Social cognitive predictors of well-being in African college students

Longitudinal test of the social cognitive model of well-being among Chinese college students

Since the social cognitive model of well-being in academic\work settings was proposed, more and more studies have supported its validity. Nevertheless, most studies failed to test the temporal precedence of its core variables related to individual career development. Thus, we aimed to test this model among 1512 Chinese college students with a longitudinal perspective. They completed the Career-related Parental Support Inventory, Career Exploration and Decision Self-Efficacy-Brief Decision Scale, Career Commitment Making Scale, and Multiple Happiness Questionnaire three times being a four-month interval. The result indicated that there were more positive predicting associations between career-related parental support, career decision self-efficacy (CDSE), career commitment making, and well-being. Moreover, the longitudinal mediation analyses indicated that T1 career-related parental support was linked to T3 well-being via T2 career commitment making, and that T1 CDSE was linked to T3 well-being via T2 career commitment making. The implications of these findings for further research, practices, and policy-making were discussed.

Enhancing Career Decision Status of Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Students Through Learning Engagement: Perspective of SOR Model

Higher education plays the role of cultivating talents in national development and meets the talent sources needed by the development of the state, industries and enterprises. Besides, for students, higher education can provide stimuli to improve the development of family and personal career. Especially for socioeconomically disadvantaged Students, higher education means the main factor for turning over the Socio- Economic Status. Universities endow students with abundant employment skills, so as to make them more confident in contending with the challenges in the job market. However, innate pessimism or negative attitudes and cognition may exist in socioeconomically disadvantaged Students, thereby providing effective learning context to improve their learning engagement. This study explores the influence on students’ career decision status from deep approach to learning, problem-based learning, self-efficacy and employability. A total of 627 valid questionnaires are collected in this study. PLS-SEM was adopted to verify the structural relationship in data analysis via SmartPLS. The results indicate that deep approach to learning and problem-based learning have significant impacts on students’ self-efficacy and employability; self-efficacy has significant impacts on employability and career decision status; employability has significant impact on career decision status; and that self-efficacy and employability play significant mediating roles in the research framework.

Social Cognitive Predictors of Music Majors’ Academic Well-Being and Persistence Intentions

Vocational psychology has devoted limited attention to factors that promote or hinder the career development of musicians. We combined features of social cognitive career theory’s (SCCT) well-being and choice models to examine the experiences of musicians at a formative point in their career development – the first few years of college, during which many would-be musicians either reaffirm or abandon their career paths. Consistent with SCCT, we posited that academic satisfaction and stress would be predicted by favorable levels of self-efficacy, outcome expectations, social support, goal progress, and trait negative affect. We also expected that satisfaction and stress levels would, along with self-efficacy and outcome expectations, predict intentions to persist in undergraduate music majors. Participants were 260 first- and second-year undergraduate music majors. The hypothesized model and a slightly revised version (which added a direct path from goal progress to persistence intentions) produced good fit to the data and accounted well for variation in academic satisfaction, stress, and persistence intentions.

Interpreting Usability Factors Predicting Sustainable Adoption of Cloud-Based E-Learning Environment during COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic affected educational institutions in an unrivaled way around the globe and forced them to switch from conventional classroom learning mode to e-learning mode within a short time period. Neither instructors nor students had ample time to prepare. The purpose of the current study is to accomplish two objectives: to explore the functional relationship between attitudinal readiness (ATR), subjective well-being (SWB), and cloud-based e-learning adoption intention in Taiwan and examine the constancy of recommended proposed relationships among different students’ groups. The model was then empirically tested using data of 256 university students by structural equation modeling. The current study demonstrates that ATR is completely explained through four dimensions: peer reference, perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, and perceived ubiquity. SWB is positively interpreted through four dimensions: online course quality, system quality, perceived service quality, and perceived closeness. Self-efficacy has a significant relationship with both attitudinal readiness and adoption intention of a cloud-based e-learning system. Finally, the invariance test explores substantial variance among students who intend to use the system and students who reject it. Therefore, researchers and practitioners regarding educational, technological innovation must consider this empirical evidence to develop and validate a sustainable cloud-based e-learning program in higher education.

