A VALUES-BASED INTERVENTION TO IMPROVE COLLEGE STUDENT PERFORMANCE AND RETENTION

The current study examined the effects of a values-based intervention on college student performance, and was the first known study to investigate the impact of the intervention on college student retention. Given their increased likelihood of experiencing identity and belongingness threats in the college environment, of specific interest was whether the intervention would be especially beneficial for underrepresented minorities, including students of color and first-generation students. This study did not replicate previous findings indicating that writing about personal values in the experimental condition improved academic performance among minorities. Indeed, there was a marginal effect of the intervention on fall semester GPA, such that participants who wrote about others’ values in the control condition obtained higher GPAs than participants in the experimental condition – particularly among minorities. Minority controls also scored marginally higher on a post-intervention measure of authenticity than minorities in the experimental condition, controlling for baseline levels of the construct. No condition- or group-based differences in sense of belonging were observed, and neither authenticity nor sense of belonging were found to mediate the effects of the intervention. Academic competence contingency of self-worth was not found to moderate the effects of the intervention. The intervention was not found to impact fall semester credits, the index of college student persistence used in this study. Study limitations and future directions are discussed.