Psychological well being

Well-being is a multidimensional construct consisting of psychological, emotional and social aspects. Psychological well-being (PWB) comprises six dimensions: a sense of purpose in life, striving towards personal growth, a sense of confidence in influencing the environment (environmental mastery), acceptance of oneself for who they are (self-acceptance), independence and self-agency regarding one’s thoughts and actions (autonomy) and fruitful relationships with others (positive interpersonal relationships) [34]. These well-being domains reflect a great degree of access to coping resources that are useful in dealing with psychological stress. PWB is essential in promoting intrinsic objectives, meeting fundamental emotional needs, being aware and doing with consciousness, and performing independently [1, 35].

In positive psychology, there is a focus on well-being and personal strengths aligning itself with aims of education as stated by [36]: learning to know, learning to do, learning to be and learning to live together. Personal well-being scores early in college life positively predicted students’ personal growth and academic achievement after three years [37]. Students with positive well-being are likely to perform better [38], and achieve academic success in terms of grades, credit accumulation and persistence [25], while negative well-being factors such as mental illness and mental distress, are likely to impact performance and course completion negatively [39].

Several factors have been associated with students’ PWB like anxiety [40], hope [41], perceived social support [42], student-supervisor relationship [43] and authentic assessment [44].

The following paragraphs present arguments on how internal team environment, institutional support, family support and friends support may impact psychological well-being of students directly, as well as through academic engagement. Fig 1 depicts the conceptualized model.

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Fig 1. Conceptual model of the factors determining students’ psychological well-being.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0297508.g001

Internal team environment

ITE refers to conditions within a team that enable team members to have a favorable experience while working on a task [12]. ITE includes three components: shared purpose, social support and voice. Shared purpose refers to the commonality of the purpose and goals across team members. Social support refers to the informal mutual support received by team members while performing a team activity. Voice refers to the comfort and ability of the team members to be vocal about their thoughts, ideas, preferences and concerns. A positive ITE promotes shared leadership, cohesion, and constructive conflict [12, 23, 45]. It enhances knowledge sharing [46] by promoting a culture that aligns individual behavior towards team goals [47]. In contrast, a negative inter-personal environment can have harmful effects like knowledge-hiding [48].

The role of student teams in management education is well recognized. Studies in the domain have examined the role of collaborative learning, the tools used, the process of teamwork, curriculum design and alignment with learning outcomes, team composition factors, and issues related to assessment [49]. The outcomes of working in student teams include positive academic outcomes, engagement and soft skill development. However, the role of these teams in impacting well-being is largely overlooked. Collaborative learning in teams enhances communication skills, leadership skills, problem solving [50], teamwork and critical thinking skills [51], and promotes academic engagement [52]. At the same time, there is sufficient contradictory evidence regarding the perceived benefits of teamwork due to group processes such as social loafing and inability to manage group conflict [17, 49]. Students may experience dissatisfaction with work teams if the teams are high on social loafing and the team process does not enable them to meet their academic goals [22]. Given that management students spend extensive amounts of time working in groups, their experiences in the team and its outcomes can have a significant impact on their mental health. This can lead to negative affect which can impact well-being negatively. Alternatively, experiencing group processes which support individual and group goal achievement can enhance team satisfaction, increase positive affect and promote well-being. Effective teams leading to positive outcomes require group processes focused on working towards shared goals, mutual support and accountability [17]. This is captured in the concept of ITE.

According to the social interdependence theory [21, 53], individual goal achievement is dependent on the actions of others. Interdependence can be positive (i.e., when the individual’s goal attainment is positively linked with the attainment of goals by others), negative (i.e., when the individual’s goal attainment is linked with failure to achieve goals by others), or there can be no relationship between the goal attainment of the individual and the others [53]. Students in assignment teams are linked together by positive interdependence. Positive interdependence promotes cooperation and collaboration. Literature has found an association between attitude and well-being [54]. Cooperative attitudes in teams enable positive relationships with peers and positive psychological health including higher self-esteem, trust and optimism, and positively adjusted social relationships [21]. Learning in collaborative setups has a positive impact on well-being [50]. Additionally, the self-determination theory posits that work environments which fulfill an individual’s competence, relatedness and autonomy needs have a positive impact on well-being [55]. A positive internal team environment can fulfill these needs leading to higher well-being.

