The Role of Character Strengths and Family Importance on Mexican American College Students’ Life Satisfaction

Abstract

Spanish

We examined how character strengths and family importance influenced Mexican American college students’ life satisfaction. Using multiple regression analysis, findings indicated that optimism, grit, and gratitude were significant predictors of life satisfaction. We provide a discussion regarding the importance of these findings as well as recommendations for future research.

Keywords

achievement gender higher education resilience life satisfaction

The Hispanic population is one of the fastest growing groups in the United States with Mexican Americans making up the largest sub-group of the overall Hispanic population (U.S. Census Bureau, 2012). Although researchers examined Mexican American students’ academic outcomes and career development, less attention has been given to their positive psychological functioning (Pina-Watson, Ojeda, Castellon, & Dornhecker, 2013). One of the most important indicators of positive psychological functioning is life satisfaction due to its relationship with academic performance, college retention, meaning in life, and college self-efficacy (Edwards & Lopez, 2006; Frisch et al., 2005; Vela, Ikonomopoulos, et al., 2015). Given that positive psychological functioning is related to academic outcomes, investigating predictors of this important factor among Mexican American college students is a worthwhile research endeavor. In the current study, we use a theoretical framework that consists of character strengths and family importance. First, we provide a literature review with theoretically relevant factors. Next, we present quantitative findings from 130 Mexican American college students from a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI). Finally, we provide a discussion regarding the importance of these findings as well as implications for practice and research.

Character Strengths

One of the most important character strengths is psychological grit due to its relationship with academic outcomes (Duckworth, Peterson, Matthews, & Kelly, 2007). Psychological grit is defined as passion for long-term goals as well as sustained efforts toward goals (Duckworth et al., 2007). In addition, psychological grit is related to academic performance (Duckworth et al., 2007), performance in the National Spelling Bee (Duckworth et al., 2007), and hope (Vela, Lu, Lenz, & Hinojosa, 2015). In addition to psychological grit, curiosity is another important character strength, which consists of stretching (i.e., tendency to explore new experiences) and embracing (i.e., readiness to accept new situations) perspectives (Jovanovic & Vavrilov-Jerkovic, 2014). Curiosity is part of personal growth and psychological strength (Kashdan, Rose, & Fincham, 2004; Peterson & Seligman, 2004) that is related to life satisfaction, hope (Jovanovic & Brdaric, 2012; Kashdan, McKnight, Fincham, & Rose, 2011), and academic success (Kashdan & Yuen, 2007).

Two other important character strengths include gratitude and optimism (Hoy, Suldo, & Mendez, 2013). Gratitude involves “an appreciation of the psychological and social resources that are available in one’s life” (Kleiman, Adams, Kashdan, & Riskind, 2013, p. 540). Gratitude has been found to predict a number of positive outcomes for youth and adults, including optimism and depression (Hoy et al., 2013; McCullough, Emmons, & Tsang, 2002). Moreover, having increased levels of gratitude allows individuals to have awareness of both intrinsic and extrinsic value. Researchers found a positive connection among gratitude, positive health, and academic achievement (Emmons & McCullough, 2003; Froh, Emmons, Card, Bono, & Wilson, 2011). In addition, optimism refers to “expectations that positive events will occur in life” (Scheier & Carver, 1985). Researchers found optimism was related to youth and adolescents’ positive outcomes such as psychological stress, loneliness, and psychological well-being (Aspinwall & Taylor, 1992; Chemers, Hu, & Garcia, 2001; Huan, Yeo, Ang, & Chong, 2006; Scheier & Carver, 1992; Sulkers et al., 2013). For example, Huan et al. (2006) examined the influence of optimism and gender on adolescents’ perception of academic stress. Their results indicated that adolescents who are optimistic tended to report less academic stress whereas pessimistic adolescents reported greater academic stress. In another study, Sulkers et al. (2013) examined whether adolescents with cancer and healthy adolescents differed with regard to optimism and pessimism. Their results showed that optimism and pessimism are related to different aspects of well-being (e.g., optimism predicts positive aspects whereas pessimism predicts negative aspects of well-being).

