Study on the Effect of Association Participation on Academic Achievement of College Students

Abstract

Does participation in student organizations correlate with college students 'academic achievement? Academic circles hold three conflicting perspectives: the "affirmative theory", "negative theory", and "indifferent theory". To examine these divergent views, we propose research hypotheses from three perspectives: educational psychology, campus social capital, and cultural-social reproduction. Using the CFPS 2014-2020 unbalanced panel data, we conduct generalized structural equation modeling with robustness tests. Results reveal that academic aspirations, academic efficacy, and study time investment significantly enhance students' academic achievement. Overall organizational participation positively promotes all four dimensions: academic aspirations, efficacy, study time, and achievement attainment. Longitudinal participation shows stronger effects than cross-sectional participation. Within longitudinal participation, "student party members" demonstrate the strongest impact, followed by "student leaders", while "student league members" show the weakest. The combined effects of family cultural capital, economic capital, and social capital remain minimal. These findings support the "affirmative theory" while rejecting the "negative theory" or "indifferent theory", emphasizing the acquired nature of academic achievement rather than the deterministic perspective of cultural-social reproduction.