An exploration of college students' beliefs of parental influence on their character devlopment and of their own beliefs about the role their character plays in their academic achievement

ABSTRACT CRYSTAL LYNNETTTE SANDERS AN EXPLORATION OF COLLEGE STUDENTS’ BELIEFS OF PARENTAL INFLUENCE ON THEIR CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT AND OF THEIR OWN BELIEFS ABOUT THE ROLE THEIR CHARACTER PLAYS IN THEIR ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT APRIL 2021 The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate college students’ beliefs of their parents’ role in influencing their character development, and of their own character in influencing their college academic achievement. Two research questions guided the study: (1) What are college students’ beliefs about how parental role modeling influenced their character development? and (2) What are college students’ beliefs about the role their character played in their academic achievement? Data were collected from 10 undergraduate college students who met the criteria for participation. Each participant participated in a virtual semi-structured interview. Each interview was audio recorded. The interview recordings were transcribed verbatim and analyzed for emerging themes. The data yielded 10 themes: Be kind to others, Be a better me, Identifying a connection with parent(s), Spirituality as a vehicle to teach positive character traits, Most influential stage, Most credit for current character traits, Connecting with others increases opportunities for success, Being a hard worker helps me achieve, Being socially reserved leads to missed opportunities, and Lack of self-regulation contributes to doing work at the last minute.