What are the respective roles of developmental tasks in college student belonging? : testing a balance-integration framework

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Anistranski, Joseph Anthony, author

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Summary

Sense of belonging is an important construct that has been understudied in college student development. Prior research suggests that undergraduate students' sense of belonging plays a key role in p...

Sense of belonging is an important construct that has been understudied in college student development. Prior research suggests that undergraduate students' sense of belonging plays a key role in persistence and degree completion. In this study, I test the assertion that sense of belonging stems from developmental tasks that are typically salient in adolescents' lives prior to attending college. Undergraduate students at a large, public, predominantly-white institution responded to a self-report questionnaire about developmental tasks, sense of belonging, and intentions to persist in college. Structural equation models evaluated developmental tasks' associations with sense of belonging, examining paths to intentions to persist. Although fit indices provided contradictory assessments of this approach, results indicated that social adjustment, campus climate, and academic conscientiousness play key roles in predicting sense of belonging, which, in turn, predicted both commitment to the institution and commitment to completing a college degree.

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