20th Annual Student Research Conference
Social Science
Why is Liberal Arts Acculturation Related to Well-Being?
Amy M. Wessel*, Andrew Skelton, Jennifer N. Crawford, Ben Greenberg, Christopher R. Honts, and Cynthia Wooldridge
Dr. Jeffrey Vittengl, Faculty Mentor
This study examined the structure of liberal arts acculturation and its connection to college students' well-being. Previous research suggested that the structure of liberal arts acculturation consists of "intellectualism," "caring for others," and "productivity" (Meltzer, 2006; Skelton, 2006) and that negative and distorted cognition predict low well-being (Bernard, 1995; DiGiuseppe, 1996). We hypothesized that the dimensions of liberal arts acculturation would replicate and again predict well-being. Secondly, we hypothesized that negative cognition would predict low liberal arts acculturation. Data were collected from 197 undergraduate volunteers (73.10% women) using 26 self-report scales. Participants' self-reports on 13 facets of liberal arts acculturation were submitted to factor analysis, which yielded the three quasi-independent dimensions found previously. Intellectualism was not significantly related to well-being, but productivity and caring for others were moderately related, suggesting that among students at a liberal arts and sciences university, some aspects of liberal arts acculturation and well-being are interrelated.
Keywords: Liberal Arts, Well-Being
Topic(s):Psychology
Presentation Type: Poster
Session: 9-2
Location: OP Lobby
Time: 4:15 pm