Abstract

Research on supportive communication was examined in relation to students’ goals of earning a college degree and their intent to persist. Theories of student departure (Bean, 1985; Tinto, 1993) informed research questions assessing the impact of how social support from family members and friends affected commitment to the goal of graduation and how commitment to the goal of graduation influenced intent to persist. First-year college students completed a questionnaire at 2 time points during their first year of college. Results revealed that initial support from family and friends positively impacted initial commitment to the goal of graduation. Subsequent support from family impacted subsequent commitment to the goal of graduating, and subsequent commitment to graduating impacted intention to persist.

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

9-2014

Notes/Citation Information

Published in The Journal of College Student Development, v. 55, no. 6, p. 531-547.

Copyright © 2014 The Johns Hopkins University Press. This article first appeared in The Journal of College Student Development, Volume 55, Issue 6, Sept., 2014, pages 531-547.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/csd.2014.0064

Funding Information

This research was funded by the Manoa Undergraduate Experience and Engagement Committee, an initiative of the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa Office of Undergraduate Education to improve undergraduate student retention.

Table 1.jpg (112 kB)
Table 1: Hierarchical Regression Results: Predicting Students’ Initial Commitment to the Goal of Graduation (RQ1)

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Table 2: Hierarchical Regression Results: Predicting Students’ Subsequent Commitment to the Goal of Graduation (RQ2)

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Table 3: Hierarchical Regression Results: Predicting Intention to Persist (RQ3)

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