Psychosocial Development Laboratory
@McLennan Community College
What We Do
We study psychosocial development in order to connect theoretical models of self and identity to programs and practices to promote positive human development. At the same time, we are exploring the possibilities of what a community college research lab.
Our lab structure is fairly atypical in that while we work together on research and produce work, we lack some of the usual structure you might see elsewhere. We currently lack physical lab space, doctoral students, or funding. This is not to diminish, but to illustrate that a group of scrappy, resourceful, and determined people are producing a solid number of sophisticated projects despite limitations. Our lab is as non-traditional as the people in it, and we try to leverage that to serve understudied and underserved populations.
We study psychosocial development in order to connect theoretical models of self and identity to programs and practices to promote positive human development. At the same time, we are exploring the possibilities of what a community college research lab.
Our lab structure is fairly atypical in that while we work together on research and produce work, we lack some of the usual structure you might see elsewhere. We currently lack physical lab space, doctoral students, or funding. This is not to diminish, but to illustrate that a group of scrappy, resourceful, and determined people are producing a solid number of sophisticated projects despite limitations. Our lab is as non-traditional as the people in it, and we try to leverage that to serve understudied and underserved populations.
![[Picture]](https://spaces-cdn.owlstown.com/blobs/x025577l6yx6ucv1i5f0q5imt65y.jpeg){kind=link}
Current Projects
Here is a list of projects we are currently working on:
Here is a list of projects we are currently working on:
- Exploring College Students’ Sense of Purpose in Life. This project is about students’ views on their sense of purpose in life and factors that contribute to developing purpose. Currently, we are investigating the Engagement in Meaningful Activities Survey as a tool for assessing college students' engagement in meaningful extracurricular and co-curricular activities.
- Connectedness Online: An Investigation of Course Processes. This project is about college students’ views on their social experiences in online and face-to-face classes. Currently, we are examining structural differences in college students' experiences of social integration--their sense of belongingness--in online and face-to-face classes.
- Identity Challenges in Academic Culture. This project is about college students’ adjustment to academic culture and how it might influence mental health. Currently, we are evaluating a new model of the latent structure of identity distress and examining identity distress as a predictor of psychological distress.
- Life Skills Development in the Service Industry. This project is about students’ views of their experiences working in service industry jobs, such as retail, food service, and other jobs in direct contact with customers. Currently, we are investigating relations among working college students' perceptions of their identity capital, role responsibilities, and being an emerging adult.