Psychosociocultural factors and the social and academic integration of Latino(a) college students

Arlene Velez-Galan, Purdue University

Abstract

Using two simultaneous regressions, I examined the effects of psychosociocultural factors (i.e. motivational orientation, interpersonal guilt, attitudinal familism, cultural congruity, acculturation) on the social and academic integration to college of Latino students. Latino(a) college students ( N = 120) completed the following questionnaires: (a) demographic form; (b) Institutional Integration Scale (Pascarella & Terenzini, 1980); (c) Career Decision-Making Autonomy Scale (Guay, 2005); (d) Interpersonal Guilt Questionnaire (O’Connor, Berry, Weiss, Bush, & Sampson, 1997); (e) Attitudinal Familism Scale (Lugo Steidel & Contreras, 2003); (f) Cultural Congruity Scale (Gloria & Kurpius, 1996); and (f) the Bidimensional Acculturation Scale (Marin & Gamba, 1996). Motivational orientation, interpersonal guilt, familism, cultural congruity, and acculturation combined account for 10% of the variance in social integration and 22% of the variance in academic integration. Cultural congruity and intrinsic motivation contributed unique variance in academic integration of Latino(a) students. These results provide support for the applicability of the PSC framework (Castellanos & Gloria, 2007) when helping with Latino(a) college students navigate through the challenges encountered while pursuing degrees in higher education. Implications for practice, limitations of the study, and future research are discussed.

Degree

Ph.D.

Advisors

Kelly, Purdue University.

Subject Area

Educational psychology|Counseling Psychology

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