ENHANCING STUDENTS’ WELL-BEING: DO GENDER AND INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION MATTER?

Study purpose . Building social interactions is challenging due to difficulties in communicating clearly and adjusting to new learning systems. Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, there is a significant difficulty with this. There is a need to promote student well-being because of this unfavorable situation, which undoubtedly makes it harder to achieve. This research aimed to study the effect of interpersonal communication on students’ well-being in view of their gender in students in grades X and XI at Madrasah Aliyah Negeri 2 Banyumas, Indonesia, during learning in the pandemic period. Materials and methods. This study used the quantitative method by testing simple linear regression and t-test. The study sample comprised a total of 265 students selected using the method of proportionate stratified random sampling. The instruments in this research used the scale of student well-being with reliability of (α Cronbach = 0.835), and the scale of interpersonal communication with reliability of (α Cronbach = 0.761). Results. The results of this study showed that 1) interpersonal communication has an effect of 20.1% on the variation of students’ well-being; 2) students’ well-being for male and female students was not significantly different. The interpersonal communication between male and female students, however, differed significantly. Conclusions. Therefore, according to this research, it is essential to practice the skill of interpersonal communication in order to be able to improve students’ well-being.


Introduction
Education is necessary for every individual; through education, the next generation is expected to be competitive individuals. School is a crucial means for individuals to develop and prepare themselves to be the competitive generation. Therefore, school is expected to create a good learning environment for students and help students in achieving well-being in school. As it should be, an individual needs well-being that is received through a meaningful life.
The issue that often arises in the scope of school is the difficulty in achieving the students' well-being in school. It is proved by research conducted by Na'imah (2010), who stated various problems with students' attitudes, such as students who do not like to mingle with other groups of students who have a higher economic status, tends to hard to accept defeat, often feel shy, jealous, and showing inappropriate attitudes. To add, the research that was conducted by Josef and Hidayat (as cited in Wati & Leonardi, 2016) by examining 1,200 students in Indonesia found that 4.6% of students were very dissatisfied with school, 65% of students experienced mental health and psychosocial problems at a moderate level, and 12% of students had physically attacked by other students. According to Petegem et al., (2008), students with a low well-being level tend to do negative, harmful, and anti-school attitudes. The importance of students' well-being improvement in school obligates the teachers and students' contemporaries in the school environment to care about the circumstance or condition of students so that the experiences in school will be fun for students.
The learning activity that is initially carried out face-toface, during the pandemic of Covid-19 that spread in almost all countries in the world brings a change in the field of education. The government regulates a policy of Large-Scale Social Restrictions (PSBB) to reduce the spread of Covid-19, and one of the effects of the policy is that the online learning activity process must be implemented. The learning process that must be carried out online changes the social interaction pattern between students and their contemporaries. The intensity of faceto-face interaction between students and their contemporaries keeps reducing, and they only interact online. Kusuma and Sutapa (2021) stated that during the pandemic of Covid-19, students did not meet their contemporaries in school, which Suwarti, Pasca Mayang Sety, F., Rahardjo, P., & Nur'aen (2022). Enhancing Students' Well-being: do Gender and Interpersonal Communication Matter? resulted in students experiencing low socialization with their contemporaries. In addition, concerning the issue that the students feel which can lead to the lack of students' interpersonal relationships and students' well-being achievement in school, the researcher assumed that interpersonal communication is an essential ability for students in order to be able to solve problems that are faced by asking opinion or sharing story with people. It is expected that it can improve the students' well-being. Moreover, studies on student well-being have been extensively researched, but it is widely researched with qualitative approaches, including studies conducted by Thoybah and Aulia (2020), Fraillon (2004), Setyahadi and Yanuviati (2017), also Wati and Leonardi (2016). Nevertheless, in this study, the researcher intends to conduct the research using quantitative methods. Furthermore, no studies have examined the effect of interpersonal communication on student well-being viewed from gender. Thus, this research aims to study the effect of interpersonal communication on student well-being; also gender differences in these two variables in grades X and XI at Madrasah Aliyah Negeri 2 Banyumas, Indonesia, during learning in the pandemic period.

