Graduation Date
Summer 2022
Document Type
Thesis
Program
Master of Arts degree with a major in Psychology, option Academic Research
Committee Chair Name
Brandilynn Villarreal
Committee Chair Affiliation
HSU Faculty or Staff
Second Committee Member Name
Amber Gaffney
Second Committee Member Affiliation
HSU Faculty or Staff
Third Committee Member Name
Maria Iturbide
Third Committee Member Affiliation
HSU Faculty or Staff
Keywords
University students, Retention, Academic performance, Prosociality, Social isolation, Online-learning, COVID-19
Subject Categories
Psychology
Abstract
The experiences of university students impacted by COVID-19 and circumstances surrounding their experiences, help inform the future of higher education in the United States. In the uncertain and rapidly evolving higher education system, understanding retention patterns of students has become increasingly complex. This study examined how self-perceived prosociality and self-perceived social isolation among university students in an online education environment relate to the intention to re-enroll in university and their academic achievement (Grade Point Average; GPA). Ninety-seven university and community college students completed an online survey. Based on previous literature, we expected women to report higher prosociality perceptions than men (e.g., Mavroveli & Sánchez-Ruiz, 2011; Ruckmani & Balachandra, 2015). We also expected online engagement to mediate the relationships between prosociality perceptions and GPA and retention intention, and between social isolation and GPA and retention intention, respectively. Except for the gender differences hypothesis, all other study hypotheses were not supported. Areas for future research include additional changes in higher education and student stressors. This study adds to the literature bridging educational and psychological research and highlights areas of potential growth for college students’ academic performance.
Citation Style
APA 7
Recommended Citation
Schick, Ashli L M, "Retention and performance during COVID-19: Prosociality perception, social isolation, and online engagement" (2022). Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects. 584.
https://digitalcommons.humboldt.edu/etd/584