Latent Profiles of Students’ Self-Perceived Social Integration

Abstract: In this brief research report, we examine different profiles of self-perceived social integration (SSI) among third- and fourth-grade elementary school students ( n = 1,283) in Germany, using the newly developed Questionnaire for Multifactorial Assessment of Self-Perceived Social Integration (SSI 3 – 4). Previous instruments assessed SSI unidimensionally, overlooking the complexity of students’ social experiences. The SSI 3 – 4 consists of six subscales that have been validated through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. In order to explore different student profiles, we applied latent profile analysis. We identified a three-profile solution as the most parsimonious, showing high, average, and low levels of SSI. A plausible six-profile solution provided further differentiation, highlighting two ambivalent profiles characterized by unique social dynamics: One group reported average to high levels of SSI, but also the highest level of negative interactions ( n = 70), while another group reported low levels of both positive and negative social interactions, but an average to high level of sympathy and well-being ( n = 70). These results highlight the usefulness of a multidimensional approach to measuring the SSI, which provides deeper insights into variations in students’ social integration. The SSI 3 – 4 is freely available under a CC-BY license.