Abstract
The purpose of the present study was to investigate effects of a training program designed to foster fundamental thought regarding human and social matters. The program, based on social psychological knowledge (e.g., impression formation, person perception, group discussion, and social skill training), focused on studying through experience. Participants in the experimental group were 79 junior high school students (39 boys, 40 girls) whose school was affiliated with a national university. Control group participants were 104 public junior high school students (52 boys, 52 girls). The students’ interpersonal relationships, friendships, and adjustment to the classroom were measured by a questionnaire in a pre-post design. The results were as follows : the students in the experimental group (a) had increased consideration and kindness for their friends, and (b) got along better with both high and low self-closure friends. In other words, after participating in the training program, the students in the experimental condition got along better with friends who had different characteristics of friendship from their own.