Family Importance

Family importance has been found to consistently impact Mexican American students’ academic performance, resilience, and mental health (Cavazos et al., 2010; Vela, Lenz, Sparrow, Gonzalez, & Hinojosa, 2015). Marin and Marin (1991) defined familiasmo as loyalty and solidarity to the family unit, including family connectedness, identity, mutual activities, and cohesion (Jose, Ryan, & Pryor, 2012). Researchers have begun to understand how family importance impacts Mexican American students’ mental health and academic outcomes. For example, researchers illustrated that family importance is related to Mexican American students’ and adults’ academic resilience and career development (Cavazos et al., 2010; Vela, Lenz, et al., 2015). Vela, Lenz, et al. (2015) examined positive psychology and family predictors of Mexican American adolescents’ vocational outcome expectations. Presence of meaning in life and family importance were positively related to vocational outcome expectations. In another investigation, Vela, Ikonomopoulos, et al. (2015) examined how individual, interpersonal, and institutional factors influenced Mexican American college students’ life satisfaction. One of the most important findings was that students’ perceptions of parental support, mentoring, and search for meaning in life influenced their life satisfaction.

Life Satisfaction

An important outcome in positive psychology involves life satisfaction due to the relationship with happiness and psychological well-being (Segrin & Taylor, 2007). Life satisfaction refers to individual perceptions of quality of life as well as positive and negative affect (Diener, Luca, & Oishi, 2001). Researchers found that life satisfaction is positively related to college retention (Frisch et al., 2005), academic satisfaction (Ojeda, Flores, & Navarro, 2011), and college persistence (Ojeda, Edwards, Hardin, & Pina-Watson, 2014) as well as negatively related with meaning in life (Vela, Ikonomopoulos, et al., 2015). Ojeda, Edwards, et al. (2014) examined the influence of cultural variables on Mexican American college students’ life satisfaction. Enculturation to the Mexican culture was positively related to life satisfaction whereas Mexican American marginalization was negatively related to life satisfaction. In another investigation, Vela, Ikonomopoulos, et al. (2015) examined the impact of individual, interpersonal, and institutional factors on Latina/o college students’ life satisfaction. Parental support, mentoring, and search for meaning in life were related to life satisfaction. The aforementioned findings underscore the importance of culture, academic satisfaction, meaning in life, and college self-efficacy on life satisfaction. However, we agree with Navarro, Schwartz, Ojeda, and Pina-Watson (2014) that researchers should continue to investigate Mexican American college students’ positive psychological functioning.

Understanding how character strengths and family importance influence Mexican American students’ life satisfaction is an important issue in postsecondary education. Although researchers (e.g., Ojeda, Edwards, et al., 2014; Vela, Castro, Cavazos, Cavazos, & Gonzalez, 2014) investigated Mexican American college students’ life satisfaction or subjective happiness, no study examined how character strengths and family importance impacts this important factor. As a result, the purpose of the current study was to examine the role of character strengths and family importance on Mexican American college students’ positive psychological functioning. We explored the following research question:

Research Question 1: To what extent do psychological grit, curiosity, gratitude, optimism, and family importance influence Mexican American college students’ life satisfaction?

Method

Participants

We used criterion sampling to collect data in which the lead researcher identified large undergraduate courses to recruit Mexican American participants. The lead researcher contacted several undergraduate psychology professors and department chairs about participating in the current study. Two professors responded to the initial email. One hundred thirty students enrolled at an HSI provided data. The HSI had an enrollment of approximately 7,000 undergraduate and graduate students (approximately 93% of students at this institution are Latina/o). This sample included 60 men (46%) and 66 women (51%) who self-identified as Mexican, Hispanic, or Mexican American ethnic identities. There were five participants who did not identify as Mexican, Hispanic, or Mexican American and were excluded from the study. Among participants, 69 self-identified as Latina/o or Hispanic (53%), 43 described themselves as Mexican American (33%), with 16 indicating a Mexican ethnic identity (12%). There were not any participants who did not have Mexican descent (e.g., Puerto Rican).

Measurements

Psychological grit

The Short Grit Scale (Duckworth & Quinn, 2009) measures students’ perseverance and passion for long-term goals. A sample response item includes, “Setbacks don’t discourage me.” Reliability coefficients range from .73 to .82 (Duckworth, Kirby, Tsukayama, Berstein, & Ericsoon, 2011; Vela, Lu, et al., 2015). For this study, Cronbach’s alpha was .77.

Curiosity

The Curiosity and Exploration Inventory (CEI-II; Kashdan et al., 2009) measures participants’ levels of curiosity. A sample item includes, “I actively seek as much information as I can in new situations.” Reliability coefficients range from .76 to .77 (Jovanovic & Brdaric, 2012; Jovanovic & Vavrilov-Jerkovic, 2014). For this study, Cronbach’s alpha was .88.

Optimism

The Life Orientation Test (LOT; Scheier & Carver, 1985) measures participants’ optimism. A sample item includes, “In uncertain times, I usually expect the best.” Reliability coefficients range from .70 to .78 (Puskar et al., 2010; Vacek, Coyle, & Vera, 2010). For the current study, Cronbach’s alpha was .83.