Student Well-Being
The study of the psychological well-being theory by Ryff and Keyes (1995) in the school context led to the development of the student well-being theory. According to Soutter et al. (2014), student well-being is based on various dimensions that exist when one interacts with others, the environment, and the development of life, particularly in the educational context. Thus, it can be inferred that student well-being is a condition of individuals who show satisfaction with their learning experience at school and a positive relationship with their contemporaries and teachers.
Student well-being is divided into four dimensions (Na'imah & Tanireja, 2017), as described as follows: 1) Social, good social relationships with teachers and contemporaries are essential for improving students' well-being. Social relationships cannot be excluded from the individual's basic needs and are essential for the individual's well-being; 2) Cognitive, refers to a feeling of competence in the individual. To improve his or her sense of competence, an individual needs to be guided to have a pleasant experience in the social environment as well as class learning; 3) Emotions, profoundly affect the level of well-being of the individual in school. Positive emotion can help to increase and reach the student's well-being while the negative emotions may decrease or hinder the achievement of the student's well-being; 4) Spiritual, experiences felt due to good practice of religious teaching and strong belief will result in a feeling of well-being within the individual.
Furthermore, Pollard & Lee (2003) divining student wellbeing into five dimensions, as described as follows: 1) Physical well-being, is the capability to uphold a healthy level of life that enables us to fully participate in everyday activities without experiencing excessive physical stress or tiredness (Australian National University, 2020); 2) Economic well-being, refers to an individual's capacity to meet their requirements for both goods and services (OECD, 2013); 3) Psychological well-being, is generally considered as a combination of well-being in one's personal and social life and some pleasurable affective experiences (Deci & Ryan, 2008); 4) Cognitive wellbeing, refers to how individuals perceive both their overall life happiness and individual life domains (Luhmann, 2017); 5) Social well-being, described as an individual's evaluations of their interpersonal relationships, situations, and performances in social communities (Dunaeva, 2018).

Interpersonal Communication
Interpersonal communication is the exchange of information between two people with a clear relationship (DeVito, 1995). In the book "Introduction to Communication, " interpersonal communication is defined as communication between two people with a strong and transparent relationship (Wiryanto, 2004). Thus, it can be inferred that interpersonal communication is a process of communication between individuals conducted faceto-face, and there is a clear relationship between them.
Interpersonal communication is divided into five aspects (Bienvenu, 1971), as described in the following: 1) Self Concept, an individual's perception of themself, may it be skill or ability, and physical presentation (Ranny et al., 2017). Self-concepts are critical to influencing an individual's communication with others (Bienvenu, 1971); 2) Ability, is an individual's to become a good listener. To this day, the ability to be a good listener has received little attention; 3) the Skill of Expressing, is a skill to express thoughts and ideas clearly, which many people still find difficult to do; 4) Emotion, refers to an individual's ability to overcome their emotions, especially negative emotions, and to be able to express them positively; 5) Self Disclosure, refers to how an individual's willingness to express themself frankly and freely to establish interpersonal relationships.

Study Participants
Participants in this study were students grades X and XI of Madrasah Aliyah Negeri 2 Banyumas, Indonesia. Participants consisted of 195 female and 70 male students aged 15-19 years old. The demographic data are shown in table 1.  (2017), which consists of 26 items including social, cognitive, emotional, and spiritual aspects. The reliability test uses Cronbach's Coefficient Alpha which produces a score of 0.835. This study used a Likert scale with five alternative answers, "strongly agree, " "agree, " "neutral, " "disagree, " and "strongly disagree. "

Interpersonal Communication
Interpersonal communication is measured by the Interpersonal Communication scale using the aspect from Bienvenu (1971), which consists of 21 items including self-concept, ability, skill of expressing, emotion, and self-disclosure aspects. The reliability test uses Cronbach's Coefficient Alpha which produces a score of 0.761. This study used a Likert scale with five alternative answers, "strongly agree, " "agree, " "neutral, " "disagree, " and "strongly disagree. "

Data Analysis
This study used a descriptive analysis method to determine the level of interpersonal communication and student well-being. The effect of interpersonal communication on student well-being was thus tested in this study using simple regression analysis techniques and t-tests. It also compared the average of interpersonal communication and student well-being between two variants, specifically gender, using the Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) 26.0 program for Windows.

Student Well-Being
Based on the results of the survey, it can be compiled the following characteristic of the subject: 16 subjects (6.0%) had a very high level of student well-being, 68 subjects (25,7%) had a relatively high level of student well-being, 92 subjects (34,7%) had a moderate level of student well-being, 70 sub-jects (26.4%) had a low level of student well-being, and 19 subjects (7.2%) had a very low level of student well-being.

