21st Annual Student Research Conference
Development of Students Liberal Arts Acculturation
Christopher R. Honts*, Jennifer Crawford, Sara Bozeman, Jennifer Schmidt, and Nicole Sharp
Dr. Jeffrey Vittengl, Faculty Mentor
This study investigated changes in liberal arts acculturation (LAA) and well-being among 107 undergraduates over the course of one semester. Theorists suggest broadly that LAA is desirable (Pascarella et al., 2004), and some aspects of LAA correlate with university satisfaction (Kuh & Umbach, 2005). Previous research suggests that LAA may be operationalized as three independent dimensions labeled intellectualism, productivity, and caring for others that predict students’ well-being (Skelton et al., 2006; Crawford et al., 2007). The current study tested two hypotheses: (1) LAA would increase over the course of a college semester; and (2) lower financial stress, more writing experiences and liberal studies courses, positive faculty relationships, higher intrinsic motivations for job choice, and increases in well-being would predict increases in LAA. Only partial support for the second hypothesis was found. Instead, students’ LAA was largely stable over one semester, similar to personality.
Keywords: Liberal Arts Acculturation, Education, Psychology, Learning, Well-Being
Topic(s):Psychology
Presentation Type: Poster
Session: 13-2
Location: OP Lobby
Time: 4:15