In this study, Nancy Schlossberg's (1989) theory of college students' mattering to others was revisited. Mattering is the experience of others depending on us, being interested in us, and being concerned with our fate. The relationships of gender, mattering to college friends and the college environment, and friend and family social support with academic stress of 533 first-year undergraduates were examined. Female students reported higher levels of family support, mattering to friends, mattering to their college, and academic stress. Regardless of gender, college friend social support was the most powerful predictor of mattering; mattering to the college was the most powerful predictor of academic stress levels. Research-informed implications for reducing first-year students' academic stress and enforcing their social support and experiences of mattering are discussed. / DIXON RAYLE AND CHUNG

The relationships of perceived mattering to others, job-related stress, and job satisfaction were examined for 388 elementary, middle, and high school counselors from across the United States. Participants completed the School Counselor Mattering Scale, the School Counselor Job-Stress Assessment, and several job satisfaction questions in order to assess perceptions of mattering to others at their schools and their job-related stress, and how these two constructs relate to school counselors’ overall job satisfaction. Mattering to others at work and job-related stress accounted for 35% of the variance in job satisfaction for the total sample of school counselors; however, mattering did not moderate the relationship between job stress and job satisfaction. Results revealed that elementary school counselors experienced the greatest job satisfaction and the lowest levels of job-related stress, and high school counselors experienced the greatest job dissatisfaction and the greatest levels of job-related stress. Implications for school counselors’ mattering and job satisfaction are considered.

Although first conceived in the 1980s, mattering to others has only recently earned well‐deserved attention in social science research and literature. Subsequently, it seems that mattering may serve as a powerful dynamic in strengthening counseling relationships. This article reviews the empirical validation study of mattering recently conducted by G. C. Elliott, S. Kao, and A. M. Grant (2004), which was published in the journal Self and Identity. Implications for counselors, the counseling relationship, and counseling research are considered.

Mattering to others has been associated with psychosocial well‐being and overall wellness. The relationship of perceived interpersonal and general mattering to overall wellness was studied with a sample of 462 high school students (229 males and 233 females). The two measures of perceived mattering (the Mattering to Others Questionnaire and the General Mattering Scale) were significantly but modestly interrelated (r=.29). Both scales were significantly correlated with overall scores on the Wellness Evaluation of Life Style—Teenage form. Females perceived they matter to their families, and in general, more than do males, and mattering significantly predicted wellness for females.