Interpersonal Communication
Based on the results of the survey, it can be compiled the following characteristic of the subject: 17 subjects (6,4%) had a very high level of interpersonal communication, 61 subjects (23%) had a relatively high level of interpersonal communication, 111 subjects (41,9%) had a moderate level of interpersonal communication, 62 subjects (23,4%) had a low level of interpersonal communication, and 14 subjects (5,3%) had a very low level of interpersonal communication. Based on the Normality test, it is shown that the collected data have been qualified for analysis. The Interpersonal Communication and Student Well-Being variable has a significant value of 0.200 (p > 0.05); therefore, it can be inferred that distributed data are normal.

Linearity Test
The assumption test of linearity was performed with the Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) 26.0 program with a significant test for linearity of 0.05. The results of the linearity test are said to be linear if it has a significant value (linearity) smaller than 0.05 (p < 0.05) (Sugiyono, 2013). The results of the linearity test are shown in table 3. below: According to table 3, the result of the assumption test of linearity showed that the significance level is 0,000 (p < 0,05), which means that in this research, there is a linear relationship between interpersonal communication and student well-being.

Hypothesis Test
The Effect of Interpersonal Communication on Student Well-Being The researcher intended to know the effect of interpersonal communication on student well-being. The results of the regression test are shown in table 4. below: Suwarti, Pasca Mayang Sety, F., Rahardjo, P., & Nur'aen (2022). Enhancing Students' Well-being: do Gender and Interpersonal Communication Matter? Based on the regression test results, the effect of interpersonal communication on student well-being with 5% significance found that the F Count Value = 66,055 and the significant probability was sig. (p) 0,000. As a result, interpersonal communication has a significant effect on student well-being. Furthermore, based on the result of Rsquare's coefficient of determination = 0.201, the interpersonal communication variable has an effect of 20.1% on the variation of students' well-being. Moreover, the student well-being variable was affected by other factors of 79.9% that were not studied in this study, which are the relation between teacher and student (Lavy & Naama-Ghanayim, 2020), relation between children and parents (Bireda & Pillay, 2018), contemporaries relation (Moore et al., 2018), and an environment that supports discipline (Harding et al., 2019).

T-Test: Independent Samples Test Student Well-Being
Researchers intended to analyze whether students' wellbeing differs by gender in male and female students. The results of the analysis conducted to find out the differences in student well-being by gender are shown in table 5. below: The significance score of 0.111 (p > 0.05) indicates no significant difference between the well-being of male and female students. In terms of the average score (mean), the well-being of female students has a higher score, but on a test-by-test basis, the difference is insignificant.

Interpersonal Communication
Researchers intended to analyze whether students' interpersonal communication differs by gender in male and female students. The results of the analysis conducted to find out the differences in interpersonal communication by gender are shown in table 6. below: The significance score of 0.011 (p < 0.05) indicates a significant difference between the interpersonal communication of male and female students. In terms of the average score (mean), the interpersonal communication of female students has a higher score, but on a test-by-test basis, the difference is significant.

