Tidigare forskning av Cheng, Tracy och Henrich (2010) har identifierat samband mellan tvåfacetter av stolthet och två olika strategier för att nå social status. Dessa samband harkonceptualiserats till stolthet-statusmodellen. Den har tidigare undersökts i en amerikanskpopulation och det finns enbart en studie på en liten avgränsad svensk population. Vidarefinns det inga tidigare studier som har undersökt om stolthet-statusmodellen samvarierar medpositiva attityder till utbildning. Denna studies syften var därför att undersöka stolthet-statusmodellen på en svensk population samt undersöka hur de olika statusstrategierna ochstolthetsfacetterna samvarierar med positiva attityder kring utbildning. För att undersöka dettagjordes ett bekvämlighetsurval av 609 stycken elever på teoretiska gymnasieprogram som fickskatta sin subjektiva upplevelse av stolthetsfacetterna, statusstrategierna samt sina positivaattityder till utbildning. Gymnasieelevernas skattningar korrelerades och skillnaden mellankorrelationerna undersöktes. Resultaten visar att stolthet-statusmodellen delvis är valid på ensvensk population, att statusstrategier samvarierar signifikant med positiva attityder tillutbildning och att stolthetsfacetterna till viss del samvarierar signifikant med positiva attitydertill utbildning. Möjliga förklaringar till resultaten diskuteras tillsammans med enmetoddiskussion samt praktiska implikationer och förslag på framtida forskning om stolthet-statusmodellen och positiva attityder till utbildning. / Previous research by Cheng, Tracy and Henrich (2010) has identified relationships betweentwo facets of pride and two different strategies to attain social status. These relationships havebeen conceptualized to a pride-status model. The model has been tested on an Americanpopulation and only in one study has it been tested in a Swedish context. Moreover, there areno previous studies on the possible relationship between the pride-status model and positiveattitudes towards post-secondary education. Therefore, the purposes of this study were toinvestigate if the pride-status model is valid on a Swedish population and investigate how thedifferent status strategies and facets of pride relate to positive attitudes towards post-secondary education. In order to examine this, a convenience sample consisting of 609students in high school preparing for post-secondary education rated subjective experiences offacets of pride, social status strategies and attitudes towards post-secondary education. Thestudents’ ratings were correlated with each other and the difference between the correlationswas examined. The findings show that the pride-status model is partly valid on a Swedishpopulation and that the status strategies correlated significantly with positive attitudes towardspost-secondary education. The facets of pride were significantly correlated with positiveattitudes towards post-secondary education to some extent. Possible explanations of thefindings are discussed together with a methodology discussion and proposals for futureresearch within the area of the pride-status model and attitudes towards education.

In the present study the overarching aim was to investigate the relationship between commitment, self-differentiation and pride in undergraduate university students with the view to achieve a better understanding of the extent to which identity-related factors such as self-differentiation and pride as a self-relevant emotion may shape the strength of commitments in a higher education setting. Findings of the study may contribute to the literature on the psychology of academic commitment by distinguishing it from academic engagement (Baldwin & Koh, 2012) and by broadening the study of commitment to include identity-related constructs in the development of academic commitment (Lord, Diefendorff, Schmidt & Hall, 2010). I argue that a well-differentiated self is relevant to academic commitment because it may provide coherency and consistency in commitments. Academic commitment was operationalised as the extent to which students experience their studies as a source of satisfaction and meaning, the extent to which they have invested resources in their studies, and the quality of alternatives available (Rusbult, Martz & Agnew, 1998). I examined self-differentiation in terms of the ability to take an I-position in the absence of Emotional Reactivity, Emotional Cutoff and Fusion with Others (Skowron & Friedlander, 1998). Authentic pride was described as a self-relevant emotion consisting of two dimensions, namely Authentic and Hubristic pride (Tracy & Robins, 2007d). The Meaning Maintenance Model (MMM) as discussed by Heine, Proulx & Vohs (2006) was the conceptual framework that guided the study. A quantitative cross-sectional survey was asked for the implementation of a questionnaire that consisted of demographic factors, the Academic Commitment Scale (ACS), the Differentiation of Self Inventory (DSI-R) and the Authentic and Hubristic Pride Scales (AHP). A pilot study was conducted to test the new Academic Commitment Scale’s reliability and construct validity. A one-stage random cluster sampling method was used to complete a sample of undergraduate students from two faculties at the same university. Results of the main study were reported in Chapter 4 and a discussion of findings and conclusions, as well as the contribution, limitations and recommendations for future research were addressed in Chapter 5. Findings of the study indicate that commitment as an identity-level construct, related to identity-related constructs such as differentiation of self and pride, can be utilised in a higher education setting to differentiate between high performance students and students at risk of failure. The results can thus assist policy makers, lecturers, educationists and psychologists to achieve a better understanding of the factors underpinning academic success on the one hand and student dropout on the other hand, in order to develop appropriate support programs. A main feature of the study was the development of a new scale to measure commitment in an academic context. The Academic Commitment Scale was created based on an adapted version of the Rusbult et al. (1998) Investment Model. Meaningfulness was added as a fifth subscale which turned out to be a strong predictor of academic commitment. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / gm2014 / Educational Psychology / unrestricted