Introduction
According to Article 3 of the Framework Act on Youth (Ministry of Government Legislation, 2024), the term “youth” refers to individuals between the ages of 9 and 24. University students fall within the category of youth based on this definition, and the most distinctive characteristic of adolescence, distinguished from childhood, is the formation of ego-identity (Erikson and Erikson, 1997). Adolescence can be divided into early adolescence (ages 9–13), middle adolescence (ages 14–18), and late adolescence (ages 19–24), and university students that fall within the stage of late adolescence are in a transitional period from childhood to adulthood, during which they develop into independent individuals (Jo, 2013). At this stage, individuals acquire skills for developing harmonious interpersonal relationships by completing identity formation, being in a preparatory phase for adapting to university life as well as to future work and social life. Thus, university years serve as a preparatory phase for adapting to social life before entering adulthood, during which individuals undergo all kinds of stress in forming interpersonal relationships and ego-identity. If such stress is not properly addressed, they may experience maladjustment issues, psychological disorders, and deviant behaviors (Yang and Yang, 2020). Therapeutic approaches that help address various issues arising during the developmental process of university students include music therapy, art therapy, and play therapy (Cho, 2020; Lee, 2021). Horticultural therapy, which involves the use of plants, is also being utilized as an effective method for helping resolve the issues faced by university students (An et al., 2021).
Horticultural therapy is an approach that addresses the needs and problems of various participants through therapeutic interventions conducted by horticultural therapy specialists using horticultural plants as a medium. By implementing horticultural therapy programs, it is possible to alleviate participants’ psychological, physical, cognitive, and social issues (Li et al., 2023; Park, 2021). Moreover, beyond simply revealing the alleviating effects of horticultural activities, efforts are being made to develop more professional horticultural therapy activities by adopting various intervention models that can enhance these effects (Jo et al., 2019). An intervention model refers to a method of structuring a horticultural therapy program by adopting specific theories and techniques, which involves developing new approaches to horticultural therapy through interdisciplinary exchanges with closely related disciplines such as psychological counseling, rehabilitation, and welfare (Son et al., 2006). Examples of intervention models used in horticultural therapy include the socialization model, cognitive-behavioral theory, learning theory, rational emotive behavior therapy, Gestalt theory, solution-focused theory, logotherapy, positive psychology theory, reality therapy, psychological adjustment stage model, transactional analysis, stress inoculation training, and reminiscence therapy (Jung et al., 2012; Son et al., 2006). Conducting horticultural therapy by adopting these models led to more effective therapeutic outcomes (Lee et al., 2017; Park et al., 2015).
The Enneagram is a personality typology theory that categorizes human personality into nine types, and group programs have been developed and utilized not only for university students but also for the general public and experts (counseling psychologists, social workers, nurses, educators, etc.) (Jung and Wang, 2020; Youn, 2001a). The core components of the Enneagram are three center energies and nine personality types. These nine personality types are associated with the center energy humans unconsciously adopt, which is classified based on the bodily location where the center energy is expressed into the head center, the heart center, and the body center (Kim and Lee, 2022). The Enneagram is different from other personality typologies in that, based on the understanding of each type’s desires, fixations, and growth directions, individuals perceive the essence of their personality type and implement strategies for growth (Riso and Hudson, 1999). Leveraging these strengths, the Enneagram has been utilized as an intervention model in counseling psychology and educational research (Kim, 2018) as well as in the field of art therapy (Kim and Lee, 2014). Although there are studies applying personality typologies such as the Enneagram and MBTI in horticultural therapy (An et al., 2021; Kim and Cho, 2018), these studies are using personality typologies as dependent variables rather than using them as intervention models serving as independent variables. Keywords such as “personality type,” “horticultural therapy,” and “Enneagram” were used to search existing literature on online literature search websites (http://riss.kr; http://www.nanet.go.kr), and the search revealed no studies on horticultural therapy that used personality typologies as intervention models.
Accordingly, this study recognizes the need for intervention models in horticultural therapy and aims to apply the Enneagram personality typology as a new intervention model, with focus on ego-identity formation through self-understanding and daily life stress among the developmental characteristics of university students. This study is conducted to examine the effects of incorporating the Enneagram as an intervention model in a horticultural therapy program on self-understanding and stress levels of university students and to explore the applicability of the Enneagram as an intervention model in horticultural therapy.
