The Relevance of Reflection: An Empirical Examination of the Role of Reflection in Ethic of Caring, Leadership, and Psychological Well-Being

This article is an empirical examination of reflection for first-year and third-year students using data from the College Students’ Beliefs and Values survey. Frequency of self-reflection increased between the first and third years of college. Two self-reported measures of reflection, engaging in self-reflection and having classes that incorporated reflective writing, were among the strongest significant positive predictors of Ethic of Caring and Leadership in the third year of college. Self-reflection was, however, negatively related to Psychological Well-Being. The findings point to the importance of supporting reflection in curricular and cocurricular activities in order to promote learning and self-understanding.