Is More Always Better? The Curvilinear Relationships between College Student Experiences and Outcomes

Abstract

Many higher education studies have examined linear relationships between student experiences and outcomes, but this assumption may be questionable. In two notable examples previous research that assumed a linear relationship reached different substantive conclusions and implications than did research that explored non-linear associations among the same constructs. Indeed, many relationships between college experiences and outcomes may actually be curvilinear; this study explored that possibility within a large, multi-institutional, longitudinal dataset. As expected, most of the significant positive relationships were accompanied by significant curvilinear associations, such that the magnitude of the relationship decreased with higher levels of involvement.