Date of Award
5-2005
Culminating Project Type
Thesis
Department
Community Psychology, Counseling and Family Therapy
College
School of Health and Human Services
First Advisor
Daniel Macari
Second Advisor
Kathryn Mayhew
Third Advisor
Christine M. Imbra
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 License.
Keywords and Subject Headings
psychosocial, development, Student leaders, involvement
Abstract
Student development has been a growing aspect of the college experience over recent years. Student development involves helping college students gain another perspective on the college experience and improve his or her skills outside his or her academic experience in areas which include physical, social, cultural, and emotional growth. One method of evaluating and increasing student development is through interaction and involvement with student services professionals. Institutions provide services including the career center, student activities, advising center, cultural center, and student union (to name a few) which allow students the opportunity to enhance their development skills. There is an implicit difference between students who take part in co-curricular activities or leadership roles on campus compared to students who attend class and leave right after. There is insufficient research that identifies how these groups of students relate in regard to their level of student development. Student development was defined by way of Chickering's seven vectors of development and measured using the Student Developmental Task and Lifestyle Assessment (SDTLA). This instrument consists of three tasks and ten subtasks that measure development using the vectors Developing Competence, Moving Through Autonomy Towards Interdependence, and Developing Mature Interpersonal Relationships. Involvement is defined as being a member of a student organization or having a part-time job on campus as work study or student help. Leadership is defined as holding an executive position within a student organization or a paid position such as resident advisor or building manager which carries responsibilities over other students.
This study of 90 students indicated that students involved in a leadership position scored significantly higher on all three of the tasks measured by the SDTLA when compared to students involved in co-curricular activities and students not involved in co-curricular activities. The three tasks include Establishing and Clarifying Purpose, Developing Autonomy, and Developing Mature Interpersonal Relationships. Suggestions for student development practice are discussed
Recommended Citation
Micalone, George A., "A Comparative Study of Psychosocial Development in Student Leaders, Involved College Students, and not Involved College Students" (2005). Culminating Projects in Community Psychology, Counseling and Family Therapy. 113.
https://repository.stcloudstate.edu/cpcf_etds/113
