Emerging adults’ self-identified peer crowd affiliations and college adjustment

Abstract

Crowd affiliations are integral to academic functioning and school adjustment during adolescence. However, less is known about crowd structures within institutions of higher education. The current study was designed to validate the College Peer Crowd Questionnaire (CPCQ), an instrument designed to assess college students’ self-reported crowd identifications, and examine associations with academic and socioemotional problems that derail college success. Participants were 498 students at a small liberal arts college in the western United States (Mage = 20.08; SD = 1.38, range = 18–26). Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the peer crowd structure could best be described by four underlying crowd dimensions (i.e., social, athletic, scholastic and counterculture) and that the factor structure was invariant across gender and college standing. Using structural equation modeling, we also found that crowd identification was significantly correlated with indices of college adjustment and behaviors that jeopardize academic success. The results highlight the importance of crowd affiliations for college students’ success and adjustment. The results also highlight that the CPCQ is a valid tool for researchers who undertake this research.