The Relationship Between College Student Involvement, Investment, and Satisfaction Sarah Maurer Hanover College

Thoughts on Student Satisfaction Given the considerable investment of time and energy that most students make in attending college, their perceptions of the value of that experience should be given substantial weight. Indeed, it is difficult to argue that student satisfaction can be legitimately subordinated to any other educational outcome. -Alexander Astin, 1993

Involvement and Satisfaction Participation in Greek Organizations (Pennington et al, 1989) Student Athletes (Pascarella et al, 1991) Astin (1984): Residential Students vs. Commuting Students Abrahamowicz (1988): Greatest differences in student satisfaction found in interpersonal relationships

Rusbult’s Investment Model Introduced by Rusbult (1983) Satisfaction increases with lower costs and higher rewards Commitment increases with higher rewards and investment size, and lower costs Theory has been used to apply to job commitment (1983); satisfaction and commitment in relationships (1986)

Hatcher (1992) Studied College Student commitment using Rusbult’s Investment Model Phase 1: Sample of students generated concrete examples of rewards, costs, alternatives, and investments associated with college Phase 2: Examples used to teach concepts to a new sample of students, who then completed the global measures of the investment model variables Found satisfaction, alternatives, and investments each affected commitment

Current Study Case Study of Hanover College Approximately 1,000 students Private, located in rural Indiana Largely residential Issue of retention

Hypotheses Involvement will be positively correlated with Investment. Involvement will be positively correlated with Satisfaction. Investment will be positively correlated with Satisfaction.

Methods Link to online survey was sent to all Hanover College students through weekly Student Life E-Newsletter – 125 total participants Survey contained measures for Involvement, Investment, and Satisfaction, based on previous studies Also included open-ended questions to allow for additional comments from participants

Sample Items Involvement Asked for students to list activities and specify if office held – Weighted activities in analysis Investment (  =.71) If you were to consider withdrawing from Hanover, how much do you think you would lose from the following area of your life? Satisfaction Knowing what you do now, how likely would you be to enroll at Hanover again?

Results Investment Min: 2.00 Max: 4.75 Mean: 3.57 St. Dev.: Satisfaction Min: 1.00 Max: 5.00 Mean: 3.59 St. Dev.: Involvement Min: 0.00 Max: Mean: St. Dev.: 6.27

Results No significant correlation between involvement and investment (r= -.08, p=.41, N=125) No significant correlation between involvement and satisfaction (r= -.05, p=.57, N=125) Significant positive correlation between satisfaction and investment (r=.66, p=.00, N=125)

Additional Factors Gender: even across investment, satisfaction, and involvement Place of residence: no effect on investment, satisfaction, or involvement GPA: no effect on investment, satisfaction, or involvement Type of activity: no effect on investment or satisfaction

Class Year Effects Juniors least likely to reenroll (3.15), sophomores most likely (4.05) Investment and Satisfaction reflected same pattern Juniors and seniors more involved than first-years and sophomores Trend toward significance

Class Year & Reenrollment

Conclusions One of three hypotheses supported: Investment positively correlated with Satisfaction Involvement findings go against previous research

Future Research Create more accurate measure of student involvement Measure level of investment in individual activities

Implications for Student Life Professionals Involvement does not seem to be as important in satisfaction as previously thought Critical for students to be invested in the institution

Questions?