Exploring the Interrelationships Among Academic Entitlement,Academic Performance,and Satisfaction With Life in a College Student Sample

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship among academic entitlement, life satisfaction, and academic performance as measured by cumulative grade point average. When comparing academically at-risk versus non-at-risk college students, academically at-risk students scored significantly lower on satisfaction with life than their non-at-risk peers. In addition, a significant negative correlation was found between academic entitlement and satisfaction with life for all students. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Keywords

academic entitlement life satisfaction college student success

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Alexander

C. S.

Sysko

J. M.

(2011) A study of the cognitive determinants of generation Y’s entitlement mentality. Proceedings of the Academy of Educational Leadership 16: 1–6.

American College Health Association (2016). American College Health Association-National College Health Assessment II: Reference group executive summary Fall 2015. Hanover, MD: American College Health Association.

Arnett

J. J.

(2013) The evidence for generation we and against generation me. Emerging Adulthood 1(1): 5–10.

Bound

Lovenheim

M. F.

Turner

(2010) Why have college completion rates declined? An analysis of changing student preparation and collegiate resources. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association 2(3): 129–157.

Campbell

W. K.

Bonacci

A. M.

Shelton

Exline

J. J.

Bushman

B. J.

(2004) Psychological entitlement: Interpersonal consequences and validation of a self-report measure. Journal of Personality Assessment 83: 29–45. doi:10.1207/s15327752jpa8301_04.

Carnevale, A. P., Strohl, J., & Melton, M. (2012). What’s it worth? The economic value of college majors. Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Work Force. Retrieved from http://cew.georgetown.edu/whatsitworth/.

Chow

H. P. H.

(2005) Life satisfaction among university students in a Canadian prairie city: A multivariate analysis. Social Indicators Research 70: 139–150. doi:10.1007/s11205-004-7526-0.

Chowning

Campbell

N. J.

(2009) Development and validation of a measure of academic entitlement: Individual differences in students’ externalized responsibility and entitled expectations. Journal of Educational Psychology 101: 982–997. doi:10.1037/a0016351.

Coffman

D. L.

Gilligan

T. D.

(2003) Social support, stress, and self-efficacy: Effects on students’ satisfaction. Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory, and Practice 4: 53–66. doi:10.2190/BV7X-F87X-2MXL-2B3L.

10.

Costello

E. J.

Erkanli

Angold

(2006) Is there an epidemic of child or adolescent depression? Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 47: 1263–1271.

11.

Curry, C. (2010). Expanding the nomological network: Entitlement and associated constructs (master’s thesis). Retrieved from http://commons.pacificu.edu/spp/140.

12.

Diener

Emmons

R. A.

Larsen

R. J.

Griffin

(1985) The satisfaction with life scale. Journal of Personality Assessment 49: 71–75.

13.

Dubovsky

S. L.

(1986) Coping with entitlement in medical education. New England Journal of Medicine 315: 1672–1674. doi:10.1056/NEJM198612253152609.

14.

Durden

G. C.

Ellis

L. V.

(1995) The effects of attendance on student learning in principles of economics. The American Economic Review 85(2): 343–346.

15.

Dwyer, M. (2008). Need for cognition, life satisfaction, and academic achievement. Epistimi, 12–13. Retrieved from http://www.capital.edu/uploadedFiles/Capital/Academics/Services_and_Programs/Undergraduate_Research/Epistimi/Content/Need%20for%20Cognition,%20Life%20Satisfaction,%20and%20Academic%20Achievement.pdf.

16.

Edmunson, M. (1997, September 1). On the uses of a liberal education as lite entertainment for bored college students. Harper’s Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.ljhammond.com/essay.htm.

17.

Exline

J. J.

Baumeister

R. F.

Bushman

B. J.

Campbell

W. K.

Finkel

E. J.

(2004) Too proud to let go: Narcissistic entitlement as a barrier to forgiveness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 87: 894–912. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.87.6.894.

18.

Faul

Erdfelder

Buchner

Lang

A.-G.

(2009) Statistical power analyses using G*Power 3.1: Tests for correlation and regression analyses. Behavior Research Methods 41: 1149–1160.

19.

Fenderson, J. (2012, October 5). ‘First Generation’ documentary raises the question: Is higher education only for the wealthy? Retrieved from http://www.takepart.com/article/2012/10/05/new-documentary-raises-question-higher-education-only-wealthy.

20.

Gates

T. G.

Heffernan

Sudore

(2015) Social work students as market consumers: Faculty perceptions of customer service expectations. Social Work Education 34(7): 881–894.

21.

Harvard Graduate School of Education. (2011). Pathways to prosperity: Meeting the challenges of preparing young Americans for the 21st century. Retrieved from http://www.gse.harvard.edu/news_events/features/2011/Pathways_to_Prosperity_Feb2011.pdf.

22.

Harvey

Harris

K. J.

(2010) Frustration-based outcomes of entitlement and the influence of supervisor communication. Human Relations 63(11): 1639–1660. doi:10.1177/0018726710362923.

