Sense of school belonging and kindness among Hong Kong primary students: A latent profile analysis

Chi Kin John LEE, Jing HUANG

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapters

Abstract

Students’ sense of school belonging (SSB) is linked with many meaningful educational outcomes. Though several studies have been conducted on SSB, most of these have used variable-centered approaches, with few studies examining profiles of students’ SSB using person-centered approaches. To further understand this important concept, this study sought to identify different profiles of students’ SSB by applying latent profile analysis to data from a sample of 1,173 students among 34 local primary schools in Hong Kong. The results revealed six profiles of school belonging (i.e., Low SSB and Moderate Rejection, Moderate SSB and Moderate Rejection, High SSB and High Rejection, High-Moderate SSB and High Rejection, High-Moderate SSB and Low-Moderate Rejection, and High SSB and Low Rejection). This study also investigated the relationship between the identified profile membership and character strength of kindness (i.e., motivation to be kind, recognition of kindness, and kind behaviours) among these students. The results indicated differences in character strength of kindness across the identified SSB profiles. The findings are in line with the view that school environment plays an important role in students’ optimal development and highlight the necessity for a greater emphasis on school intervention programs on building students’ SSB and enhancing their character strength of kindness. Copyright © 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationPositive psychology and positive education in Asia: Understanding and fostering well-being in schools
EditorsRonnel B. KING, Imelda Santos CALEON, Allan B. I. BERNARDO
Place of PublicationSingapore
PublisherSpringer
Pages35-56
ISBN (Electronic)9789819955718
ISBN (Print)9789819955701
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2023

Citation

Lee, J. C.-K., & Huang, J. (2023). Sense of school belonging and kindness among Hong Kong primary students: A latent profile analysis. In R. B. King, I. S. Caleon, & A. B. I. Bernardo (Eds.), Positive psychology and positive education in Asia: Understanding and fostering well-being in schools (pp. 35-56). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-5571-8_3

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