Psychosocial Characteristics, Training Attitudes and Well-being of Students: A Longitudinal Study

Abstract

Background: The first aim of this study was to investigate the influence of psychosocial characteristics on four training attitudes (motivation to learn, learning, transfer intention and cognitive dissonance) and well-being. The second — and main — aim was to examine the impact of attitudes to training on individual levels of well-being. Methodology: This study used a longitudinal approach comprising two phases of data collection. One-hundred and eighty first-year psychology students participated in Phase 1, and 95 students participated in both phases. The participants were required to complete a survey measuring various psychosocial characteristics (coping, personality, work characteristics, organisational citizenship behaviour [OCB] and commitment), four training attitudes and positive and negative well-being. Results: The results showed that specific psychosocial characteristics, particularly the positive variables (positive coping, positive work characteristics, OCB, and commitment) had significant correlations with positive training attitudes (motivation to learn, learning, and transfer intention). In addition, motivation to learn, learning, and transfer intention had a significant positive correlation with positive well-being, while cognitive dissonance had a significant negative correlation with positive well-being. However, these relationships were no longer significant when other variables were included. Furthermore, it was revealed that personality and commitment were the stronger predictors for well-being. Possible explanations for these findings are discussed.  Conclusions: This study contributes to the existing body of knowledge, but more research is required to confirm the relationships between attitudes to training and well-being. Future research could also examine these relationships in more detail, especially in the context of specific training programmes.