Research Methods
This study was conducted with the review and approval of the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of Korea University to ensure the protection of participants’ rights and adherence to research ethics (KUIRB-2023-0350-01).
Research design
This study conducted an experimental treatment by setting an experimental group participating in a horticultural therapy program incorporating the Enneagram and a comparison group participating in the same program without the Enneagram, and then compared and analyzed changes in both groups before and after the experiment. The comparison group participated in a horticultural therapy program using the same horticultural activities with the same plants as the experimental group, but the intervention model incorporating the Enneagram was not applied. All students in both the experimental and comparison groups completed the Enneagram personality test once individually prior to participating in the horticultural therapy program. The tool used in the test was the Korean Enneagram Type Indicator (81 items rated on a five-point Likert scale), developed and standardized by Youn (2001b). The personality test was not used for statistical analysis but served as a tool for self-understanding of participants during the horticultural therapy program for the experimental group incorporating the Enneagram. For the comparison group, only personality type results were provided to the participants after conducting the personality test, and the test was not utilized in the horticultural therapy program. The procedure of this study, conducted using a pretest-posttest comparison design between the experimental and comparison groups, is summarized in Fig. 1.
Participants
Participants in this study were 21 university students enrolled at K University in Seoul. They were recruited by posting posters on the university’s internal website widely used by K University students, as well as on bulletin boards of each college within the university. The selection criteria allowed for voluntary participation regardless of age, gender, major, or disability status. Participants were informed that they would be randomly assigned to either the experimental or comparison group, and only those who consented to this condition took part in the study. The exclusion criteria for participants were based on those used in a previous study that conducted a horticultural therapy program with university students (An et al., 2021). Students were excluded if they had a flower allergy, had prior experience participating in an Enneagram-based group program, had previously participated in a horticultural therapy or horticultural program, or were enrolled in a course taught by the principal investigator. Only students who did not meet any of these criteria were selected for the study. Out of a total of 21 participants, nine students were assigned to the experimental group, which participated in the horticultural therapy program incorporating the Enneagram, and 12 students were assigned to the comparison group, which participated in the same program without the Enneagram. Prior to participation, all students received a detailed explanation of the research process through a research information sheet and provided written informed consent as well as consent for the use of personal information. The general characteristics of the participating university students were as follows. 19% were male and 81% were female students, with a mean age of 22 years (M = 22, SD = 0.617); and regarding academic majors, 67% were from the humanities, social sciences, or arts and sports disciplines, while 33% were from the natural sciences.
Measurement tools
To measure changes in self-understanding and stress levels among university students who participated in the horticultural therapy program as the experimental or comparison group, i.e., with or without the incorporation of the Enneagram, self-understanding and stress questionnaires were administered in person twice, before and after the program. The self-understanding scale developed by Kim (2018) was employed to measure the level of self-understanding among university students. This scale consists of 70 items across seven subfactors (stability, goal orientation, uniqueness, role recognition, self-acceptance, self-assertion, and lie scale), rated on a five-point Likert scale ranging from one to five for each item. The stress scale for university students was adopted from the questionnaire (50 items rated on a five-point Likert scale) used by An et al. (2021), and stress was divided into two dimensions: interpersonal relationship and present problem. The interpersonal relationship dimension included subfactors measuring relationships with same-gender friends, opposite-gender friends, family, and professors; and the present problem dimension included subfactors measuring academic stress, economic stress, future-related stress, and values-related stress (An et al., 2021). Cronbach’s alpha coefficients were calculated to explore the internal consistency reliability of the questionnaires. The reliability coefficient was 0.778 for self-understanding and 0.858 for stress; and among the subdimensions of the stress scale, the interpersonal relationship dimension showed a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.934, while the present problem dimension showed 0.755.
Analysis methods
This study used SPSS 27.0 statistical software (IBM Co., Armonk, NY, USA) for data analysis, and assessed the normality using the Shapiro-Wilk test to determine whether parametric methods can be applied for analyzing results since the sample size was fewer than 30 participants. An independent samples t-test was to test the homogeneity between the experimental and comparison groups before the program implementation, and paired samples t-tests were conducted to examine changes in self-understanding and stress before and after the program within each group.