Gratitude

The Gratitude Questionnaire (GQ-6; McCullough et al., 2002) measures participants’ tendency to feel gratitude. A sample item includes, “I have so much in life to be thankful for.” Reliability coefficients range from .83 to .88 (Kleiman et al., 2013; Li, Zhang, Li, & Ye, 2012). One of the items (Item 6) was problematic and was removed from the average score computation, yielding a reliability coefficient for data in the good range (.89).

Family importance

The Pan-Hispanic Familism Scale (Villarreal, Blozis, & Widaman, 2005) measures perceptions of family importance. A sample response item includes, “I cherish the time I spend with my family.” Reliability coefficients range from .83 to .87 (Pina-Watson et al., 2013; Vela, Lu, et al., 2015). For this study, Cronbach’s alpha was .93.

Life satisfaction

The Satisfaction With Life Scale (SLWS; Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin, 1985) measures students’ overall life satisfaction. A sample item includes, “In most ways my life is close to my ideal.” Reliability coefficients range from .78 to .82 (Ojeda, Castillo, et al., 2014; Vela, Ikonomopoulos, et al., 2015). For this study, Cronbach’s alpha was .83.

Procedures

We implemented several steps to gather data in the current study. First, we obtained permission from the Institutional Review Board at a university in the central Southern region of the United States. Second, we informed participants in three large undergraduate courses that participation was voluntary and participation would not affect their affiliation with the university. We obtained informed consent from all participants in this study. Finally, students were given a packet with the following survey instruments: Short Grit Scale (Duckworth & Quinn, 2009), CEI-II (Kashdan et al., 2009), LOT (Scheier & Carver, 1985), GQ-6 (McCullough et al., 2002), Pan-Hispanic Familism Scale (Villarreal et al., 2005), and SLWS (Diener et al., 2001). Students signed a consent form, completed a demographic form, and filled out the aforementioned surveys.

Results

Descriptive statistics, including Pearson R correlation coefficients, are included in Table 1. In addition to examining correlation coefficients, we evaluated multicollinearity among predictor variables by inspecting variance inflation factors (Table 1). The low variance inflation factors within the acceptable range revealed that using a single predictive model using these predictor variables was a prudent decision (Vela, Lenz, Sparrow, & Gonzalez, in press). Therefore, a multiple regression analysis was conducted on life satisfaction based on optimism, curiosity, grit, gratitude, and family importance. After analyzing scatterplots, no curvilinear relationships between the criterion variable and predictor variables or heteroscedascity were evident. There was a statistically significant relationship between predictor variables and life satisfaction, F (5, 124) = 15.19, p< .001, thus providing evidence that the variance in life satisfaction accounted for by predictor variables does not equal zero for the population (Dimitrov, 2013). A large effect size of R² = .38 was noted, indicating that 38% of Mexican American college students’ differences in life satisfaction are accounted for by their differences in predictor variables in the current study.

Table 1.

Means, Standard Deviations, and Correlations Among Predictor Variables.

Variable	M	SD	1	2	3	4	5	VIF
1. Optimism	14.45	3.45	___	.39	.37	.41	.31	1.23
2. Curiosity	3.64	0.77	___	___	.40	.36	.24	1.34
3. Grit	3.42	0.66	___	___	___	.37	.22	1.33
4. Family importance	4.28	0.97	___	___	___	___	.40	1.45
5. Gratitude	6.09	1.05	___	___	___	___	___	1.23

Note. VIF = variance inflation factor.

After establishing the overall statistical significance of R² and the multiple regression equation, we examined the statistical significance of the regression coefficients for significant predictors (Dimitrov, 2013). Grit, gratitude, and optimism had unique contributions to the explanation of variance in life satisfaction. Grit was a statistically significant predictor of life satisfaction (see Table 2), uniquely accounting for approximately 3% of the variance. Gratitude was also a statistically significant predictor of life satisfaction, uniquely accounting for 10% of life satisfaction. Optimism was also a statistically significant predictor of life satisfaction, uniquely accounting for 4% of variance. Curiosity and family importance were not statistically significant predictors of life satisfaction.

Table 2.

Multiple Regression Results for Life Satisfaction.

Variable	B	SEB	B	t	p	r ²	sr²
Optimism	0.38	.14	.22	2.70	.008**	.38	.04
Curiosity	−0.40	.62	−.05	−0.64	.53	.01	.003
Grit	1.64	.73	.18	2.25	.03*	.10	.03
Family importance	0.73	.52	.12	1.41	.16	.04	.01
Gratitude	2.00	.44	.35	4.55	.000***	.38	.10

Note. sr² = strength of relationship. SEB = standard error of unstandardized coefficients.

p< .05. **p< .01. ***p< .001.

