The level and development of university students' social integration: personality traits and person-environment fit predict integration with fellow students and teaching staff

Abstract

The transition from secondary to higher education can be challenging for students. They have to adjust academically and must integrate into a new social environment. Successful social integration is important for university students’ academic success and well-being. Previous studies illustrate that personality traits shape social behavior. However, research on the impact of personality traits on social integration in the university context is scarce. In this study, we investigate how students' Big Five personality traits influence the level and development of their social integration. We analyze whether the fit of the students' Big Five profile with their chosen major affects their social integration. We differentiate social integration with teaching staff and social integration with fellow students. We use the student cohort of the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS) for our analysis. We observed students for up to four academic years and estimated growth curve models with random intercept and random slope. The results show that all Big Five traits are significantly associated with both forms of social integration at the end of the first academic year, with the exception of extraversion and openness. While extraversion is only significant for social integration with fellow students, openness is only relevant for social integration with teaching staff. A poor person-environment fit regarding personality is significantly negatively linked to both forms of social integration at the end of the first academic year. However, the Big Five traits and person-environment fit affect the level of social integration only but not the development of social integration.