Horticultural therapy program
The Enneagram-based horticultural therapy program conducted with the experimental group in this study was designed with reference to the key components of Enneagram group programs currently implemented by domestic institutions. The program focused primarily on self-awareness and self-acceptance as the main stages, with specific sub-goals, corresponding horticultural activities, and therapeutic interventions selected for each stage (Table 1). The program was developed by the researcher who holds a Korean Enneagram professional instructor certification, and the selected content was finalized through consultation with one youth counseling specialist and one horticultural therapist. The program was conducted from November 13 to December 5, 2023, with both the experimental and comparison groups participating twice a week for 60 minutes each, with a total of six sessions.
The horticultural therapy program for the experimental group incorporating the Enneagram consisted of two stages: Stage 1, self-awareness, and Stage 2, self-acceptance (Table 1). The self-awareness stage included ① three centers of power and nine personality types, ② wings and basic desires of each type, and ③ direction of division and integration. The self-acceptance stage comprised ④ defense mechanisms, ⑤ levels of consciousness, and ⑥ growth strategies. At the beginning of each session, the key concepts of the Enneagram were explained in connection with the horticultural activities. After conducting the horticultural activities, participants were to take part in group activities, presentations, or self-expression to share their personality type’s traits, essence, motivations, desires, and growth strategies. The comparison group’s horticultural therapy program used the same materials and conducted the same horticultural activities as the experimental group; however, it did not include explanations of the Enneagram content, group activities, presentations, self-expression, or discussions.
The selection of horticultural activities and plant materials according to the phases and goals of the program was based on prior studies related to ego-identity in horticultural therapy programs for university students (Jo, 2013; Park, 2021), as well as a study on the horticultural preferences of nursing students (Park, 2019). The selected key horticultural activities and plant materials were as follows: making a hand-tied bouquet using flowers (Eustoma grandiflorum, Rosa hybrida, Chrysanthemum morifolium), transplanting rare plants (Alocasia bisma, Aglaonema commutatum, Araucaria heterophylla), creating a Zen garden, flower wiring with tillandsia (Tillandsia ionantha), making smudge sticks (Rosa hybrida, Lavandula angustifolia), and making a vase arrangement of hydroponic plants (Pachira aquatica, Anthurium andraeanum, Monstera deliciosa). Moreover, based on previous research indicating that the effects of the program were greater in groups that combined horticultural activities with flower tea drinking (Lee et al., 2017), tea drinking activities were incorporated into the latter part of the program.
The professional intervention techniques applied to the experimental group were selected from group activity techniques used in Enneagram group programs (Youn, 2001a) and techniques emphasized in literature on horticultural therapy and counseling (Erford, 2015; Lee et al., 2017), based on the purpose of this study. Key therapeutic techniques included the therapist’s encouragement, support, feedback, brief explanations, conversations, storytelling, and interpretation, along with mutual support and encouragement among group members and small group activities. Furthermore, this study employed a semi-structured approach to encourage voluntary and natural self-expression from group members. For example, to support this semi-structured format, we broadened the range of plant choices and prepared a greater variety of materials so that participants can select the plants they preferred. Small group activities were also employed to display the effect of group dynamics through participant interaction (Lee et al., 2015). Each session followed the general process of horticultural therapy activities (Son et al., 2006), consisting of opening-main activity-closing format, with five minutes for the opening, 50 minutes for the main activity, and five minutes for the closing.
The program was conducted by one lead therapist and three assistant therapists. The lead therapist held certifications as an Enneagram professional instructor, horticultural psychological counselor, and licensed social worker (Grade 1). The three assistant therapists were certified as a welfare horticultural therapist or floral design craftsman. Prior to the program, the assistant therapists received pre-training on the program content, their roles, and relevant precautions.
Results and Discussion
Testing for normality and homogeneity of groups
Both the experimental group and the comparison group showed normality in self-understanding (p > .05) and stress (p > .05) scores before and after the program. The independent samples t-test conducted to verify homogeneity between the two groups before the program revealed no significant differences in self-understanding and stress, confirming that the groups were homogeneous (p > .05).
