. An explanation of such

occurrence is that when one is in a situation that one cannot control, accountability

is disowned and passed on to fate, or God will grant whatever one deserves

(Gripaldo, 2005). The manifestation of “bahala na attitude is relative for every

Filipino individual, depending on the dispositions that one possesses.

“Bahala na” is derived from the word “Bathala” the Supreme God according

to the ancient Tagalogs. One possible meaning given to the expression “bahala

na” is “Leave it to God”. Individuals who believe and practice the “bahala na”

attitude are believed to be less prone to worry, have a “low internal locus of

control”, and accept things as they are. Courage, hope, personality, self-efficacy

and search for the sacred were identified to be associated with “Bahala na”

attitude.

An individual’s attitude serves as an important role in one’s power over the

success in their lives. Alfred Adler’s theory about striving success; social interest,
 A R E L LA N O U N I V E R S I T Y
Jose Abad Santos Campus
College of Arts and Sciences

final goal, striving force as compensation and personal superiority can verify

the presence of “bahala na” attitude in an individual and can also reveal whether

the attitude is used in a positive or negative manner.

This research aimed to prove that “bahala na” attitude is correlated in

striving success in shaping personality and behavior. “Bahala na” attitude was

selected because it was assumed to be predominant in Filipino individuals. The

researchers made such an assumption from common experiences, such as hearing

the “bahala na!” expression repeatedly from people around the school. The

researchers were interested to find out whether most or many Filipino students

possess the attitude towards striving for success.

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

The word “bahala na” comes out throughout our mouth whenever we are

facing a challenging situation where things are risky and uncertain. This means

that we are leaving things beyond anyone’s control in the hands of God and or

higher being.

“Bahala na” can also indicate a deterministic mindset. When one is

confronted with a task, a person will tend to assess his limitations and chance of

success. Even in situation where uncertainty is high and the risk of failure looms

large, he may still option to go through with the task and put in his best effort,

and that little remaining chance of error is given the seal of “bahala na”, a seeming
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College of Arts and Sciences
acknowledgement to the role of unforeseen forces impinging in our lives. This

sense of determination in the face of uncertainty exemplifies most favorable

definitions of “bahala na”, highlighting one’s courage to willingly face difficulty and

possible failure (Mataragnon, 1979). Likewise, uttering “bahala na”may also mean

that the person is willing to accept responsibilities in situations which he cannot

control.

Some scholars see it in a negative light and consider it as fatalistic

submission or a form of avoidance or responsibility. Some scholars see it as just

an excuse of lazy people for getting away from their personal responsibility. On

the other side, some scholars also theorize that having a “Bahala na” attitude is

like admitting the people lack sense of internal locus of control, which means that

they don’t believe they have the power to effect change in their lives. Though

others, says that is a demonstration of determination and willingness to take risks.

Career goals and school-related motivations have always been part of

striving success of the individuals, specifically students who will finish their senior

year of secondary education. However, their strive for success depends on their

attitude towards shaping personality.

Hence, the researchers would like to conduct a study emphasizing the

correlation of “Bahala na” attitude and striving for success in shaping personality

which could be beneficial to many. The researches also believed that initiating such
 A R E L LA N O U N I V E R S I T Y
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College of Arts and Sciences

study can be best done in school as it is a place filled with students who have so

much potential to be a better individual.

SCOPES AND LIMITATIONS

The study aimed to discover the relationship between the Filipino attitude

which is “Bahala Na” and striving for success in shaping personality among senior

students in secondary education of Arellano University Jose Abad Santos Campus.

The target respondents are the incoming senior high school students. Their age

may range from seventeen to eighteen (17-18) years old.

The respondents were selected for the following reason: They are the

seniors of K-12 program of Arellano University.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

The theoretical framework of the study is based on the theory introduced

by Alfred Adler’s, Striving for Success or Superiority. Alfred Adler was a physician,

psychotherapist, and the founder of Adlerian psychology, sometimes called

individual psychology. Adler’s work stressed the importance of nurturing feelings

of belonging and striving for superiority.

Alfred Adler: Striving for Success or Superiority Theory

Adler reduced all motivation to a single drive the striving for success or

superiority. Alders own childhood was marked by physical deficiency and strong
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College of Arts and Sciences

feelings of competitiveness with his older brother individual psychology

holds that everyone begins life with physical deficiencies that activate feeling of

inferiority feelings that move a person to strive for either superiority or success.

According to Adler (1956), all people strive towards a final goal of either

superiority or success a fictional goal that has no objective existence as a

subjective ideal however this final goal has great significance because it unifies

personality and renders all behavior comprehensible. Psychologically unhealthy

individuals strive for personal superiority were as psychologically healthy people

or motivated to seek for all humanity.

