ABSTRACT
Among physical disabilities, vision problems (low vision or blindness) are one of the most important sensory defects that, due to the role of vision in understanding environmental information and learning, confront the affected people with many problems. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to examine the role of ego strength and thematic relationships in predicting the quality of life of blind and visually impaired students: the mediating role of the sense of agency. The current research was a correlational study. The statistical population of the present study includes all blind and partially sighted people between the ages of 12 and 35 who were members of the Blind Association of Khuzestan province in 1401, who had a university education (associate to doctorate). The research tools included the Quality of Life Questionnaire for the Blind and Visually Impaired (2000), the Questionnaire for the Quality of Subjective Relationships (1985), the Ego Strength Questionnaire (2003), and the Sense of Agency Questionnaire for Visually Impaired People (2016). Structural equation modeling was used for data analysis. The results showed that the proposed research model had a good fit. The indirect path between ego strength and quality of life (P=0.001) is positive and significant. It can be concluded that the sense of agency mediates the relationship between the quality of subject relationships and the quality of life of blind and low-vision students in a negative way, and the relationship between ego strength and their quality of life in a positive and meaningful way.
Keywords: Ego strength, quality of life, quality of subject relationships, sense of agency
Cite this Article: Asvadzadeh, F., Safarzadeh, S., & Homaei, R. (2025). The Role of Ego Strength and Thematic Relationships in Predicting the Quality of Life of Visually Impaired and Blind Students: The Mediating Role of Sense of Agency. Psychology of Exceptional Individuals, 15(60), 1-30. https://doi.org/10.22054/JPE.2026.73875.2582
© 2025 by Allameh Tabataba'i University Press
Publisher: Allameh Tabataba'i University Press
 
 
Extended Abstract
Introduction
Blindness is a disability that creates a feeling of insecurity and failure in a person, and by increasing nervous pressure, it can affect the psychological balance and general organization of the personality. Blindness by itself does not destroy the organization and personality of the blind person, but the attitude of the blind person can affect the organization of his personality. The importance of quality of life in visually impaired and blind people and how it is related to vision loss has a negative effect on quality of life, according to the results of most articles. Vision is a key factor for mental health. A person who is visually impaired has difficulty in doing their daily tasks and sometimes becomes dependent on others for the simplest tasks. This dependency can lower the self-confidence of the visually impaired person and cause dissatisfaction with life and increase the incidence of depression.
Research Question
Does ego strength, the quality of subject relationships, with the mediation of sense of agency, have a direct or indirect effect on the quality of life of blind and partially sighted students in Khuzestan province?
Literature Review
In general, despite the proximity of the concept of quality of life with inner strength and spirituality and sense of agency (Lewis, Roux, 2011), and their relationship with other components such as self-acceptance (Vasil, 2013), thematic relationships (Kernberg, 2006) and performance Family (Farrell et al., 2018) it seems that no specific modeling research has been done on the relationship between components and quality of life in the disabled group, especially the blind and visually impaired. According to the above content and taking into account that blindness and low vision are among the factors that can limit a person in various fields and daily activities, despite having many abilities, and as a result, a person from the society and the people around him distance himself and feel weak in his abilities and talents, therefore, having a strong ego that has the ability to solve problems and can fight or adapt to the problems and challenges ahead is very important. In today's world, if we want to have blind people with the ability to show talent, their abilities should be looked at positively and scientific ways should be suggested in the field of empowering them, hence the test of the quality of life model based on unconditional self-acceptance. The strength of ego, the quality of subject relationships, the attitude to time and the hope of employment by mediating the sense of agency in the blind and visually impaired students of Khuzestan province are necessary and important.
Methodology
In terms of the descriptive method, the current research is of the correlation type, which was carried out in the form of a structural equation model. The statistical population of the research included all blind and partially sighted people between the ages of 21 and 35 who were members of the blind association of Khuzestan province in 2022, who had a university education (associate to doctorate). The sample size was calculated based on the number of research variables and the statistical model of path analysis, according to the number of direct paths, the number of exogenous variables, and the number of error variances, the number of parameters was calculated, the number of variables in total is suitable for a sample size of 160 people, which is suitable for preventing distortion. Due to possible attrition of the subjects, the sample number was 233. The sampling method of the research was purposeful in such a way that the criteria for entering the research included satisfaction with participation in the research, diagnosis of visual impairment in rehabilitation centers and through a doctor, age between 22 and 35 years, the minimum level of education was associate's degree and lack of employment, and the exit criteria included lack of satisfaction with the continuation of cooperation and failure to complete the questionnaires or distortion of the answer sheet. The research tools included the Quality of Life Questionnaire for the Blind and Visually Impaired (2000), the Questionnaire for the Quality of Subjective Relationships (1985), the Ego Strength Questionnaire (2003), and the Sense of Agency Questionnaire for Visually Impaired People (2016). Structural equation modeling was used for data analysis.
Results
The total path coefficient between ego strength and quality of life (P=0.001, β=0.420) is positive and significant. The total path coefficient between the quality of subject relationships and quality of life (P=0.001, β=0.361) was negative and significant. The path coefficient between sense of agency and quality of life (P=0.001, β=0.449) was also positive and significant. Table 4 shows that the indirect path coefficient between ego strength and quality of life (β=0.123, P=0.001) is positive and the indirect path coefficient between the quality of subject relationships and quality of life (P=0.001, 189 β = -0) is negative and significant. Based on this, it was concluded that the sense of agency mediates the relationship between the quality of subject relationships and the quality of life of the blind and visually impaired students in a negative way and the relationship between ego strength and their quality of life in a positive and meaningful way. The sum of squared multiple correlations (R2) for the quality of life variable is equal to 0.53, which indicates that the strength of ego, the quality of subject relations and the sense of agency explain a total of 53% of the variance of the quality of life of the blind and visually impaired students.
Discussion
Unfortunately, in Iranian society, official social support for the disabled is very weak, so efforts should be made to maintain informal social support. One of the important sources of informal social support is the family. Family members should feel responsible for the disabled person in the family. In the next step, it is necessary to pay attention to the fact that people usually have more in common with their friends and understand each other better, and this causes emotional and psychological support for disabled people.
Conclusion
In the discussion of research proposals, it is possible to mention the design and standardization of measuring instruments for people with visual impairments, the design and drafting and execution of contracts, especially for people with visual impairments. It seems necessary for the officials and planners of the health system to include specialized universal training with mindfulness and focused on the present, with the aim of increasing "unconditional self-acceptance" in people; considering the importance of the role of the sense of agency in predicting resistance to life's problems, teaching skills that strengthen the sense of agency and emotion management as an important and key factor in creating motivation, along with other educational methods, is suggested to people.
 
 
Ethical Considerations
Adherence to Research Ethics Principles
The authors have observed all ethical principles in conducting and publishing this scientific research, and this is confirmed by all of them.
Author Contributions
All authors contributed equally to the conceptualization of the article and the writing of the original and subsequent drafts.
Conflict of Interest
“The authors declare no conflict of interest.”
Funding
This article was conducted independently by the authors without any financial support.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to express their deepest gratitude to all the participants who contributed to the success of this research.