A positive ITE enables psychological, social and emotional support in student teams [23]. A shared purpose within the team provides meaning and direction to the team activities. This can make students convinced about investing time and effort in the team. When students realize that their team members care about their well-being and value their contribution, they are likely to invest greater efforts towards team goals [56] thus increasing cooperation, possibilities of learning from others, and getting help when required. It can also help in sharing each other’s thoughts and feelings, which can make them more trusting of each other, and lead to positive interpersonal relationships. Use of voice within the team can help the students openly share ideas, suggestions and perspectives. It can make them feel psychologically safe about raising issues and sharing doubts [57]. Being vocal without fear can give them a sense of autonomy and confidence about influencing the environment. A positive team environment improves group cohesion and unity while minimizing interpersonal conflict and detrimental disagreements [23]. All these factors can enhance the psychological well-being of the students. Therefore, we propose the following:

1. Hypothesis 1: A positive internal team environment is positively related to psychological well-being of students in a team.

Institutional support

Institutional support (IS) refers to the support provided by the educational institution to its students [8, 24]. It includes highly valued resources, opportunities and services that senior and powerful agents of the institution provide to its people to promote their development and success and make them effective participants in the institution [13].

IS is conceptually derived from perceived organizational support (POS). POS is based on the organizational support theory which argues that employees tend to anthropomorphize their organizations [58]. They develop perceptions of organizational support based on actions of individuals with whom they interact. They consider these actions as indicators of organizational intentions as they believe that organizations have full responsibility for those actions because of the vested authority to take such actions, and create the policies, norms and culture that aids such actions. POS makes employees feel that the organization values and cares about them. It mitigates negative mood in stressful jobs and enhances PWB [59, 60]. Studies have discussed the impact of elements of POS like leadership and climate on employee behavior [61].

Unlike business organizations, students’ perception of IS is based purely on the support provided by the institution and not by the faculty [8]. IS determines the ease with which they can navigate through day-to-day academic life. It also conveys the care, consideration and commitment the institution has for the students. IS increases student satisfaction, academic performance [24] and psychological well-being [9]. Conversely, poor IS can lead to academic burnout characterized by exhaustion, loss of interest, poor engagement, dampened emotions and a sense of helplessness [62]. Perceptions of psychological support reduces stress and the risk of burnout among students [63]. Perceptions that one matters to the institute can reduce academic stress of the students and enhance their wellbeing [64]. Academic, career and psychological support along with understanding student concerns and a positive environment provided by the institution are linked with higher students’ well-being [65, 66]. Displaying empathy, promoting mental health awareness, giving heed to student voice, and adopting a whole person approach are some of the ways in which institutions can enhance student well-being [67]. Making institutional support proactive, easily accessible, and creating safe spaces for student voice and expression can further improve student well-being [68]. Therefore, we propose the following:

1. Hypothesis 2: Institutional support is positively related to psychological well-being of students in a team.

Family and friends support

Family support (FAS) refers to the emotional and psychological support and care provided by family members [69, 70]. Friends support (FRS) refers to the emotional and psychological support provided by friends who can be classmates and peers within or outside the educational institution. FAS and FRS together constitute social support for students. We distinguish social support based on FAS and FRS from the social support dimension of ITE. Social support in ITE is focused on supporting team members to complete the task at hand. It is task and team goal focused. Further, team members are not always likely to be close friends and may not provide long term socio-emotional support. In contrast, FAS and FRS focuses on long term support which encompasses all aspects of a student’s life experience.

The PERMA model of well-being highlights relationships as a central building block of well-being [71, 72]. Positive relationships make individuals feel that they are cared for, loved and supported by others [71]. Similarly social support theories indicate that integration in a social network and strong relationship ties within it enhance positive affect, sense of self-worth and give a sense of stability [73]. Social support also acts as a buffer by reducing the impact of stressors in stressful situations by providing resources to mitigate them, reducing and eliminating the reactions to stress, providing solutions and reducing the perceived importance of the stressor. Thus, social support including both friends and family is related to higher well-being [10, 11, 74, 75].

