Narratives of growth and transformation among adult college students: The role of hardiness within a larger social context.
Item
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Title
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Narratives of growth and transformation among adult college students: The role of hardiness within a larger social context.
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Identifier
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AAI9830728
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identifier
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9830728
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Creator
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Koch, David Elliott.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Suzanne Ouellette
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Date
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1998
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Psychology, Personality | Education, Adult and Continuing | Education, Higher
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Abstract
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The role of hardiness (Kobasa, 1979) and critical consciousness (Freire, 1985) was investigated among adult college students. Four research questions were identified. What was the relationship between hardiness (specifically, commitment, control and challenge) and two outcomes, demoralization and self-esteem? To what extent were narratives of personal and political transformation expressed among adult education students? The third question asked whether there was a relationship between transformative narratives and hardiness scores. The fourth question examined the role that gender played among male and female adult students.;A triangulated set of research methods was employed including (1) a quantitative survey (n = 245), (2) focus groups (n = 11) and (3) student narratives of personal and political transformation (n = 105). Stepwise multiple regression analyses revealed that hardiness (the three components of challenge, control and commitment additively combined) was positively and significantly related to both higher self-esteem scores (Rosenberg, 1979) and lower demoralization scores (Dohrenwend, B. S., Shrout, P. E., Egri, G., & Mendelsohn, F. S., 1980), controlling for demographic variables. When components were examined separately, it was found that commitment alone was predictive of higher self-esteem and lower demoralization.;Using grounded theory, themes of personal and political transformation emerged in student narratives, reflective of increased critical consciousness. Additional qualitative illustrations of hardiness as well as strain, coping and social support surfaced in student narratives. An examination of the relationship between qualitative measures of the narratives of transformation and quantitative hardiness scores revealed that the presence of transformation narratives was predictive of higher hardiness scores though when the subcomponents of hardiness were analyzed, transformative narratives was predictive only of commitment and not control and challenge scores.;Focus groups examined how men and women differentially navigate their student roles. It was found that while both men and women address strain and growth in the education setting, there were substantial differences as well. Men went to school with an unacknowledged set of supports from partners and spouses that women did not have. This illustrated Hochschild's (1989) construct of the second shift, extended into the adult student setting.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