Discussion

The growth of the Mexican American population and the dearth of quantitative studies regarding the influence of character strengths on Mexican American college students’ life satisfaction prompted the current study. The three significant predictor variables—optimism, grit, and gratitude—can be viewed as subjective qualities operating sequentially in a person’s life. That is, optimism may precede the other qualities as a forward-looking justification for taking action, which then supports the persistence and passion required to fulfill a goal (i.e., grit), giving way to an assessment (i.e., gratitude) that retrospectively renders one’s efforts as adequate and meaningful. Given the way that gratitude and optimism are correlated (McCullough et al., 2002), it could be that gratitude generates optimism that sustains a circular dynamic, in which grit becomes the active agent between them. However, these three factors might also function concurrently, as a moment-to-moment operational stance through which an individual harnesses the energy of optimism to persist in negotiating tasks, while assessing the process of one’s efforts as adequate and meaningful. Overall, this circular schema, whether applied sequentially or concurrently, may function to increase Mexican American students’ sense of life satisfaction.

Curiosity and family importance were not significant predictors of Mexican American college students’ life satisfaction. In a recent study (Vela, Sparrow, Whittenberg, Rodriguez, & Gonzalez, in press), curiosity served as a predictor of career-decision self-efficacy among a group of middle school Mexican Americans, whereas optimism, gratitude, and family importance did not. As they suggested in that study, career self-efficacy can be seen as a “dynamic” attitude that depends on dynamic qualities, such as grit and curiosity, but may not benefit from “static” qualities such as optimism, gratitude, or family importance. In contrast, life satisfaction is a “state,” not an orientation that necessarily gives rise to action. From this perspective, static subjective qualities such as optimism and gratitude would rationally correlate with the state of life satisfaction, whereas the dynamic quality of curiosity—which seeks to explore new experiences, rather than remaining content with the status quo—may not. In addition, although family importance predicted Mexican Americans’ academic resilience, mental health, and vocational outcomes, it was not related to life satisfaction in the current study. One reason for the lack of relationship could relate to the way that individuals, for whom family is especially important, may view their personal life satisfaction through a systemic or relational lens—that is, taking into consideration the overall welfare of their significant others in assessment of their life satisfaction.

We understand that the framework in the current study could have consisted of other factors to understand Mexican American students’ life satisfaction. Given that we did not have access to a large sample size to perform structural equation models or path designs, we did not include additional variables in our conceptual framework. Other factors might explain the other 62% variance that was unaccounted for by factors in the current study. Two important cultural factors related to Mexican American students’ development include acculturation and enculturation (Ojeda, Castillo, Meza, & Pina-Watson, 2014). Acculturation and enculturation might mediate relationships among character strengths on life satisfaction. There also are positive psychology factors that might influence life satisfaction such as presence of meaning in life, search for meaning in life, hope, mindfulness, and self-efficacy. Finally, other character strengths might influence Mexican American students’ life satisfaction. These character strengths include zest, growth mind-set, purpose, self-control, and social/emotional intelligence. Researchers can use other factors with larger sample sizes to continue to understand factors that influence Mexican American students’ positive psychological functioning.

Implications for Practice

Whether in K-12 or postsecondary education settings, counselors need to identify ways to help Mexican American students develop gratitude, optimism, and grit. Gratitude might build a sense of satisfaction with life, which will make individuals less inclined to pursue materialistic things (Lambert, Fincham, Stillman, & Dean, 2009). Counselors can focus on helping Mexican American students accomplish intrinsic goals by appealing to activities that contribute to their personal growth. One way of doing this is by helping Mexican American students identify passion, a sense of direction, motivation, and purpose. As one example, counselors can ask Mexican American students to write a gratitude letter to family members or loved ones with potential to increase understanding and appreciation. Letters of gratitude can help individuals increase happiness and satisfaction as well as decrease depression (Toepfer, Cichy, & Peters, 2012). In addition, students who score high on measures of optimism reported significantly less stress than did those who were pessimistic (Huan et al., 2006). Counselors must understand that students are likely to cope with academic stress if they are optimistic. Findings from the current study also indicate that students who are more optimistic might have greater life satisfaction. To this end, counselors can develop students’ optimism by listening to negative assumptions, irrational beliefs, or faulty thinking about academic or mental health outcomes (Ellis & Harper, 1975). We suggest that counselors can use cognitive behavior therapy, narrative therapy, and positive psychology to increase Mexican American students’ life satisfaction (Seligman, 2002; White & Epston, 1990).

