Psychosocial Factors and Community College Student Success

Abstract

This meta-analysis examined the relationship between psychosocial factors and community college student success. Informed by college persistence models and motivational theory, we statistically integrated past research on five psychosocial categories (motivation, self-perceptions, attributions, self-regulation, and anxiety), examining their relationship with two student success outcomes: community college persistence (58 samples, N = 23,372) and achievement (186 samples, N = 56,095). Results indicated that psychosocial factors had small but meaningful relationships with community college persistence and achievement. Correlations were larger overall for motivation and self-perceptions, and when outcomes were more proximally related with student engagement. Implications for research and practice are discussed.