Discussion
The results of this study showed a significant effect of interpersonal communication variables on student well-being. It is based on the hypothesis test. Based on the regression analysis results between interpersonal communication variables and student well-being, it is known that the significance score is 0.000 (p < 0.05), so it can be inferred that the hypothesis is accepted that there is a significant effect of interpersonal communication on student well-being. This study also showed a coefficient of determination of 0.201, which means interpersonal communication effectively affects 20.1% of students' well-being. This showed that the better interpersonal communication, the higher the student's well-being; the weaker the interpersonal communication, the lower the student's well-being.
Based on the existing statistical data, the students of Madrasah Aliyah Negeri 2 Banyumas, Indonesia, had a relatively low level of interpersonal communication. The reality in the field shows that some of the students of Madrasah Aliyah Negeri 2 Banyumas, Indonesia, have a fairly low level of interpersonal communication because the most scores exist at the moderate and low levels of 41.9% and 23.4%, respectively, due to the pandemic situation in which the subjects have not been able to adjust to the communication pattern. This positively affected the student well-being held by the students of Madrasah Aliyah Negeri 2 Banyumas, Indonesia, because the student well-being level in Madrasah Aliyah Negeri 2 Banyumas, Indonesia, is also relatively low because most scores are at moderate and low levels of 34.7% and 26.4% respectively. This condition indicates that the better interpersonal communication, the higher the student's well-being; the weaker the interpersonal communication, the lower the student's well-being.
The researcher saw that most of the students from Madrasah Aliyah Negeri 2 Banyumas, Indonesia, had relatively low interpersonal communication because, for about two years, the school conducted a long-distance learning program. Hence, the pattern of social interaction between the students with teachers and friends at school changed. The intensity of face-to-face interpersonal communication is decreasing and hinders good social relationships for students. In line with research conducted by Yusuf and Setiawan (2022) with the same subject characteristics as the high school students, the frequency of interpersonal communication decreased during long-distance learning, as well as the dominant indirect interaction patterns and limited interaction directly influence the quality of the social relations development process for subjects in the study.
Based on the interviews that the researchers conducted with counseling teachers, there was information that communication between the students was relatively low, so the resolution of the problems experienced by the students was still not optimal. This implies that the well-being of students in schools is still not achieved due to the problems felt and unpleasant experiences experienced by students in school and learning environments. Based on these unfavorable conditions, an effort to improve student well-being is needed. Cahyono et al. (2021) also stated that students who achieve well-being have a feeling of comfort in school, there is selfacceptance, good relationship with others, no negative conditions are felt, and students can engage in the school community.
Therefore, students who have low interpersonal communication will hinder the achievement of student well-being. This makes interpersonal communication with teachers and their contemporaries at school to be optimized so that students can overcome the problems or negative conditions felt at school and work towards a good social relationship with teachers and contemporaries; and to be expected that this is an effort that is right to improve student well-being. To add, Na'imah and Tanireja (2017) stated that good social relationships with teachers and contemporaries are indispensable for improving students' well-being. Social relationships cannot be excluded from the individual's basic needs and are essential for the individual's well-being.
In addition, Interpersonal communication with contemporaries and social community allows subjects to learn mutual relationships, get to know others and themselves, and understand social interests and perceptions, making it easier for subjects to adapt to their contemporaries and social activities. The ease with which a student adapts to contemporaries and social activities is predicted to improve student wellbeing in school because the student can socialize and engage in interpersonal communication with their contemporaries in school and social community.
Furthermore, this study explained that there is no significant difference between male and female students' wellbeing, although the average (mean) of female students is higher than male students. This can be seen in a significance score of 0.111 (p > 0.05), indicating no differences in student well-being between male and female students. In line with research conducted by Løhre et al., (2014) which showed that no gender differences were revealed in evaluating student well-being in schools. The results of data analysis show that male participants tend to have higher well-being when getting academic assistance from teachers compared to other students; meanwhile female students feel loneliness, that correlates strongly and negatively with students' well-being (Løhre et al., 2014).
This study also explained that there was a significant difference in interpersonal communication in male and female students, as it looked at the significance score of 0.011 (p < 0.05), which showed that there is a significant difference on interpersonal communication in male and female students in Madrasah Aliyah Negeri 2 Banyumas, Indonesia. This is in line with Gray's statement (as cited in Juliano, 2015) that men and women are indeed different, and the essential aspect of communicating is the sense of consciousness. Men are thought to have a feeling of self-awareness through the ability to receive results, while women's sense of awareness is interpreted through feelings and the quality of relationships. Juliano (2015) further argues that the difference in communication between men and women is a shared secret.
To add, the limitations of this study were only students from grades X and XI, and only one school was involved. The researcher believes that the small number of subjects in this study only describes a small part of the student population. Therefore, the researcher suggests further research conducting research not only in grades X and XI but also in grades that still belong to the adolescence category; and conducting research in a broader area. Moreover, this study implies that it is expected that students will be able to support their contemporaries to build good social relationships and can be involved in the school community. Therefore, the development of knowledge about well-being is also felt necessary for children and adolescents, as we all know that the well-being of the individual as a teenager will affect the next period of development (Jannah, 2017).

Conclusion
Based on the result and discussion about interpersonal communication on student well-being viewed from gender at Madrasah Aliyah Negeri 2 Banyumas, Indonesia, this study concludes that interpersonal communication significantly affects student well-being. According to gender, there is no significant difference between student well-being in both male and female students. However, there are significant differences in interpersonal communication between male and female students. Furthermore, the advice for education institutions is that they are expected to pay attention to the fulfillment of students' well-being and to provide interventions to develop interpersonal communication skills to improve student well-being in grades X and XI Madrasah Aliyah Negeri 2 Banyumas, Indonesia. In addition, the results of this study are expected to contribute to further research by providing a deeper understanding and can be utilized as a reference.