Abstract
University students represent an elite of the nation’s youth and the pillars of its renaissance, and therefore they must be taken care of, and provide all possibilities to support them academically, psychologically and socially, and direct more attention towards studying psychological variables that contribute to building their personality, directing their behavior, giving them efficiency, effectiveness and positivity in their lives, and helping them to Facing difficulties and challenges.
One of the features of this stage is that it provides opportunities to discover the meaning of life, as students have an urgent need and an increased interest in enjoying a fulfilling and purposeful life by enriching their spiritual and existential dimension, and that their academic performance is meaningful and purposeful, and they face many challenges related to the pursuit of independence and dependence. To self, to take responsibility, to achieve scientific competence, to think about the resigned, and to establish meaningful relationships with others. In order for a university student to be able to face these challenges, he must feel the meaning and value of his life.
Viktor Frankl (1905-1997) is considered one of the first scientists who confronted the interpretation of the meaning of life through his theory of meaning therapy, and the first to refer to it as the basic and intrinsic motive of man, until he considered it the central concept in his theory of human personality (Frankl, 1982 : 131).
The meaning of life is one of the concepts that has begun to attract the attention of researchers in the field of psychology, due to its impact on all aspects of personality, as the individual has the value of his life and self-satisfaction with the meaning of that life and the role he sees as qualified to perform it in life.
This is what Frankl (1986) emphasizes. Through meaning, man feels his worth and humanity, accepts life, interacts and responds to it, achieves distinction and uniqueness, and strives to achieve his goals. The individual whose life is filled with meaning and goals finds the energy and motivation that makes him believe in the feasibility of life, and what helps him to bear the difficulties and suffering.
Many studies have demonstrated that individuals' perception of the meaning of life is positively associated with positive thinking, a sense of happiness and satisfaction with life and mental health, and it also helps them relieve stress and anxiety arising from individuals' exposure to difficulties and experiences of suffering.
King et al,2006); Ardelt, 2003; Greenstein & Breitbart, 2000; Al-Bishr, Al-Hamidi, 2019)
Whereas Denholm (2006: 9) indicated that when young people do not have the opportunity to sense a purpose, they will suffer from a lack of integration with others, increased psychological stress, and decreased productivity.
In our quest to achieve a meaning of life for university students, it is necessary to pay attention to studying psychological variables that may contribute to developing and improving the meaning of life for them. settings. Psychological toughness is one of the most important positive variables that have a strong role in facing life pressures and endurance, as psychological hardness acts as a protective source against difficulties and the individual’s awareness that he has resistance, and psychological hardness may help him predict the extent of his enjoyment of happiness and that it relieves the impact of stress and contributes to Helping individuals survive and reconcile (Khoshad, 1999 & Maddi).
Cobaza sees that psychological toughness is a complex consisting of three independent dimensions: commitment, control, and challenge, and these three components are linked to an individual's high ability to challenge environmental stresses and life events, and transform stressful life events to opportunities for personal growth (Kobasa, 1979).
In the sense that the meaning of life is linked to a positive attitude and effective confrontation with stressful life events, and this is what many studies indicated, including (Debats, et. Al, 1995; Abdul Samad, 2002; Raslan, Rahal, and Hilal, 2017; El Hadary, Soma Ahmed, 2018).
While social self-efficacy refers to an individual's confidence in their life and their ability to engage in important social interactions necessary to initiate and maintain interpersonal relationships, this includes behaviors such as interpersonal negotiation and conflict, meeting new people, assertiveness in social situations, establishing romantic relationships, and developing friendships (2000, Betz & Smith) Bandura (1977) developed the concept of self-efficacy, which is defined as individuals' belief that they can successfully perform behaviors that will lead to desirable effects. Betz, & Hermann (2006) noted that social self-efficacy enables Individuals of self-reliance, assertiveness and self-esteem also play a role in the academic field by helping students transform their goals and establish meaningful and authentic social relationships.
As for the point of control, it is among the variables related to personality, which is seen as a personality trait or as an individual's cognitive style, and it is an important variable for explaining human behavior in different social situations. Based on the social learning theory of Rotter, 1966), the locus of control is the way in which the individual perceives events, which are divided into internal and external. Internally oriented individuals believe that positive or negative events that occur to them are primarily related to internal factors or related to personality, intelligence and personality traits. As for externally oriented individuals, they believe that events, whether positive or negative, are primarily related to external factors such as luck, chance, the influence of others, or to unknown external factors. (Rotter, 1966