Dispositional Resilience and Person-Environment Fit as Predictors of College Student Retention

310 Pages·2017·0.85 MB·English

Clemson University
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All Dissertations Dissertations
5-2012
Dispositional Resilience and Person-Environment
Fit as Predictors of College Student Retention
Melissa Waitsman
Clemson University,
DISPOSITIONAL RESILIENCE AND PERSON-ENVIRONMENT
FIT AS PREDICTORS OF COLLEGE
STUDENT RETENTION

A Dissertation
Presented to
the Graduate School of
Clemson University

In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree
Doctor of Philosophy
Industrial-Organizational Psychology

by
Melissa C. Waitsman
May 2012

Accepted by:
Robert R. Sinclair, Committee Chair
Cynthia Pury
Patrick Raymark
Patrick Rosopa
ABSTRACT
As more students drop out of college and the cost of leaving school without a
degree rises, it becomes increasingly critical to help match students to a school that will
educate them and facilitate graduation. While the college student retention literature has
formulated a number of ideas and theories about how this may be accomplished, the
current study uses an idea from the psychological literature, person-environment fit, in
order to understand the role of an individual’s fit with their college environment on
student success. The current study examines individual differences in resilience as well as
those in preferences for the presence or absence of environmental variables. Comparing
an individual’s desire for (the absence of) particular features of the college environment
to whether or not they are at a school with (or without) those attributes creates a measure
of fit. The Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model is used to explore the role that
dispositional resilience and job demands such as a lack of fit between an individual’s
preferences and objective environmental features play in affecting student retention and
adjustment.
The current study hypothesizes that resilience will be most effectively measured
by a single factor resilience model comprised of hardiness, core self-evaluations (CSE),
and positive psychological capital (PsyCap). It is further hypothesized that resilience and
good fit will individually and interactively predict higher commitment, better adjustment,
and fewer intentions to leave a school. It is also hypothesized that fit will be of particular
importance in predicting outcomes for students in the first half of their college careers.
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All of the hypotheses were tested utilizing an archival data set collected from
three diverse colleges and universities. Factor analyses led to the creation of a new six
factor resilience model comprised of facets from all three composite constructs as well as
nine dimensions of college fit. These fit dimensions as well as the resilience dimensions
predicted all of the retention-related outcomes. Additionally, there were some significant
interactions between fit and year in school as well as fit and resilience, the majority of
which showed that individuals high in fit and resilience showed the greatest levels of
adjustment to college and lowest levels of intentions to transfer.
Results supported the importance of both fit and resilience for understanding
retention as well as the different roles fit plays for those in their first two years of college
compared to those later in their college careers. These results also underscored the
importance of resilience, particularly the purpose dimension addressing how students
make meaning from their lives, for understanding student retention. Contributions,
limitations, and future directions are discussed.

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DEDICATION

I dedicate this dissertation to my parents, Rick and Mindy, and my sister, Sara.
You all have believed in me and reminded me that I can grow up to do whatever I want.
And it won’t be long before there’s another Dr. Waitsman! I’ll like you forever and I’ll
love you for always. And hopefully you get the reference this time around, dad. But no
matter what, I love you.
This dissertation is also dedicated to my partner, teammate, and best friend,
Anthony. I am so lucky to have you in my life, through the tough decisions and bad days,
frustrations and sleep-deprived days, this dedication is not nearly enough thanks for all
the support you have provided me with on this journey. I love you and I can’t wait for the
next adventure!

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I owe an enormous debt of gratitude to so many people, but none more than my
advisor, Dr. Robert Sinclair. His guidance and knowledge have proved invaluable as I
made the tough decisions, chose the future, and pursued the most vibrant life.
I am also grateful to Rick Heller and John-David McKee of Umatch Risk
Management for Colleges & Universities. Without them, this project truly would not
have been possible. I could not have asked to be part of a better, more enthusiastic, and
genuinely caring team.
Thank you also to my dissertation committee. Dr. Patrick Raymark has handled so
many of my questions and concerns with endless patience and he still agreed to be part of
a team that had to read this lengthy dissertation. Dr. Patrick Rosopa provided so much
statistical knowledge to me both now and as a part of my thesis committee. And Dr.
Cindy Pury helped me see so many uses for this research and provided expert advice on
positive psychology in addition to her advice and support when I first started teaching.
They have taught me so much throughout my graduate school career and their help with
this dissertation was just a small part of all that they’ve taught me.
Lastly, my friends and family have provided so much support to me over the
years and I will forever be grateful to them. Hopefully, at the completion of this project,
I’m a little closer to becoming the person that Max and Bella already think I am. Thank
you all for being a part of my life and sticking with me through these challenging years
and making them a lot more fun!

