Augustine or Philistine? College Students' Sanctification of Learning and Its Implications

Abstract

Sanctification is a psychological process in which aspects of life are associated with God (theistic sanctification) or sacred qualities (nontheistic sanctification). Sanctification accounts for outcomes in diverse areas, such as family, the environment, and work. One area yet to be examined is the sanctification of learning, which was addressed in the present study in a sample of 349 college students in the United States. Sanctification of education was related to better educational outcomes (i.e., positive emotions toward education, higher grade point averages, and psychological growth), partially through the mediator of good study strategies (critical thinking and self-regulation), as indicated by structural equation modeling. Hierarchical regressions revealed that sanctification of learning predicted higher levels of investment in learning, advanced study strategies, and better educational outcomes, over and above demographic and general religious variables. The present study demonstrates the beneficial implications of sanctifying learning while contributing to the growing body of literature that demonstrates the importance of the sanctification construct.