Changes in self-understanding
To examine changes in self-understanding between the experimental group, which participated in the horticultural therapy program incorporating the Enneagram, and the comparison group, which participated in the program without the Enneagram, the paired samples t-tests were conducted before and after the program. The results showed an increase in self-understanding in the experimental group (p < .01), whereas no significant change in self-understanding was observed in the comparison group (p > .05) (Table 2).
Paired samples t-tests were conducted to analyze whether there were changes in the mean scores before and after the program for both the experimental and comparison groups depending on the subfactors of self-understanding. The results showed that the comparison group, which participated in the program without the Enneagram, showed no changes in any of the subfactors of self-understanding (p > .05). In contrast, the experimental group, which participated in the program incorporating the Enneagram, showed improvements in the subfactors of stability (p < .01) and goal orientation (p < .05) (Table 2).
Among the subfactors of self-understanding, stability refers to maintaining a consistent and coherent self-concept (Kim, 2018; Yang, 2007). The university students in the experimental group demonstrated the formation of self-awareness important for ego-identity formation through horticultural therapy incorporating the Enneagram. Furthermore, self-directedness and autonomous decision-making behaviors seemed to have increased through the improvement in goal orientation (Kim, 2018). However, the lack of program effects on other subfactors of self-understanding such as uniqueness, role recognition, self-acceptance, and self-assertion indicates factors to consider in planning future horticultural therapy programs incorporating the Enneagram. However, compared to prior studies applying the Enneagram in art therapy (Kim and Lee, 2014) and group programs using only the Enneagram (Jung and Wang, 2020), which required at least 7 to 8 sessions totaling over 1,000 minutes to observe program effects, the horticultural therapy program applying the Enneagram as an intervention model demonstrated improvements in self-understanding, as well as in stability and goal orientation in the experimental group, suggesting the potential of a short-term program combining the Enneagram and horticultural therapy to enhance self-understanding of university students.
Changes in stress
The changes in stress levels before and after the program were examined for the experimental group, which participated in the horticultural therapy program incorporating the Enneagram, and the comparison group, which participated in the program without the Enneagram (Table 3). The results showed a decrease in stress and its subdimension, present problem, in the experimental group (p < 0.05). On the other hand, the comparison group without the Enneagram showed no changes in stress levels (p > 0.05). The lack of effect on the interpersonal relationship dimension of stress in the experimental group aligns with findings from previous studies, such as a horticultural therapy program for adolescents using ego-growth group counseling as the intervention model (Jeon et al., 2016) and an Enneagram group program conducted with counseling graduate students (Yang, 2021). In these studies, both the horticultural therapy program incorporating the intervention model and the Enneagram group program were not effective in improving interpersonal ego resilience and interpersonal relationship skills. Although these previous programs were conducted over a longer period—10 sessions of 100 minutes each and 6 sessions of 120 minutes each, respectively—compared to this study’s program, no significant changes were observed in the interpersonal relationship stress dimension, which suggests that both the Enneagram group program and horticultural therapy programs incorporating the intervention model have limitations in producing changes in interpersonal relationship factors.
As a result of examining which subfactors of interpersonal relationship stress and present problem stress showed effects from the horticultural therapy program with the Enneagram (Table 4), in the experimental group with the Enneagram, significant decreases occurred in the subfactors of the present problem dimension of stress, such as future-related stress (p < .01) and values-related stress (p < .05). On the other hand, the comparison group that participated in horticultural therapy without the Enneagram showed no significant changes in any stress subfactors (p > .05) (Table 4). A review of a prior study comparing the stress reduction effects of horticultural therapy according to MBTI personality types (An et al., 2021) found that reductions in present problem-related stress varied by personality type. Specifically, the Perceiving type experienced decreases in academic and economic stress, whereas the Judging type showed decreases in stress related to the future and values, indicating that the stress reduction effects of horticultural therapy differ depending on personality type. Although this study did not examine the MBTI types of the experimental group participants, it can be interpreted that the university students in the experimental group improved their ability to more proactively cope with stress related to the future and values through the program. Furthermore, considering the effects of horticultural therapy by classifying them into psychosocial, cognitive, and physical domains (Kang and Kang, 2021), the horticultural therapy program incorporating the Enneagram appears to be more effective in facilitating changes in university students’ awareness of their situations (cognitive domain) rather than in improving their ability to solve practical and realistic problems such as economic or academic issues. In other words, the horticultural therapy program incorporating the Enneagram can be interpreted as effective in efficiently managing stress related to the future and values by enhancing stability and goal orientation among the university students who participated in the experiment (Riso and Hudson, 1999).
