The role of student and customer social identification on university students’ learning approaches and psychological well-being

Abstract In an on-line format, the current research measured students’ ( N = 453) social identifications as university students and as university customers to predict their self-reported engagement in deep and surface learning, attitudes toward cheating, intent to continue their studies, and their psychological well-being (e.g., affect, self-esteem). Also measured were students’ perceptions of deep- and surface-learning norms. Overall, students identified more strongly as students than as customers. More relevant to hypothesized social-psychological processes, social identification as a university student positively predicted their deep-learning approach and intent to continue, but negatively predicted their surface-learning approach and favorable attitudes toward cheating. Enhanced university-student social identification was also associated with favorable psychological well-being. In contrast, social identification as a customer positively predicted participants’ surface-learning approach and favorable attitudes toward cheating. It was only when students perceived high deep-learning norms that university-customer social identification yielded some favorable learning and well-being outcomes. Conceptually, these results provide further support for the application of the social identity approach to educational contexts. In application, the results reveal that social identification as a student offers far better learning and psychological well-being outcomes than social identification as a customer. However, if universities seek to embrace a transactional delivery of services and transform the student-as-customer metaphor into a reality, they have the additional responsibility to ensure there is a recognizable and acknowledged norm for deep learning.