Students’ Group and Member Attachment to Their University: A Construct Validity Study of the University Attachment Scale

This study examined the psychometric properties of scores from the University Attachment Scale, a measure that operationalizes group and member attachment as two separate dimensions of attachment to a university. A two-factor model was championed over a one-factor model providing evidence of a distinction between university attachment and member attachment. Relationships with external criteria provided further support for this distinction and construct validity evidence. As predicted, ‘‘involved’’ students had practically and statistically significantly higher group attachment than ‘‘noninvolved’’ students. Furthermore, transfer students had practically and statistically significantly lower member attachment than nontransfer students. Additionally, there was a statistically significant positive relationship between students’ perceived cohesion to the university and both group and member attachment. Overall, the authors believe that this is a promising new measure of university attachment.

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