Social support provides cues to the individual that she/he is cared for, valued and included in a social network [69, 71]. It creates a supportive environment and acts as a buffer in stressful situations [76], enhances quality of life and impacts mental health positively [7]. In a study with at-risk adolescent girls and boys, it was found that experiencing FRS and FAS reduced subsequent depressive symptoms [77]. Social support reduces the perception and experience of academic stress [27, 78]. It leads to perceptions of opportunities which support educational and career aspirations [79]. It enables personal adjustment [80] and improves academic performance [76] even in adverse and new situations.

FAS is an important factor in academic performance [81] and academic adjustment [82]. Positive relationships and support from family helps with reducing anxieties and self-doubt and enhancing efforts towards building skills, enabling academic performance. In universities, development of friendships supports student integration into the educational setup through developing a sense of belongingness [27].

Overall, these studies indicate that FAS and FRS enhance wellbeing [19, 79]. They have found that the extent of emotional support received from family is positively related to academic outcomes of students and this relationship is explained through the contribution of psychological well-being [25, 83]. Thus, we expect that family and friends support will be positively related to PWB of students working in teams. Therefore, we propose the following:

1. Hypothesis 3: Family support is positively related to psychological well-being of students in a team.
2. Hypothesis 4: Friends support is positively related to psychological well-being of students in a team.

The mediating role of academic engagement

Academic engagement has been defined as “a positive, fulfilling, and work-related state of mind that is characterized by vigor, dedication, and absorption” [16]. In this definition “work” refers to the activities performed by students [84]. Therefore, academic engagement happens when students experience high levels of energy, mental resilience, willingness as well as an ability to invest effort, dedication, a sense of significance in their studies, feelings of pride and challenge, complete concentration and a feeling of being carried away by one’s studies such that time passes quickly [84]. AE is desirable, not only for the performance of students, but also for their learning experience.

When students are engaged, they exhibit interest in classes and find them challenging [85], exhibit greater academic progress [86], demonstrate good academic performance [87, 88] as well as achievement. They are actively involved, pay attention to and are committed to academic activities [89]. A very important outcome for any higher education institution is student persistence and degree attainment. Students showing behaviors that reflect academic and social engagement, are found to be more likely to persist and complete their degrees [90].

However, more studies are needed to explore the antecedents of study engagement among university students [87].The influence of psychological well-being and psychological capital on engagement has been studied [91, 92]. There has also been research on the influence of the broader concept of student involvement on psychological well-being [93, 94] as well as the mediating role of engagement on academic performance [95]. However, there are not many studies which throw light on the influence of student engagement on psychological well-being.

As discussed previously, positive ITE is characterized by collaborative learning. Collaborative learning implies peer to peer interactions enabling problem solving, knowledge construction and cooperation towards a common goal [18, 52]. It is found that team based collaborative learning leads to higher involvement in blended courses [96] and enhances peer to peer interactions. A common understanding of shared goals, authentic cooperation and member support can enable student teams towards higher effectiveness [17] through higher involvement in team tasks. Studies have found that collaborative learning impacts academic engagement positively [52]. Besides, according to social interdependence theory, there is a difference between cooperators and competitors. Cooperators show higher levels of academic engagement as compared to competitors, which is indicated by the time they spent on tasks [21]. Thus, we argue that a positive ITE can result in higher engagement through cooperative behaviors. A positive ITE enables greater focus and identification with team goals [97], higher task involvement and immersion [98]. Such a strong identification and involvement with work are essential to the process of flow and engagement. Flow which is an enjoyable state of mind and is characterized by total absorption, is similar to engagement [99]. Studies show that students who experience flow have higher levels of PWB [100]. Thus, positive ITE characterized by cooperative behaviors may lead to PWB through higher engagement levels. Therefore, we propose the following:

1. Hypothesis 5: Academic engagement partially mediates the relationship between a positive internal team environment and psychological well-being of students in a team.

Decades of research on the impact of college on students has found that institutions have a lot to offer in enhancing student engagement [101]. Tinto’s interactionalist theory of individual student departure discusses how various support-oriented academic practices and programs provided by institutions can impact the academic integration and engagement of students [102]. For example, providing students with orientation, learning communities, advising, tutoring, supplemental instruction, peer tutoring, study groups, summer bridge programs, study skills workshops, mentoring and student support groups influence student success [103]. Positive interactions with administrative personnel and services, having information regarding where to get help and access to institutional resources are important sources of institutional support, leading to higher student engagement [104]. Institutional support mechanisms can enhance autonomous behavior and this student autonomy has a positive effect on student engagement [105]. Since academic engagement leads to positive outcomes such as academic performance [15] and academic achievement [16], it reflects on how engaged students are well-adjusted academically. Adjustment is a key characteristic of PWB. Thus, it is likely that institutional support will enhance students’ PWB by positively influencing their engagement and adjustment levels. Therefore, we propose the following:

1. Hypothesis 6: Academic engagement partially mediates the relationship between institutional support and psychological well-being of students in a team.

