engleski

Development and validation of the Academic Flourishing Scale

The concept of flourishing refers to high level of well-being, including both feeling good and functioning well. Research to date has mainly focused on global flourishing, while flourishing in specific contexts was rather neglected, with the exceptions of work and marriage. Especially interesting is the flourishing in academic area, since flourishing has been seen by many as being one of the purposes of higher education, both at societal and individual level. However, research of flourishing in academic area is scarce. This paper proposes academic flourishing as a new concept referring to flourishing in academic domain, and presents a new Academic Flourishing Scale (AFS) as operationalization of this concept. Specifically, AFS is a 6-item summary measure of the respondent’s self perceived flourishing in higher education. The AFS was validated by using four Croatian samples of university students (n1 = 245, n2 = 593, n3 = 67, n4 = 151). The scale showed excellent internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Factor analysis (EFA and CFA) showed clear one-factor structure. The convergent validity for the AFS was demonstrated by the positive correlation of AFS and academic satisfaction. The concurrent validity was shown by the positive correlations with the life satisfaction, study-related flow, behavioral and cognitive engagement, and meaning in life, as well as by the negative correlations of AFS with academic burnout and academic procrastination. Incremental validity was established by hierarchical regression analyses showing that AFS had incremental validity over and above conceptually related constructs (flourishing, engagement) in predicting lower academic burnout. It may be concluded that the scale is brief, easily- administered, and demonstrated adequate psychometric characteristics. Therefore, it may be useful for measuring students’s flourishing in academic domain.

academic, flourishing, students

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