Impact of College Students’ Learning Adaptation on Learning Conformity Behavior in Hengyang: Moderating Role of Peer Attachment

Abstract

This study explored the relationships among learning adaptation, peer attachment, and learning conformity behavior among college students in Hengyang, Hunan Province, China. A total of 704 questionnaires were collected from three universities in Hengyang through purposive sampling, and 650 valid questionnaires were obtained. Structural equation models were used to test the direct and moderating effects among the variables. The research indicated that good learning adaptation in Hengyang college students had a positive impact on learning conformity behavior and that college students’ peer attachments had a positive effect on their learning conformity behavior. Compared with students with low peer attachment, students with high peer attachment were better at learning and adapting; they engaged in learning conformity behavior more frequently. College students’ peer attachment positively moderated the relationship between learning adaptation and learning conformity behavior.

Conformity in High School Adolescents: Development and Validation of the Informational and Normative Conformity Scale

“…We chose conceptually accurate variables, which, like conformity, are crucial for the psychosocial functioning of adolescents. Based on the literature on conformity and related topics, we expected that conformity measured by the SKI-N would positively correlate with need to belong (Bică, 2022; Williams et al, 2000) and with loneliness (Mehrabian & Stefl, 1995), but negatively with self-efficacy and self-esteem (Enjaian et al, 2017; Tainaka et al, 2014), with creative (non-conformist) style and approach to problem-solving (Beghetto, 2017; Xu & Tu, 2022), and with likeability (popularity) and personal power (leadership skills) (Leary, 2005; Robinson et al, 2015). Correlations between the SKI-N result and the results from other tools (calculated based on mean scores for observed variable), were assessed using the r -Pearson correlation coefficient with 95% confidence interval (CI).…”

“…As a way of fitting into the norms and rules of the group, it can influence the maintaining of good interpersonal relationships with classmates, protect against rejection and increase the likelihood of experiencing belonging (Coultas & van Leeuwen, 2015; Leary, 2022). Moreover, conformity helps students to improve their adaptation and motivation for learning, supports satisfaction and self-realisation, and fosters cooperation and harmony with classmates, all of which increase educational achievement (Jiang et al, 2015; Xu & Tu, 2022).…”

“…Moreover, in educational practice, a high propensity to conform may lead to situations in which adolescents, under group or results pressure (e.g., high-stakes testing), can be less reliant on their own opinions. As a result, they can follow the wrong decisions of the majority, which, in turn, reduces independence of thinking (Beghetto, 2017; Xu & Tu, 2022).…”

Factors affecting faculty conformity in South China universities

“…The measurement scale for faculty conformity was adapted from Xu and Tu (2022) conformity scale, a two-dimensional measurement scale with four questions. For example, “When all my colleagues receive a certain academic achievement or honor, I try to get it too.” Likert five point scale from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree” was adopted, measuring from 1 to 5.…”

The Influence of Teacher Professional Identity on Conformity Behavior: The Mediating Role of Perceived Institutional Norms

“…Conformity is a common and widely debated social phenomenon in recent decades (Xu & Tu, 2023). It was considered an act of behaving in accordance with social rules or norms (Costanzo & Shaw, 1966).…”