23.

Institutional Research and Assessment. (2014). The University of Mississippi 2013-2014 mini-fact book. Retrieved from http://irep.olemiss.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/98/2014/02/Mini-Fact-Book-2013-14-FINAL.pdf.

24.

James

C. L.

Graham

(2010) An empirical study of students on academic probation. Journal of the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition 22(2): 71–92.

25.

Jayson, S., & Puente, M. (2007, April 20). Gen Y shaped, not stopped, by tragedy. USA Today. Retrieved from http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-04-17-millenials_N.htm?csp=34&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+UsatodaycomHealth-TopStories+%28News+-+Health+-+Top+Stories%29.

26.

Kopp

J. P.

Finney

S. J.

(2013) Linking academic entitlement and student incivility using latent means modeling. Journal of Experimental Education 81: 322–336.

27.

Kopp

J. P.

Zinn

T. E.

Finney

S. J.

Jurich

D. P.

(2011) The development and evaluation of the Academic Entitlement Questionnaire. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development 44(2): 105–129. doi:10.1177/0748175611400292.

28.

Lippmann

Bulanda

R. E.

Wagenaar

T. C.

(2009) Student entitlement issues and strategies for confronting entitlement in the classroom and beyond. College Teaching 57(4): 197–204. doi:10.1080/87567550903218596.

29.

Mellor, J. K. (2011). Academic entitlement and incivility: Differences in faculty and students' perceptions (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from http://arizona.openrepository.com/arizona/bitstream/10150/145417/1/azu_etd_11544_sip1_m.pdf.

30.

Mistler, B. J., Reetz, D. R., Krylowicz, B., & Barr, V. (2012). The Association for University and Counseling Center Directors annual survey. Retrieved from http://files.cmcglobal.com/Monograph_2012_AUCCCD_Public.pdf.

31.

McGlynn

A. P.

(2008) Millennials in college: How do we motivate them? Education Digest 73(6): 19–22.

32.

Myers, R. D. (2003). College success programs. Retrieved from http://www.usc.edu/dept/chepa/IDApays/publications/CollegeSuccessPrograms.pdf.

33.

National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2014). 10 leading causes of death by age group, United States - 2014. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars/pdf/leading_causes_of_death_by_age_group_2014-a.pdf.

34.

National Center for Educational Statistics. (2017a). Annual earnings of young adults. Retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_cba.asp.

35.

National Center for Educational Statistics. (2017b). Fast facts: Graduation rates. Retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=40.

36.

Paolini

Yanez

A. P.

Kelly

W. E.

(2006) An examination of worry and life satisfaction among college students. Individual Differences Research 4(5): 331–339.

37.

Papp

(2010) Virtual worlds and social networking: Reaching the Millennials. Journal of Technology Research 2: 1–15.

38.

Pavot

Diener

Colvin

C. R.

Sandvik

(1991) Further validation of the Satisfaction with Life Scale: Evidence for the cross-method convergence of well-being measures. Journal of Personality Assessment 57: 149–161. doi:10.1207/s15327752jpa5701_17.

39.

Raskin

Terry

(1988) A principal-components analysis of the Narcissistic Personality Inventory and further evidence of its construct validation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 54: 890–902. doi:10.1037//0022-3514.54.5.890.

40.

Rode

J. C.

Arthaud-Day

M. L.

Mooney

C. H.

Near

J. P.

Baldwin

T. T.

Bommer

W. H.

Rubin

R. S.

(2005) Life satisfaction and student performance. Academy of Management Learning and Education 4(4): 421–433. doi:10.5465/AMLE.2005.19086784.

41.

Tinto

(1993) Leaving college: Rethinking causes and cures of student attrition, 2nd ed. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

42.

Trombley

C. M.

(2000) Evaluating students on probation and determining intervention strategies: A comparison of probation and good standing students. Journal of College Student Retention 2(3): 239–251. doi:10.2190/4MY9-LB3T-D5Y0-APUQ.

43.

Twenge

J. M.

(2006) Generation me: Why today’s young Americans are more confident, assertive, entitled – and more miserable than ever before, New York, NY: Free Press.

44.

Twenge

J. M.

(2009) Generational changes and their impact in the classroom: Teaching Generation Me. Medical Education 43: 398–405. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2923.2009.03310.x.

45.

Vitaliano

P. P.

Russo

Young

H. M.

Becker

Maiuro

R. D.

(1991) The screen for caregiver burden. The Gerontologist 31: 76–83. doi:10.1093/geront/31.1.76.

46.

Wasieleski

D. T.

Whatley

M. A.

Briihl

D. S.

Branscome

J. M.

(2014) Academic Entitlement Scale: Development and preliminary validation. Psychology Research 4(6): 441–450.

47.

Weinstein

Laverghetta

(2009) College student stress and satisfaction with life. College Student Journal 43(4): 1161–1162.