“I deserve success”: Academic entitlement attitudes and their relationships with course self-efficacy, social networking, and demographic variables

Abstract

This study investigated differences in university students’ academic entitlement (AE) by demographic group (sex, college class, college generational status) as well as AE’s relationship with self-efficacy for college coursework and social networking. It also investigated predictors of AE in first-generation (FG) students and continuing-generation (CG) students. Participants were 313 undergraduates at a south-central U.S. university. Males reported significantly greater AE than females. No differences in AE were found by college class or generational status. AE was significantly correlated with college course self-efficacy and social network use. College course self-efficacy, sex, and social network use predicted AE in CG students; however, in FG students, AE was predicted by college course self-efficacy alone. Implications for future research are presented.