Life Satisfaction and Student Performance JOSEPH C. RODE Miami University MARNE L. ARTHAUD-DAY CHRISTINE H. MOONEY JANET P. NEAR TIMOTHY T. BALDWIN Indiana University WILLIAM H. BOMMER Cleveland State University ROBERT S. RUBIN DePaul University Although it seems intuitively obvious that the happy student will be a more productive student, empirical tests of that assumption are curiously sparse. We tested a model that included satisfaction with various life domains, overall life satisfaction, cumulative college GPA, and ratings on an assessment center exercise. Results indicated that overall life satisfaction was a significant predictor of both GPA and assessment center ratings, even with traditional academic achievement predictors controlled (e.g., cognitive aptitude, gender). We discuss implications of the results for future research and educational practice. ........................................................................................................................................................................ Although it is hardly controversial to suggest that student performance in college is a function of many factors within and external to the classroom, the research literature has been slow to validate that intuitive assumption. Indeed, while a rich his- tory of research has been devoted to instructional design and pedagogical strategy and techniques, much less attention has been focused on how broader contextual and attitudinal variables might influence student achievement. Most research con- cerned with student experiences has focused ei- ther on correlates of student satisfaction with the university (Astin, 1993), or on relationships be- tween objective college characteristics and aca- demic performance (Astin, 1993; Kuh & Hu, 1999, 2001; Hu & Kuh, 2003). The thesis that prompted this research is that over- all life satisfaction, not just satisfaction with school or faculty, is an important determinant of academic performance. That thesis was first derived from our own collective experiences. Students with high life satisfaction seemed to show greater resiliency and be less fragile in the face of academic challenges. It was further prompted by our experience with the converse: that is, students’ low levels of life satisfac- tion seemed to derail their focus and deteriorate their performance in the classroom. Of interest is that life satisfaction (student or oth- erwise) has traditionally been viewed as an outcome and not as an antecedent or predictor of other impor- tant variables. In research terms, it has been treated almost exclusively as a dependent, rather than inde- pendent, variable. A notable exception is the rela- tionship between subjective well-being and supervi- sor’s rating (but not objective measures) of work performance (Cropanzano & Wright, 1999; Staw, Sut- ton, & Pelled, 1994; Wright & Cropanzano, 1997, 2000). In addition, Staw and Barsade (1993) studied the ef- fects of students’ well-being on performance on an in-basket exercise; so far as we know, previous re- Portions of these analyses were presented at the Meetings of the Academy of Management, 2002, Denver. We thank Tim Judge, George Kuh, the anonymous reviewers, and especially the editor, Cynthia Fukami, for their comments on an earlier draft of this paper.  Academy of Management Learning & Education, 2005, Vol. 4, No. 4, 421– 433. ........................................................................................................................................................................ 421