Centering Social Fit, Self-Concept Fit, Goal Fit, and Resource Fit as Core Elements of Students’ Experiences of Belonging at School.
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| Title: | Centering Social Fit, Self-Concept Fit, Goal Fit, and Resource Fit as Core Elements of Students’ Experiences of Belonging at School. |
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| Authors: | Browman, Alexander S. (AUTHOR) |
| Source: | Educational Psychology Review. Jun2025, Vol. 37 Issue 2, p1-42. 42p. |
| Abstract: | A common theme across psychological research on belonging in school has been a focus on the social—on the quality of students’ connections to others in the school environment. In this review, I argue that when a student indicates that they do or do not “feel like I belong at my school,” social connections are necessary but not sufficient to fully explain that experience. Extending Schmader and Sedikides’ State Authenticity as Fit to Environment model, I instead propose that this experience hinges on four factors: the degrees to which (a) teachers and other students accept, value, and include a student socially (social fit), (b) an academic setting’s structures and norms support and afford their personal goals and values (goal fit), (c) the school environment naturally activates or supports their connections to their most valued identities (self-concept fit), and (d) the school environment provides sufficient financial, nutritional, health, and safety resources to meet their needs in these domains (resource fit). In reviewing how students, especially those from from historically under-researched backgrounds, define belonging, I demonstrate both the divergence of their definitions from the traditional psychological focus on social connections alone, and the convergence of their definitions with these four forms of person–environment fit. I therefore argue that shifting to a model of students’ experiences of belonging that centers on self-concept, goal, resource and social fit would provide an especially fruitful future for research on this subject. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Educational Psychology Review is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection |
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| Header | DbId: pbh DbLabel: Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection An: 184535414 AccessLevel: 6 PubType: Academic Journal PubTypeId: academicJournal PreciseRelevancyScore: 0 |
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| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: Centering Social Fit, Self-Concept Fit, Goal Fit, and Resource Fit as Core Elements of Students’ Experiences of Belonging at School. – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Browman%2C+Alexander+S%2E%22">Browman, Alexander S.</searchLink> (AUTHOR) – Name: TitleSource Label: Source Group: Src Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Educational+Psychology+Review%22">Educational Psychology Review</searchLink>. Jun2025, Vol. 37 Issue 2, p1-42. 42p. – Name: Abstract Label: Abstract Group: Ab Data: A common theme across psychological research on belonging in school has been a focus on the social—on the quality of students’ connections to others in the school environment. In this review, I argue that when a student indicates that they do or do not “feel like I belong at my school,” social connections are necessary but not sufficient to fully explain that experience. Extending Schmader and Sedikides’ State Authenticity as Fit to Environment model, I instead propose that this experience hinges on four factors: the degrees to which (a) teachers and other students accept, value, and include a student socially (social fit), (b) an academic setting’s structures and norms support and afford their personal goals and values (goal fit), (c) the school environment naturally activates or supports their connections to their most valued identities (self-concept fit), and (d) the school environment provides sufficient financial, nutritional, health, and safety resources to meet their needs in these domains (resource fit). In reviewing how students, especially those from from historically under-researched backgrounds, define belonging, I demonstrate both the divergence of their definitions from the traditional psychological focus on social connections alone, and the convergence of their definitions with these four forms of person–environment fit. I therefore argue that shifting to a model of students’ experiences of belonging that centers on self-concept, goal, resource and social fit would provide an especially fruitful future for research on this subject. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] – Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright Label: Group: Ab Data: <i>Copyright of Educational Psychology Review is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) |
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| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Identifiers: – Type: doi Value: 10.1007/s10648-025-10009-3 Languages: – Code: eng Text: English PhysicalDescription: Pagination: PageCount: 42 StartPage: 1 Titles: – TitleFull: Centering Social Fit, Self-Concept Fit, Goal Fit, and Resource Fit as Core Elements of Students’ Experiences of Belonging at School. Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Browman, Alexander S. IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 06 Text: Jun2025 Type: published Y: 2025 Identifiers: – Type: issn-print Value: 1040726X Numbering: – Type: volume Value: 37 – Type: issue Value: 2 Titles: – TitleFull: Educational Psychology Review Type: main |
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