Social Exclusion, Subjective Academic Success, Well-Being, and the Meaning of Trust

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Abstract

Abstract. This article uses a person-environment fit perspective to investigate whether and how educational background and general trust are related to fit (or not) with university life as well as to criteria of subjective academic success and well-being. To analyze how students perceive fit with their university, we measured their perception of exclusion and their affective commitment. The sample includes N = 424 students from two German universities, about half of whom have at least one parent with tertiary education. The results show that especially general trust is related to the subjective criteria of academic success, and that this relationship is mediated by the perception of exclusion, on the one hand, and by the affective commitment, on the other hand. A comparison of the two mediators shows that the perception of exclusion is particularly potent in terms of predicting satisfaction with coping with study demands and general well-being. We discuss the results in terms of their significance to the future diversity management at universities for overcoming social inequality and increasing social inclusion.

Soziale Exklusion, subjektiver Studienerfolg, Wohlbefinden und die Bedeutung von Vertrauen

Zusammenfassung. Vor dem Hintergrund der P-E-Fit-Theorie wird der Einfluss des Bildungshintergrundes und des generellen Vertrauens auf die subjektive Passung (Fit) der Studierenden zu ihrer Universität sowie auf subjektive Studienerfolgskriterien und Wohlbefinden untersucht. Als Indikatoren des Fits (oder Missfits) der Studierenden mit ihrer Universität werden das Exklusionsempfinden und das affektive Commitment betrachtet. Die Stichprobe umfasst N = 424 Studierende von zwei Universitäten. Die Hälfte der Studierenden stammt aus Familien mit akademischem Hintergrund. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass vor allem das generelle Vertrauen mit den subjektiven Studienerfolgskriterien und dem Wohlbefinden zusammenhängt und dieser Zusammenhang durch das Exklusionsempfinden und das affektive Commitment mediiert wird. Ein Vergleich der beiden Mediatoren zeigt, dass das Exklusionsempfinden insbesondere die Zufriedenheit mit der Bewältigung von Studienbelastungen und das Wohlbefinden vorhersagt. Die Ergebnisse werden im Hinblick auf zukünftige Erfordernisse universitären Diversity Managements zur Reduktion sozialer Ungleichheit und erhöhter Inklusion diskutiert.

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Asymptotic and resampling strategies for assessing and comparing indirect effects in multiple mediator models

Kristopher J Preacher, Andrew Hayes (2008)

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WHO world mental health surveys international college student project: Prevalence and distribution of mental disorders.

Nancy Sampson, Alan Zaslavsky, Dan J. Stein … (2018)

Increasingly, colleges across the world are contending with rising rates of mental disorders, and in many cases, the demand for services on campus far exceeds the available resources. The present study reports initial results from the first stage of the WHO World Mental Health International College Student project, in which a series of surveys in 19 colleges across 8 countries (Australia, Belgium, Germany, Mexico, Northern Ireland, South Africa, Spain, United States) were carried out with the aim of estimating prevalence and basic sociodemographic correlates of common mental disorders among first-year college students. Web-based self-report questionnaires administered to incoming first-year students (45.5% pooled response rate) screened for six common lifetime and 12-month DSM-IV mental disorders: major depression, mania/hypomania, generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, alcohol use disorder, and substance use disorder. We focus on the 13,984 respondents who were full-time students: 35% of whom screened positive for at least one of the common lifetime disorders assessed and 31% screened positive for at least one 12-month disorder. Syndromes typically had onsets in early to middle adolescence and persisted into the year of the survey. Although relatively modest, the strongest correlates of screening positive were older age, female sex, unmarried-deceased parents, no religious affiliation, nonheterosexual identification and behavior, low secondary school ranking, and extrinsic motivation for college enrollment. The weakness of these associations means that the syndromes considered are widely distributed with respect to these variables in the student population. Although the extent to which cost-effective treatment would reduce these risks is unclear, the high level of need for mental health services implied by these results represents a major challenge to institutions of higher education and governments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).