"What do you mean my grade is not an A?": an investigation of academic entitlement, causal attributions, and self-regulation in college students
Year: 2002
Type: dissertation
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: This study examined the relationship between academic entitlement, causal \nattributions and academic self-regulation. Researchers have conceptualized \nentitlement as the relationship between a person and an outcome that an individual \nassumes should occur (Lerner, 1987; Singer, 1987). Entitlement has the sense of \nmoral imperative that one ought to receive something (Major, 1994). All individuals \nhave entitlement beliefs, most of which come from and are generally shared by the \nculture (Lerner, 1987). Because all individuals have entitlement attitudes, it is \nimportant to understand how these attitudes function in an academic context. \nAcademic achievement researchers have established that the process of selfregulation \nis linked to academic success (Zimmerman & Risemberg, 1997). This \nstudy examined two central questions: 1) How is an attitude of entitlement toward a \ngrade related to a student’s academic self-regulation?; and 2) How is an attitude of \nentitlement related to a student’s formation of causal attributions? \nParticipants were 312 college students who completed a series of self-report \nmeasures on academic entitlement, exaggerated deservingness, self-regulated \nlearning, causal attributions, and various demographic items during the fall of 2001. \nEight participants also took part in a 45-minute interview. Confirmatory factor \nanalyses supported a two-factor model of academic entitlement consisting of beliefs \nand actions. Entitlement beliefs and actions were positively related to external \nattributions and negatively related to internal attributions. Pearson correlation \nmethods revealed that entitlement beliefs were negatively related to the following \nmeasures of self-regulation: use of metacognitive strategies, use of time and study \nenvironment, and effort regulation. Entitlement actions were found to be positively \nrelated to the following: use of rehearsal and elaboration strategies, critical thinking, \nuse of metacognitive strategies, use of time and study environment, and peer learning. \nBased on regression analyses, scores on a superiority scale explained more variance \nin entitlement beliefs and actions than scores on effort regulation scale. Qualitative \nanalyses revealed that participants who scored higher on entitlement subscales \nappeared to be more politically savvy and assumed that they had more control in \ninfluencing the change of a grade. Implications for research and practice are \ndiscussed.
Author: Michelle Valleau Achacoso
Language: English
Subfield: Developmental and Educational Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1938464456