When is search for meaning in life beneficial for well-being? A cross-national study

Could Purpose in Life Help Unmotivated Students to Thrive? When Motivation and Purpose in Life Matter for Peer Mentoring

Purpose

The present study investigated the effect of extrinsic motivation, amotivation, the presence of and search for purpose, and their interaction effects on the perceived positive outcomes of being a peer mentor in college.

Methods

We tested a cross-sectional data using correlation design and moderation model. Participants were 232 undergraduate students who served as mentors for freshmen. Data was collected through an online survey.

Results

Extrinsic motivation was positively, but amotivation not significantly, associated with perceiving the benefits of being a mentor. The presence of and search for purpose showed positive correlation with positive outcomes. Both the search for and presence of purpose moderated the relation between amotivation and the positive outcomes of being a mentor.

Conclusion

The presence of purpose and the search for purpose moderates the relationship between amotivation and the positive outcomes of being a mentor.

Impact of teacher-student interaction on students' classroom well-being under online education environment

The students' classroom well-being of college students has been widely concerned in online education researches. In order to implement effectively online education in colleges and universities, based on person-context interaction theory, this study investigates a theoretical model of the impact of teacher-student interaction, sound richness, sound pleasure, perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness on students' classroom well-being. By surveying 349 college students receiving online education, the research hypotheses are tested by the structural equation model approach. Research results show that: teacher-student interaction, sound richness, sound pleasure, perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness appreciably improve students' classroom well-being, the sound richness and the students' perceived ease of use can moderate the effect of teacher-student interaction on students' classroom well-being. Finally some pedagogical implications are discussed.

Meaning in Life, Future Orientation and Support for Violent Radicalization Among Canadian College Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased levels of uncertainty and social polarization in our societies, compromising young people's capacity to envision a positive future and maintain a meaningful sense of purpose in life. Within a positive youth development framework, the present study investigates the associations of a positive future orientation, presence of and search for meaning in life, and support for violent radicalization (VR) in a diverse sample of Canadian college students. In addition, we investigate the moderating role of future orientation in the association between presence of and search for a meaning in life and support for VR. A total of 3,100 college students in Québec (Canada) (69% female; M _age = 18.57, SD _age = 1.76) completed an online survey during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Results from linear mixed-effects models indicate that a positive future orientation and a higher presence of a meaning in life were negatively and independently associated with support for VR. Search for meaning in life was not associated with support for VR. The magnitude of the negative association between presence of a meaning in life and support for VR was greater among students with a more positive future orientation. Schools and colleges are in a privileged position to implement preventive interventions to support a positive future orientation and the presence of a meaning in life among young people during these challenging and uncertain times and reduce the risk of violence related to extreme ideologies in our rapidly changing society.

Resiliencia de los docentes de educación media superior durante la pandemia de COVID-19

La pandemia de COVID-19 ha tenido un impacto en la salud mental de la población, emanado del aislamiento social y a nivel educativo afectó a más de 160 millones de estudiantes en América Latina y el Caribe. En algunos estudios reportaron que los docentes manifestaron altos niveles de estrés y malestar psicológico afectando su adaptación ante un escenario incierto y presentando dificultades en su práctica docente. La resiliencia es una condición indispensable en el docente para afrontar las dificultades, recobrar el estado de balance inicial y favorecer su crecimiento y generar una buena enseñanza. El objetivo de este estudio fue identificar los factores que contribuyen a la resiliencia de los docentes de educación media superior a más de un año de confinamiento por la pandemia. Los resultados mostraron que la antigüedad docente, la confianza y fortaleza en sí mismo, la competencia social y el apoyo social (familia y amigos) son factores que predicen la resiliencia de los docentes que cursan un posgrado en formación docente.

Culture Related Factors May Shape Coping During Pandemics

This study aimed to examine how anxiety related to different styles of coping during the COVID-19 pandemic and how these relationships were moderated by the cultural orientations of individualism/collectivism and a person’s sense of meaning in life. A sample of 849 participants from Georgia completed an online survey during the final stage of lockdown. To measure the main variables, we used the State Anxiety Inventory, the Horizontal and Vertical Individualism and Collectivism Scale, the Meaning of Life Questionnaire, the COVID-19 Worry Scale, and the Ways of Coping Scale tailored to COVID-19 pandemic. The latter measured rational coping via the subscales of information accessing/processing and action-planning coping, and affective coping – via the subscales of passive-submissive and avoidant coping. Results suggested that anxiety positively predicted both affective coping styles and negatively predicted the action-planning coping style, while COVID-19 worry predicted all coping styles; presence of meaning in life positively predicted both rational coping styles and negatively predicted the avoidant coping style, while search for meaning positively predicted all coping styles; individualism negatively predicted the passive-submissive style and positively predicted the action-planning style, whereas collectivism predicted all coping styles; furthermore, individualism and collectivism moderated the link between anxiety and the passive-submissive coping style, presence of meaning in life moderated the link between anxiety and avoidant coping style, while search for meaning in life moderated the link between anxiety and the action-planning coping style. Overall, the findings enrich the cultural transactional theory of stress and coping, and generate insights for the culture-sensitive approach to the meaning in life. The results were conceptualized vis-a-vis Georgia’s intermediate position between clear-cut individualism and clear-cut collectivism.

Meaning-in-Life Profiles among Chinese Late Adolescents: Associations with Readiness for Political Participation

This study explored the association between meaning in life and readiness for political participation based on meaning-in-life profiles among Chinese late adolescents. A total of 1030 college students (mean age = 19.69 ± 1.47 years) in Hong Kong participated in this study. First, we used a cluster analysis to investigate meaning-in-life profiles based on two dimensions: “presence of meaning” and “search for meaning”. Furthermore, we investigated the association between meaning profiles and readiness for political participation. Results revealed three distinguishable profiles, which emerged in both male and female adolescents. Students with “high-presence” and “high-search” attributes and students with “low-presence” and “high-search” characteristics showed greater readiness to engage in normative and non-normative political actions than did those with a “high-presence” and “low-search” profile. Our research fills the research gap on meaning profiles in Asian adolescents and provides the empirical basis for an alternative account of youth political participation.