How social status translates into university students’ well-being: motivational conflicts do not explain interindividual differences
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Date
Publisher
Frontiers Media SA
Abstract
Social status influences various outcomes in the higher education context, such
as students’ cognitive and affective well-being. Yet, it is not fully understood to
date how it translates into such psychological outcomes. Motivational conflicts
arise when two colliding activities compete for resources and cannot be realized at
the same time. Students frequently experience such conflicts, which compromise
well-being. Since action opportunities depend on social status, the present
study examines whether students experience motivational conflicts differently
depending on social status and whether this explains impaired well-being of
students with comparatively lower social status. While research suggests that
different characteristics of students with lower social status are related to aspects
of conflict experience, social status has never been assessed as an influential
individual factor in motivational conflicts before. In two studies, German speaking
university students reported their social status, conflict frequency, conflict reactivity,
and well-being in online questionnaires. Structural equation modelling revealed
that students with lower social status reported lower academic well-being and
partly showed different conflict experiences. However, no mediating effects for
well-being could be shown. Implications and the transnational generalizability of
findings on social status differences in higher education as well as their applicability
at different educational levels are discussed.
Metadata
Philipps-Universität Marburg
License
Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as Attribution 4.0 International