Each person has the power to create a personalize fictional goal, one

constructed out of the raw materials provided by heredity and environment.

However the goal is neither genetically environmentally determine rather it is the

product of creative power that is people’s ability to freely shape their behavior and

create power has develop to the point that they can set their behavior and creative

even infants have an innate drive towards growth completion or success because

they are small incomplete they fell inferior and powerless. To compensate to this

deficiency they set a fictional goal to be big complete and strong. This person’s

final goal reduces the pain of inferiority feelings and points that person in the

direction of either superiority or success.

(http://jessy-chandrakant.blogspot.com/2012/10/striving-for-success-or-

superiority.html)
 A R E L LA N O U N I V E R S I T Y
Jose Abad Santos Campus
College of Arts and Sciences

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

Senior high students of

Arellano University – Jose
Abad Santos Campus

“Bahala na” Attitude Striving for success in

 Courage shaping personality
 Hope  Career goals
 Personality  School-related
 Self-efficacy motivation
 Search for the sacred

Determine the correlation of

“Bahala na” attitude in
striving for success in
shaping personality

The independent variable was the “Bahala Na” attitude and it was correlated

with Striving for success in shaping personality of the students to determine the

relationship of “Bahala na” attitude towards striving for success in shaping

personality of the senior high students.

 A R E L LA N O U N I V E R S I T Y
Jose Abad Santos Campus
College of Arts and Sciences

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

This study sought to know the relationship of “Bahala Na” attitude and

Striving for success in shaping personality of senior high students of Arellano

University.

Specifically, the study aimed to answer the following questions:

1. What is the demographic profile of the respondents in terms of:

1.1 Age;

1.2 Gender;

2. What are respondents’ “Bahala na” attitude aspects based on:

2.1 Courage

2.2 Hope

2.3 Personality

2.4 Self-efficacy

2.5 Search for the sacred

3. How do respondents asses their strive for success towards their “bahala na”

attitude as to:

3.1 Career goals

3.2 School-related motivation

4. Is there a significant relationship between “bahala na” attitude and striving

for success in shaping personality?

 A R E L LA N O U N I V E R S I T Y
Jose Abad Santos Campus
College of Arts and Sciences

HYPOTHESIS

There is no significance relationship between “Bahala na” attitude and

Striving for success in shaping personality.

SIGNIFICANCE OR THE STUDY

The study aimed to know the relationship of “Bahala” na attitude and

Striving for success in shaping personality among senior high school students of

Arellano University. The following will benefit from the completion of the study:

 Society. This will be beneficial to the society in terms of knowing the

relationship of “bahala na” attitude and striving for success in shaping

personality.

 University. This research will be significant to Arellano University by being

an addition to the university’s reference in the library.

 Students. This study will help students who are looking for topics that are

related to “bahala na” attitude and striving for success.

 Future Researchers. This study may serve as reference for the future

researchers that are doing study in “Bahala na” attitude and Striving for

success.
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Jose Abad Santos Campus
College of Arts and Sciences

DEFINITION OF TERMS

 Bahala na- According to Gorospe (1988), bahala na attitude is a common

Filipino value; however, this value was influenced by other cultures (Malay,

Spanish and American). The early Filipinos believed in a supreme god or

batula/ bathala which were described as “aloof and distant.”

 Locus of control- is a continuous scale which at one end has those who

attribute success and failure to things they have control over (‘internal’) and

at the other end of the scale, those who consider their success or failure is

due to forces outside of their influence (‘external’)

 Internal locus of control- pertains to people who based their success on

their own work and believe that they control their life

 Hope- is a secondary emotion meaning it requires the person to analyze

and evaluate a situation, leading one researcher to term it as

“intellectualized emotion’’ (Averill, as cited in Orlina, 2007).

 Self-efficacy- is one’s belief of his capability to accomplish a task. It is a

result of their personal cognitive assessment which dictates to a large extent

their consequent behaviour in a particular situation, hence it is aptly termed

as ‘’cognitive mediators of action’’ (Bandura, 1982)

 Courage- derived this definition from its Middle English origin corage which

literally means heart, indicating the centeredness of courage in one’s

character and persona.Courage, complemented with an increase in self-

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confidence, can be seen as the end result for someone who decides to

engage in bahala na (Jocano, 1997)

 Search for the sacred- as mentioned by Fonseca et al. (2005) the

Filipinos are a deeply religious lot. Religions plays a Major role in their

thoughts, beliefs, and way of living. By its mere etymology, bahala na

originates from Bahala na, meaning ‘’Bathala will take care’’ (Jocano, 1981).

 Personality- a global concept referring to a relatively permanent pattern

of traits, dispositions, or characteristics that give some degree of

consistency to a person’s behavior.

 Striving for success- The one dynamic force behind people’s behavior is

the striving for success or superiority.