Interactions Between Goal Instability and Social Support on College Freshman Adjustment

Abstract

The authors examined the moderating effect of goal instability on the benefits of components of perceived social support on entering freshmen's academic and personal adjustment. A significant interaction was identified between goal instability and two components of social support: appraised and belonging. Low goal‐directed individuals reporting low appraised social support reported lower levels of personal adjustment than did high goal‐directed individuals with the same level of appraised social support. In addition, high goal‐directed individuals reporting a high sense of belonging reported greater personal adjustment than did high goal‐directed individuals with low reported sense of belonging. Implications for the role of goal directedness and social support on improving college adjustment are discussed.