Family and friends support are sources of social support that have strong influence on academic attitudes and behaviors of students [106]. They promote persistence in academic pursuits [107] and lower withdrawal from college studies [108]. Friendships with positive features such as intimacy and emotional support have positive effects on adjustment at school [109] reflecting on how well students have adapted to academic requirements and experience well-being.

FRS is positively associated with engagement levels of students [110]. This can be because of peer-related belongingness [111]. Family emotional support positively influences academic engagement levels [25]. Family support for learning in the form of academic and motivational support, goals and expectations, monitoring and supervision and learning resources is a significant factor underlying cognitive and psychological engagement of students [112].

The Broaden and Build theory [31] positive emotions and our responses to situations. It concludes that positive emotions help us adapt better to situations as they broaden one’s repertoire of responses to situations. This broadening of repertoire of responses in turn leads to building personal resources that influence study engagement positively [29]. Students who experience social support are also equipped with various psychological resources in the form of ‘psychological capital’, which as a whole is positively related to engagement [113].

Some of the critical outcomes of engagement are school completion [114] and persistence through college [115]. These reflect on students’ adaptation to academic requirements. Since adapting to the environment is key to psychological well- being, engagement and well-being can be positively related [116]. Thus, the positive emotions and psychological capital generated through FAS and FRS, are likely to enhance PWB through their influence on academic engagement and adaptation levels of students. Therefore, we propose the following:

1. Hypothesis 7: Academic engagement partially mediates the relationship between family support and psychological well-being of students in a team.
2. Hypothesis 8: Academic engagement partially mediates the relationship between friends support and psychological well-being of students in a team.

Measures

Measure for ITE was adapted from an established 10-item team environment scale [12]. The scale measured student’s perception of social support, shared purpose and ability to voice thoughts and opinions within the team. Sample item is “We discuss our team’s main tasks and objectives to ensure that we have a fair understanding”. EFA revealed one factor with acceptable factor loading for all items. The composite reliability for ITE is 0.91.

Measure for IS was adapted from a 5-item scale of perceived organizational support [118]. The scale measured the student’s perception of support provided by the educational institution. Sample item is “My institution cares about my opinions”.

Measure for FAS was adapted from a 5-item family support scale [119]. The scale measured the student’s perception of support provided by the family. Sample item is “My family gives me the energy to focus on my academics”.

Measure for FRS was adapted from a 6-item friends support scale [120]. The scale measured the student’s perception of support provided by the friends outside the team, and within or outside the educational institute. Sample item is “My friends understand what I am going through”.

For each of IS, FAS and FRS, EFA revealed one factor with acceptable factor loading for all items. We also conducted a combined EFA for the three variables, and found them to load on three different factors with no significant cross-loadings. The composite reliability for IS, FAS and FRS were 0.94, 0.92 and 0.92 respectively.

Measure for AE was adapted from a 7-item engagement scale [85]. The scale measured the student’s experience of engagement in the academic course. Sample item is “I usually look forward to most of my classes”. EFA revealed one factor with acceptable factor loading for all items. The composite reliability for AE is 0.87.

Measure for PWB was adapted from an 18-item well-being scale [121]. The scale measured the student’s experience of subjective well-being. Sample item is “I like most parts of my personality”. Items for all variables were retained post EFA, except two items of PWB that were deleted due to low factor loading. The composite reliability for PWB is 0.90. All the selected items had acceptable Cronbach Alpha reliability of more than 0.70 (Table 1)

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Table 1. Reliability of variables.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0297508.t001

Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was done using the selected items. Based on the results, we tested the hypotheses using path analysis. We used age, gender and formation process of groups (faculty-assigned or self-created) as control variables since they were expected to influence AE and PWB.

Practical implications

The findings of the paper can be utilized by the management of higher education institutions, faculty and students and their families. They indicate some actions that different stakeholders can undertake to promote both AE and PWB of students.

