Abstract

Orphaned adolescents, due to the lack of emotional and familial support, face greater psychological and social challenges compared to regular adolescents. This research aimed to examine the psychological differences between orphaned adolescents and regular adolescents in the dimensions of motivational beliefs, emotional awareness, and social competence. The research method was descriptive with a causal-comparative design. The statistical population consisted of 120 adolescents (60 orphaned and 60 regular adolescents) from the city of Shiraz, who were selected through convenient sampling. To collect data, questionnaires on motivational beliefs, emotional awareness, and social competence were used, and the data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). The results indicated that there were significant differences between orphaned adolescents and regular adolescents in all components. Specifically, regular adolescents scored higher in the components of motivational beliefs and emotional awareness. Additionally, in the social competence component, regular adolescents exhibited greater proficiency in social and emotional skills. This study shows that orphaned adolescents, due to the lack of psychological and emotional support, are more prone to psychological and social problems, and enhancing these psychological dimensions can help improve their psychological and social well-being.