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

TITLE PAGE .................................................................................................................... i

ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................... ii

DEDICATION ................................................................................................................ iv

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................... v

LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................... x

LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................... xviii

CHAPTER

I. INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................... 1

Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) Model................................................... 2

II. PERSON-ENVIRONMENT FIT................................................................... 7

Conceptualizations of Fit ......................................................................... 8
Supplementary Versus Complementary Models ............................... 12
Objective Versus Subjective Fit......................................................... 15
Fit as a Multidimensional Construct .................................................. 17
Domains of Fit ....................................................................................... 18
Person-Organization Fit ..................................................................... 18
Person-Group Fit ................................................................................ 20
Person-Supervisor Fit......................................................................... 22
Person-Vocation Fit ........................................................................... 24
Person-Job Fit .................................................................................... 24
The Relationship Between Fit Domains ................................................ 26
The Holland Model and Person-Vocation Fit .................................... 27
Conclusion ............................................................................................. 30

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Table of Contents (Continued)

Page

III. THE COLLEGE ENVIRONMENT AND COLLEGE STUDENT
RETENTION ......................................................................................... 32

College Student Retention ..................................................................... 32
College Search and Choice ................................................................ 34
Fit as a Predictor of Retention ............................................................... 36
Academics .......................................................................................... 36
Climate ............................................................................................... 37
Financial ............................................................................................. 38
Off Campus ........................................................................................ 39
On Campus and Campus Life ............................................................ 39
Social.................................................................................................. 41
Sports ................................................................................................. 43
Student Body ...................................................................................... 43
Conclusion ............................................................................................. 44

IV. INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES AND RESLIENCE CONSTRUCTS ....... 45

Individual Differences ........................................................................... 45
Early Personality Research ................................................................ 45
Dispositional Resilience......................................................................... 46
Hardiness............................................................................................ 48
Commitment ................................................................................. 51
Control ........................................................................................... 52
Challenge ....................................................................................... 53
Hardiness in the Nomological Net ..................................................... 55
Core Self-Evaluations ........................................................................ 57
Emotional Stability ........................................................................ 61
Generalized Self-Efficacy .............................................................. 62
Locus of Control ............................................................................ 64
Self-Esteem .................................................................................... 64
Positive Psychological Capital ........................................................... 65
Confidence or Self-Efficacy .......................................................... 66
Optimism........................................................................................ 66
Hope ............................................................................................... 68
Resilience ....................................................................................... 69
Hardiness, CSE, and PsyCap as Dispositional Resilience .................... 70
Conclusion ............................................................................................ 72

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Table of Contents (Continued)

Page

V. HYPOTHESIS DEVELOPMENT ............................................................... 74

Understanding Dispositional Resilience and College Environments .... 74
Understanding Retention Through Proximal Outcomes ........................ 75
Adaptation to College .................................................................... 76
Affective Commitment .................................................................. 77
Intentions to Leave and/or Transfer and Search Behaviors ........... 79

VI. METHOD .................................................................................................... 84

Participants ............................................................................................. 84
Measures ................................................................................................ 85
Demographics .................................................................................... 85
Dispositional Resilience..................................................................... 86
Hardiness....................................................................................... 87
Core Self-Evaluations ................................................................... 87
Positive Psychological Capital ...................................................... 88
Objective Fit....................................................................................... 88
Outcomes ........................................................................................... 92
Adjustment to College ................................................................... 92
Affective Commitment .................................................................. 92
Intentions to Leave and/or Transfer and Search Behaviors ........... 93

VII. RESULTS .................................................................................................... 94

Data Screening and Cleaning ................................................................. 94
Dimensions of College Fit ..................................................................... 96
Models of Resilience............................................................................ 103
The Predictive Power of Fit and Resilience ......................................... 107
Resilience ......................................................................................... 107
College Fit ........................................................................................ 110
Fit by Year Interactions ....................................................................... 112
Fit by Resilience Interactions............................................................... 115

VIII. DISCUSSION ............................................................................................ 119

Dimensions of College Fit ................................................................... 119
Models of Resilience............................................................................ 122
The Predictive Power of Fit and Resilience ......................................... 123

viii
Table of Contents (Continued)

Page

Resilience ......................................................................................... 123
College Fit ........................................................................................ 127
Fit by Year Interactions ....................................................................... 129
Fit by Resilience Interactions............................................................... 131
Contributions........................................................................................ 132
Limitations and Future Directions ....................................................... 136

APPENDICES ............................................................................................................. 141

A: Demographic Measures ............................................................................. 142
B: Dispositional Resilience Measures ............................................................ 145
C: Objective Fit Measure ................................................................................ 147
D: Outcome Measures..................................................................................... 149

REFERENCES ............................................................................................................ 151

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