In understanding the significant role grit plays in increasing life satisfaction, counselors need to be informed of ways they can create and support conditions for grit. Rather than viewing grit as a single entity, professionals in higher education and mental health can think of grit as multi-faceted. Mangan (2012) found that the “successful academic” is conscientious among a couple of other factors. Promoting this trait among students might lead to the notion that these types of students will be organized, responsible, and consequently have increased levels of grit. However, counselors should use caution. These same conscientious individuals, when in excess, may be reluctant to break barriers and use conventional methods. In addition, creativity had connection to higher levels of grit. Considering that grit is defined as having the perseverance and passion for long-term goals (Duckworth et al., 2007), promoting creativity might be important. Students need to be afforded opportunities to break away from the conventional ideal, challenge the status quo, and develop new ideas (Mangan, 2012). Contrary to popular belief, focus and self-regulation are not the only components that facilitate grit; however, these factors might play a role in individuals’ ability to persevere and sustain interest in long-term goals.

Implications for Research

There are several directions for future research. First, more outcome-based research with Mexican American college students is necessary. There are several possible interventions, including narrative therapy (White & Epston, 1990) and positive psychology (Seligman, 2002), that can be evaluated to increase Mexican American students’ grit, gratitude, and optimism. Second, future research can benefit from an ecological framework to explore how individual, interpersonal, and institutional factors impact Mexican American students’ life satisfaction. For Mexican American high school students, important institutional factors include perceptions of school climate and a college-going culture (Vela, Ikonomopoulos, et al., 2015), whereas interpersonal factors include perceptions of support from counselors and teachers. Because 62% of variance in Mexican American college students’ life satisfaction was not explained in the current study, researchers should use frameworks with different factors to understand Mexican American students’ positive psychological functioning. In addition, longitudinal studies are important to understand temporal changes in factors that impact Mexican American students’ life satisfaction. Future research should use longitudinal methods to address limitations in the current study and previous research. Finally, researchers could adapt the current study with a larger sample of Mexican American students with structural equation modeling procedures. These studies will provide important information regarding mediating and moderating relationships among factors that influence Mexican American students’ life satisfaction.

Limitations

There are several limitations that must be taken into consideration. First, we relied on cross-sectional data, which limit cause-and-effect inferences (Vela et al., 2014). Second, we relied on students’ self-report perceptions of character strengths and family importance. We agree that some students may lack insight into their feelings and perceptions or provide socially desirable responses (Alvarado & Ricard, 2013; Vela, Ikonomopoulos, et al., 2015; Zalaquett, 2006). Third, the homogeneity and university environment might impact generalizability (Watson, 2009). Participants attended an HSI with more than 93% Hispanic students, thereby limiting applicability to Mexican American students who attend similar institutions (Vela, Lu, et al., 2015). In addition, we only surveyed successful Mexican American students as defined by enrollment in postsecondary education. Conducting a similar study on Mexican American high school students’ or community college students’ life satisfaction is important.

Conclusion

The findings point to the importance of exploring factors associated with Mexican American college students’ life satisfaction. Professional counselors can benefit Mexican American college students by becoming aware of the importance of gratitude, grit, and optimism to increase Mexican American students’ life satisfaction. Researchers could endeavor to assess a broader array of character strengths and interpersonal factors to strengthen the emerging framework for predicting Mexican American students’ positive psychological functioning.

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Author Biographies

Javier C. Vela, PhD, is an assistant professor in the department of counseling and guidance at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. His research interests include positive psychology and resiliency. When he is not teaching, writing, or counseling, he enjoys running, playing golf, and spending time with family.

Gregory Scott Sparrow, EdD, LPC, LMFT, is an associate professor in the Counseling and Guidance Department at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and is in private practice at The Center in McAllen, Texas. He has done research in the field of lucid dreaming and has developed an approach to dream analysis congruent with a variety of contemporary counseling approaches. His work can be found at .

James Ikonomopoulos, PhD, LPC-S, is an assistant professor in the department of cousneling and guidance at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. His research interests include youth and adolescents as well as outcome-based research.

Stacey L. Gonzalez, MED, graduated from the counseling and guidance program at The University of Texas at Brownsville. She is currently a school counselor with Lasara ISD. Her research interests include multicultural issues, positive psychology, and spirituality.

Basilio Rodriguez, MED, is a graduate of the counseling and guidance program at The University of Texas at Browsville. He plans to become a school counselor to help students reach their academic, social, and personal potential so they can become succussful in the future. He has presented at numerous conferences and would like to become a professor to share knowledge to those new to the counseling field.

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