Artifact

Artifact #1: Summary of The Glorification of Busyness

College students are busy with classes, jobs, sports, activities, or a combination of any of
these commitments. The research team wanted to see if there was a relationship between the
amount one involves themselves in and one's perceived level of success. The team of researchers
grounded the study in the self-concept theory. According to Cochran et. al (2011), self-concept is
the total of all the beliefs people hold about themselves, including personality, interests, and
perceived place in society (p.413). Cochran et.al (2011) helps clarify how the self-concept can
play a role in the actions students take, leading them to differing levels of busyness. This directly
related to the study as it pertains to how one perceives their own success based on interests and
society.
Previous studies with similar research topics found that with idleness, societal pressure,
class-work, and additional involvement, college students may be influenced by a variety of
interactions, whether or not they increase a students satisfaction (Yin & Lei, 2007). However,
conclusive data by Yin and Leis (2007) study discovered that more campus involvement did not
increase an overall student satisfaction in campus activities (p. 290). Previous studies, however,
did not specifically target busyness and perceptions of success on college campuses, thus
meriting further research.
The researchers conducted a quantitative study and distributed questionnaires in order to
discover if there is an association between student involvement (busyness) and the perception of
ones success. The researchers hypothesized college students who report high levels of busyness
perceive themselves as successful. Therefore, the researchers suggest that college students may

find themselves busy in order to increase their self-concept, and in turn increase their
satisfaction, leaving them with the perception of success.
The results of the research found was that the hypothesis was not supported by
statistically significant data, however it did provide insight to how college students at a small,
liberal arts college in the Midwest perceived busyness and success. Data collected suggests that
respondents associated success with busyness but did not associate busyness with success. In
relation to the male and female strata responded to busyness and success, the data reveals that
47.4% of females strongly agreed to feelings of busyness and only 29.7% of males strongly
agreed. A fairly similar amount of males and females agreed to feelings of busyness. A combined
total of 94.8% of females either strongly agreed or agreed to feelings of busyness as opposed to
only 75.6% of males. This indicates that there are significant differences between genders in
relation to busyness.