Psychological Sense of Community and University Mission as Predictors of Student Social Justice Engagement

Psychological sense of community (PSOC) is a construct that may facilitate social action in university students. Similarly, a social justice-focused university mission statement might also facilitate social action and interest. The current study investigated whether psychological sense of community, agreeing with the mission statement, and taking diversity courses or service-learning courses impacted university students' social justice attitudes and student activism. Results indicated that students with higher PSOC were more likely to agree with the university's social justice-related mission statement, and agreement with the mission was strongly associated with favorable social justice attitudes and activism. Taking service-learning courses was also associated with favorable social justice attitudes and a greater likelihood of engaging in activism.