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Date of Award

2026

Document Type

Restricted Thesis: Campus only access

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Dr. Kristjen Lundberg

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between social provisions and eudaimonic well-being for first-year racial-ethnic minority students at a Predominantly White Institution (PWI). Though the first year of college is stressful for many students, racial-ethnic minority students entering a PWI face additional barriers to well-being, providing reasons to examine conditions that support their well-being. Eudaimonic well-being can simply be defined as the presence of meaning in one’s life. Social provisions refers to the perceived and experienced social support provided by one’s social connections. Participants are racial-ethnic minority students, drawn from a larger sample recruited by The WEB Project in Fall 2025 as part of a quasi-experimental study. All participants completed a baseline (Time 1) survey at the beginning of the semester and a post-test (Time 2) survey at the end of the semester. Results showed no statistically significant average change in eudaimonic well-being from Time 1 to Time 2; however, visual analysis revealed individual variation in well-being. It was also demonstrated that social provisions strongly predict the eudaimonic well-being of racial-ethnic minorities at Time 2 above and beyond eudaimonic well-being reported at Time 1. This study has important implications for supporting the well-being of racial-ethnic minority students attending PWIs. Universities should implement programs that facilitate positive social connections, thereby facilitating eudaimonic well-being.

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