Depending on the country, the university and the discipline, the rate of doctoral drop out can climb as high as 50%, making this a critical challenge in higher education. It affects individuals and institutions alike, making a deeper understanding of its causes necessary. This study aims to shed new light on the influence of positive affect on the doctoral experience by examining the impact of personality traits, self-efficacy, and emotional well-being on doctoral students’ decisions to persist or drop out. A survey was sent to doctoral students in the social sciences and humanities at two schools of doctoral studies in Montpellier, France. Two hundred and twenty doctoral students responded to seven questionnaires measuring anxiety and depression, flourishing, pride, satisfaction and interest experienced during the doctoral program, self-efficacy, and students’ intentions to drop out. The results showed that students who intended to persist had a significantly more positive subjective experience of the doctoral program than students who intended to drop out. Pride, interest, satisfaction and flourishing were significantly higher for students who intended to persist. Pride showed the strongest association with the intention to persist. These results highlight the importance of maintaining positive affect while working on a thesis.
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