Investigation of the correlation between belonging needs of students attending university and well-being

Abstract

Belonging is one of the basic psychological needs dealt with by many conceptualists. In different contexts the need to belong may be met at different levels. In this study the affiliation of 276 university students (178 females 64.5%, 98 males 35.5%) to their university was dealt with. The aim of this study is to investigate the correlation between the students’ belonging to the university and well-being levels. Students in the research group were aged from 18 to 26 years, with mean age of 20.7 and standard deviation of 1.53. The group included 111 (40.2%) first year students, 95 (34.4%) second year students, 46 (16.7%) third year students and 24 (8.7%) fourth year students. Of students, 16 (5.8%) had poor economic status, 157 (56.9%) had moderate, 94 (34.1%) had good and 9 (3.3%) had very good economic status. The data collection tools of the Belonging to the University Scale and PERMA Profiler were used along with a personal information form. Analysis in the research used the multiple regression analysis and correlation techniques. According to the analysis results, the belonging to the university subdimensions of identification, expectation and motivation had a low level and significant correlation with well-being and these three subdimensions explained 15% of well-being. Additionally, there were significant correlations determined between belonging to the university, well-being, identification, meaning and health variables. In conclusion, as the belonging to the university level increases, it is considered university students’ well-being levels will increase.