Eden Broberg

Grading papers, submitting assignment examples and drafts, providing students with feedback

The goal of our study was to provide a more thorough understanding of the relationship between religious attitudes and academic success, and will provide direction for future research in this domain. Our research examined the relationship between Christianity, academic achievement, and mediating variables in college-aged students. Past studies regarding religion and academic success have found that in some communities, academic success is positively correlated with religious involvement. However, these studies primarily looked at academic success in relation to involvement in a religious community, and not to personal attitudes regarding religion. To gain a better understanding of the role of personal religious attitudes in academic success, this study specifically examined academic success in relation to Christian affiliation and spirituality, as well as intrinsic dispositions of positivity and mastery. These mediating variables were included to control for factors that may relate to both academic success and religiosity, providing a more complete view of the relationship between religious attitudes and academic success. Study participants included college students currently attending a small, public, liberal-arts university. The study utilized a descriptive research design in which participants self-reported details about their demographics, academic performance (i.e. GPA and participation in honors programming), religious beliefs, and personality characteristics associated with outlook and hopefulness. Our presentation will examine the results of our study in relation to questions regarding the role of personal beliefs and dispositions in academic success.