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In a longitudinal study including a freshman-- year study and follow-up four years later, Chickering's hypotheses about the relationship between collegiate experiences and psychosocial development were partially supported. Participants were primarily white, traditional-aged college seniors, who attended a small liberal arts college. Instruments used were the Student Developmental Task and Lifestyle Inventory and the College Student Experiences Questionnaire. Development of purpose and sense of competence were related to collegiate experiences. Measurement issues, however, regarding development over extended periods emerged.
First published in 1969, Arthur Chickering's model of student development described student psychosocial development along seven vectors, linking elements of the college experience with student development. The vectors were: achieving competence, managing emotions, becoming autonomous, establishing identity, freeing interpersonal relationships, clarifying purposes, and developing integrity. Chickering and Reisser described a revised model in 1993 in which the "freeing interpersonal relationships" vector was changed to "developing mature interpersonal relationships" and moved in the sequence to precede the development of identity (p. 39), and instead of "developing autonomy," the authors suggested that "moving through autonomy toward interdependence" was a more accurate description of the vector (p. 40). Since the initial publication of the model, student affairs professionals have embraced it and used it to guide practice.
Chickering (1969), and later Chickering and Reisser (1993), articulated hypotheses regarding relationships between the college experience or environment and the psychosocial development of students. These included institutional factors (manageable size, clear and consistent objectives, and student development programs), teaching and curriculum (educationally powerful curricula and innovative teachers), and the interactive milieu of the campus (student-faculty interactions and student communities). The hypotheses regarding the interactive milieu of the campus were the focus of this study. Specifically, Chickering hypothesized that student-faculty relationships outside the classroom are directly related to the development of competence, sense of competence, autonomy, interdependence, purpose, and integrity and that opportunities to interact with students from diverse backgrounds promote development along all vectors.
Many studies on college impact and to a lesser extent on the development of college students have been reported in the higher education literature (Astin, 1996; Pascarella & Terenzini, 1991). Researchers have examined Chickering's vectors of development (White & Hood, 1989), and studies regarding specific facets of development such as identity (Marcia, 1966; Josselson, 1987; Buczynski, 1991...