Educational institutions consider engagement and well-being of students as critical for their learning, growth and experience. They can facilitate these outcomes through certain initiatives. First, they can encourage faculty to design team-based activities and/or assignments. This would enable ample opportunities for students to work in teams. Students can also be encouraged to form their own groups, which is likely to promote positive ITE, at least initially. Second, institutions can create guidelines to promote positive ITE within student groups. For example, they can mandate the students to talk to their faculty, whenever they are facing challenges in the ITE. The faculty can help create norms for the teams, and encourage adherence to those norms. Peer feedback can help to maintain such norms. Third, institutions can strive towards a culture where students are more united, focused and goal-oriented, are willing and able to support each other when required, and feel psychologically safe and bold about sharing their ideas and concerns. Institutional leaders can play an important role in building such a culture by repeated communication of such values, and display of authenticity in their response to situations. Fourth, they can monitor the level and quality of support they provide to the students in terms of resources, course workload and schedule, subject matter expertise and administrative system and procedures. They can establish grievance handling cells to support the students when they experience problems related to infrastructure and amenities, for example, accommodation, food, classrooms, power, technology and library. Fifth, institutions can adopt academic advisory systems where nominated faculty mentors / advisors oversee the academic engagement and well-being of individual students assigned to them. The mentors / advisors can be responsible for suggesting techniques to students to improve their engagement. Institutions can also maintain a counselling department, which the mentors can recommend to the students, if they feel the need for it. Students should be able to have easy access to the qualified counsellors when they are facing mental health issues. All these policies can enhance student engagement and well-being.

The findings have implications for faculty too. Faculty can create positive team norms and actively engage with students, so as to ensure that members of each student team share a sense of purpose, provide psychological and emotional support to each other, and are comfortable and willing to use their voice whenever required.

Students can themselves drive outcomes beneficial for them. They can form teams (if they have the option), based on the criteria of a shared sense of purpose, and possibility of getting support and using voice within the team. If the students take the initiative to form teams, it is likely that they will choose peers whom they are comfortable with, leading to a higher probability of a positive internal team environment.

Limitations and research avenues

We collected data from some universities that were accessible to us, which may raise questions about the representativeness of the results. Collecting data from diverse educational institutions situated in different cities and states, and having residential and non-residential campus, can make the sample more representative and the results more generalizable. It would also help to take care of any confounding effects due to the institutional and local culture, institutional leadership, policies and practices, course content and student profile. Moreover, such a study can be conducted across countries to identify if there is any influence of national culture.

Besides, we conducted a cross-sectional rather than a longitudinal study, which negates identification of causal relationships. Longitudinal research can help analyze the effect of formal and informal support received by a student in an educational institute at the beginning of a semester, on the academic engagement and psychological well-being in the middle and end of the semester.

In future, we can explore the hypothesized model in the context of non-management students across a wide range of disciplines, to identify variations if any. Besides, we can investigate differences in the model for management and non-management students. Further, we can examine whether different categories of friends (prior school, college, current institute etc.) affect students in the higher education domain differently, in order to verify the results of the current study.

In the current study, we have analyzed the internal team environment at the individual team member level as our primary interest was in analyzing the impact of the team member’s perception of the environment on the individual academic engagement and psychological well-being. Future studies can extend this study by considering a multi-level analysis that incorporates a team-level analysis of the internal team environment [136].

Future research can also consider additional determinants of students’ well-being in a team, like personality and diversity of team members, student related processes and policies, and institutional culture. Studies can also explore goal-orientation of students, and its impact on their engagement and well-being. Goal-orientation can be influenced by several factors including individual values, career goals, and even course work. Student perception and attitude towards the course work, faculty and institution can also be studied as part of the model, since they can affect engagement and well-being. Besides, tolerance of risk of academic failure can also be included in the model as risk tolerance impacts behavior [137].

Working in teams is an integral part of employees’ work life across industries. The current model can be tested in the context of organizations to understand the impact of teamwork and team dynamics on employee engagement, and their psychological well-being. This would be especially relevant for organizations that are engaged in team-oriented activities like total quality management [138]. The differential effect of organizational, peer and family support on employee engagement and well-being can also be examined. Considering that organizations are facing challenges in both engaging employees and managing their well-being, this research can provide some useful insights.