Studies on horticultural therapy programs applying personality type theories such as the Enneagram (An et al., 2021; Kim and Cho, 2018) have verified personality type as a dependent variable rather than employing it as an intervention model, demonstrating only the potential for utilizing personality type theories like MBTI in the development and application of horticultural therapy programs. Apart from personality type theories, research on horticultural therapy incorporating intervention models for university students has shown that applying rational emotive behavior therapy—which induces changes in emotions and behaviors through cognitive changes—was effective in changing irrational beliefs, reducing employment stress, and improving career maturity among university students (Jo et al., 2019). Horticultural therapy applying Gestalt intervention models, which enhance self-awareness through current experiences and emotions, was effective in improving self-awareness and self-assertion among high school students with intellectual disabilities (Song et al., 2004). Additionally, horticultural therapy applying meditation showed reductions in depression and helplessness among older adults with dementia (Kim and Lee, 2003). These examples demonstrate that incorporating such intervention models can enhance the effects of horticultural therapy programs. However, programs incorporating these intervention models relatively lack comparisons between those with and without such intervention models, indicating a need for further research on the enhanced therapeutic effect of horticultural therapy programs when intervention models are incorporated.
The comparison group, which participated in the horticultural therapy program without incorporating the Enneagram group program, showed no significant effects of horticultural therapy, which may be due to the short duration and limited number of sessions of the program in this study (six sessions, a total of three weeks). Considering that the average number of sessions in group horticultural therapy programs is approximately 9–20 sessions (Choi, 2020; Kwon, 2022), it is suggested that a minimum of 8–9 sessions is necessary for effectiveness. Considering this, the 3-week horticultural therapy program conducted for the comparison group in this study may have been too brief to demonstrate the effects of improving self-understanding and reducing stress among university students. Nonetheless, the application of the Enneagram group program as an intervention model in this study demonstrated certain effects of the horticultural therapy program, which suggests that even within a short period, active incorporation of intervention models can enhance the effects of horticultural therapy programs.
Conclusion
This study aimed to verify the effects of a horticultural therapy program incorporating the Enneagram to enhance self-understanding and reduce stress among university students. The findings showed that only the horticultural therapy program with the Enneagram showed a positive effect on improving self-understanding and reducing stress among the participants, despite being conducted over a short period of only three weeks and six sessions. Since university students often find it difficult to commit to long-term programs due to their studies and busy schedules, relatively short-term programs tend to allow for more intensive implementation and facilitate participant recruitment. However, due to the nature of horticultural therapy programs, there may be limitations in producing effects of these programs within a short period. Nevertheless, this study suggests that incorporating a group program such as the Enneagram as an intervention model created a synergistic effect with the therapeutic elements of the horticultural therapy program. This finding implies that, in future development and implementation of short-term horticultural therapy programs, utilizing short-term therapeutic programs that applied intervention models can lead to synergies across various therapeutic effects.
This study was conducted on a small number of students from a specific university, which limits the generalizability of the findings. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct similar research with other populations beyond university students to further verify the effects of horticultural therapy programs incorporating the Enneagram as an intervention model. Furthermore, to more clearly verify the effects of horticultural therapy programs incorporating intervention models, it is necessary to conduct a comparative analysis by further subdividing the groups into: a program applying only the intervention model, a horticultural therapy program combined with the intervention model, a horticultural therapy program without the intervention model, and a control group with no treatment. Through this approach, it would be possible to systematically identify not only the effects of the horticultural therapy program itself but also the independent effects of the intervention models and the synergistic effects of both, thereby suggesting the need for follow-up research considering such diverse conditions.
Based on the findings of this study, it is anticipated that integrated programs maximizing the effects of horticultural therapy can be developed by attempting to incorporate various intervention models in addition to personality type theories such as the Enneagram into developing specialized horticultural therapy programs.
PDF Links
PubReader
ePub Link
Full text via DOI
Download Citation
