A new pathway to university retention? Identity fusion with university predicts retention independently of grades
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Accepted version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Individuals who are “strongly fused” with a group view the group as self-defining. As such, they should be particularly reluctant to leave it. For the first time, we investigate the implications of identity fusion for university retention. We found that students who were strongly fused with their university (+1SD) were 7–9% points more likely than weakly fused students (−1SD) to remain in school up to a year later. Fusion with university predicted subsequent retention in four samples (N = 3,193) and held while controlling for demographics, personality, prior academic performance, and belonging uncertainty. Interestingly, fusion with university was largely unrelated to grades, suggesting that identity fusion provides a novel pathway to retention independent of established pathways like academic performance. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.
Date Issued
2021-01
Online Publication Date
2023-05-09T14:51:21Z
Date Acceptance
2020-02-01
ISSN
1948-5506
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Start Page
108
End Page
117
Journal / Book Title
Social Psychological and Personality Science
Volume
12
Issue
1
Copyright Statement
Copyright © 2023 Talaifar et al. Talaifar, S., Ashokkumar, A., Pennebaker, J. W., Medrano, F. N., Yeager, D. S., & Swann, W. B. (2021). A New Pathway to University Retention? Identity Fusion With University Predicts Retention Independently of Grades. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 12(1), 108–117. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550619894995
Identifier
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1948550619894995
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2020-02-19