1. Jason Wornoff, DeLeon L. Gray, LaBarron H. Hill, Lauren H. Bryant
Fitting In and Standing Out at School Predicts Adaptive Cardiovascular Patterns among College Students
Jason Wornoff, DeLeon L. Gray, LaBarron H. Hill, Lauren H. Bryant
North Carolina State University, Duke University, Friday Institute for Educational Innovation
Overview of Research
Results
Theoretical Framework: Students’ social experiences consistently predict negative affect, and are typically examined by linking perceptions of fitting in (belonging) to reports of psychological distress (Flook, Repetti, & Ullman, 2005; Wentzel, 1998; Totura, Karver, & Gesten, 2014). Optimal Distinctiveness Theorists (Brewer, 1991) suggest that humans are driven to both fit in and stand out (Leonardelli, Pickett, & Brewer, 2010), understanding the thwarting of these needs to increase levels of psychological distress (Gray, 2013).
Purpose: To further understand the relevance of these needs in educational contexts, this study examined how perceptions of fitting in at school—but also how perceptions of standing out (uniqueness)—relate to heart rate variability (HRV), an established biomarker of psychological distress (Appelhans & Leucken, 2006; Kemp & Quintana, 2013; Thayer & Lane, 2000). Considering lower HRV as a marker of psychological distress (Chalmers et al., 2014), we predicted the following hypothesis:
Hypothesis 1: Students who perceive their needs to stand out from their university peers as satisfied will demonstrate higher HRV. Likewise, students who perceive their needs to fit in with their university peers as satisfied will demonstrate higher HRV
Hypothesis 2: Female students who perceive their need to fit in as satisfied will demonstrate higher HRV than males who perceive their need to fit in as satisfied. In contrast, female students who perceive their need to stand out as satisfied will demonstrate lower HRV than males who perceive their need to stand out as satiated
Hierarchal Regression Analysis
Step 1 results supported the prediction that increases in students’ satisfaction for fitting in would positively predict HRV, b = 9.42, p < .05.
Step 2 revealed gender was a significant moderator of standing out on HRV, b = 23.1, p < .05. As shown in Figure 1, standing out predicted higher HRV for males (b = 21.5, p < .01), but not females.
Method
Significance
Pre-survey
HRV Recording
Post Survey
Our findings contribute to research on students’ perceptions of their school’s social environments which, until now, has rarely assessed affect beyond self-report. The physiological importance of fitting in at school is often inferred through social psychological research on belonging (e.g., Baumeister & Leary, 1995), but not directly examined. Our findings suggest that for males in particular, both standing out and fitting in are linked with adaptive cardiovascular activity.
Undergraduates (N=43; 70% female, 30% male) completed a 10 minute online survey containing items adapted from Gray (2013) measuring the satisfaction of students’ desires to stand out and fit in on a scale from 1 = Not at all true, 5 = Very true.
During this time, students were asked to sit in a comfortable position in a controlled space for five minutes while HRV was recorded using a Polar RS800CX wristwatch.
Immediately following the completion of HRV recording students completed a brief post survey