Dataset for Menkor, M., Nagengast, B., Van Laar, C., & Sassenberg, K. (2021). The fit between dignity self‐construal and independent university norms: Effects on university belonging, well‐being, and academic success. European Journal of Social Psychology, 51(1), 100-112. https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2717

Universities struggle with students’ low well-being and high dropout rates. High (compared to low) fit between students’ self-construal and perceived university norms might help to prevent these problems. A strong dignity self-construal (i.e., the understanding that one's worth is independent of others) is adaptive if university norms stress independence. The more a university norm is perceived as stressing independence, the better the fit for students with a strong (vs. weak) dignity self-construal. Thus, if students with a strong dignity self-construal perceive a university norm as stressing independence, they should develop a greater sense of belonging to the university and, in turn, experience higher well-being, more motivation, and lower dropout intention. A longitudinal study with two measurement points conducted with students from 18 universities (N = 719) provided support for these predictions. This underlines the relevance of the fit between student and (perceived) school characteristics for the higher education sector.