El propósito en la vida en el estudiantado universitariodiferencias en función del nivel de engagement académico

Abstract

In keeping with the rise of positive psychology, there is increasing attention to promoting the mental wellbeing of university students. Well-being research confirms that purpose in life is one of the core dimensions of the psychological health in human beings, and university is one of the vital stages in which the search for purpose becomes more evident. This study analyzes the possible existence of significant differences in the perception of purpose in life (operationalized as satisfaction and meaning of life and significant goals and purposes) based on the level (low, medium and high) of students´academic engagement (vigor, dedication and absorption). A total of 273 students from Social Education participated in the study. The participants were selected through snowball sampling. The three levels of engagement were estimated taking the 33rd and 66th percentiles as cut-off points. Differences in purpose in life among the three levels were determined by ANOVA. The results showed that the students with a higher level of engagement attributed a significantly higher purpose to their lives than the other two groups. Especially important were the differences with respect to the students with the lowest academic engagement. These findings seem to indicate that the level of academic engagement plays an important role in the perception of vital purpose in university students. This could point to the convenience of developing educational interventions aimed at favoring the students' psychological commitment to their academic activity. Keywords