Effects of a Psychological Intervention on Students' Sense of Belonging, Study Satisfaction, and Dropout Intention

• In Event: Research Into Higher Education: Enrollment, Course Taking, and Dropping Out

Abstract

Previous research incorporated students’ sense of belonging to university as an important antecedent of study satisfaction and dropout intentions. We tested the effectiveness of the social-belonging intervention on N = 86 freshmen’s sense of belonging, study satisfaction, and dropout intentions—for the first time outside North America (i.e. at a German public university). The core of the intervention is a reading-writing-exercise that teaches that worries about belonging are common among freshman and diminish over time. The results of a pre-post-follow-up randomized control study reveal a main effect of intervention on belonging and study satisfaction and a marginally significant main effect on dropout intentions after several months. Sense of belonging mediated the intervention effect on study satisfaction and dropout intentions.

Authors

• Tamara Marksteiner, University of Mannheim

• Oliver Dickhäuser, University of Mannheim

• Stefan Janke, University of Mannheim

• Gregory Mariotti Walton, Stanford University