Effective Learning Support Towards Sustainable Student Learning and Well-Being Influenced by Global Pandemic of COVID-19: A Comparison Between Mainland China and Taiwanese Students

The novel coronavirus disease that emerged at the end of 2019 began threatening the health and lives of millions of people after a few weeks. However, social and educational problems derived from COVID-19 have changed the development of individuals and the whole country. This study examined the learning method of Taiwanese versus mainland China college students, and evaluated the relationship between learning support mechanism and subjective well-being from a social cognition theory perspective. In this study, a total of 646 Taiwanese questionnaires and 537 mainland China questionnaires were collected to compare the two sample groups in development of students' subjective well-being. The results showed that social capital and learning support had significant positive correlations with self-efficacy, student employability and well-being and self-efficacy and student employability had significant positive correlations with well-being in Taiwanese sample. In mainland China sample, except paths among social capital, learning support, student employability and well-being, all paths were significant and positive related. Finally, based on the conclusions this study proposed some suggestions specific to theoretical mode for future study.

Cross-Cultural Differences in Adopting Social Cognitive Career Theory at Student Employability in PLS-SEM: The Mediating Roles of Self-Efficacy and Deep Approach to Learning

Unable to keep pace with the expectations of employers and societies that are constantly changing around the world, higher education policy and talent training have given rise to a gap between university education and employment. However, the higher education and industrial needs derived from technological progress have changed the development in country. This study aims to verify the learning method of Taiwanese vs. Malaysian university students and examines the relationship between teacher knowledge transfer and student employability from the perspective of a social cognitive career theory. In this study, 619 copies of questionnaires from the Taiwanese sample group and 443 copies of questionnaires from the Malaysian sample group were collected in total to compare the two sample groups in the development of student employability. The results indicate that teacher knowledge transfer has significant positive correlations with self-efficacy and a deep approach to learning and student employability, and the self-efficacy and a deep approach to learning have significant positive correlations with student employability in the Taiwanese sample. In Malaysia, except for the path between teacher knowledge transfer and student employability, all paths were significant and positively related. Finally, according to our results and findings, this study proposes several insights with practical and theoretical implications for future study.

How E-Learning Environmental Stimuli Influence Determinates of Learning Engagement in the Context of COVID-19? SOR Model Perspective

The COVID-19 pandemic at the beginning of 2020 has changed the conventional learning mode for most students at schools all over the world, and the e-learning at home has become a new trend. Taking Chinese college students as the research subject and drawing on the stimulus–organism–response (S-O-R) model, this paper examines the relationship between the peer referent, perceived closeness, and perceived control and the learning engagement. Using data from 377 college students who have used e-learning, this study shows that perceived closeness, perceived control, and peer referents in e-learning have a positive effect on the self-efficacy and well-being of students, thus improving students’ enthusiasm for learning. Our intent is to assist researchers, instructors, designers, and others in identifying effective methods to conceptualize and measure student engagement in e-learning.

Applying the social cognitive model of well-being in the nursing clinical practicum: A structural equation modeling analysis with a Spanish student's sample

BACKGROUND

Clinical education, understanding as practicum, plays a key role in nursing education but has been identified as the most challenging and stressful experience for nursing students. Promoting student satisfaction and well-being during clinical practice has a significant effect on learning outcomes, retention and attrition.

OBJECTIVES

To examine the predictive power of a social cognitive model of wellbeing when applied to explain academic satisfaction in the clinical practicum and overall life satisfaction of Spanish nursing students.

DESIGN/PARTICIPANTS

A cross-sectional correlational study was conducted at four Spanish nursing schools in a 586 student's sample.

METHODS

Data were collected through a self-reported questionnaire that included measures of academic support, self-efficacy, goal progress, academic satisfaction, life satisfaction and trait positive affect. The research model was evaluated through structural equation modeling.

RESULTS

The proposed model fit well in the full sample and accounted for substantial portions of the variance in academic (50%) and life satisfaction (21%). Most of the hypotheses formulated were verified. The model was invariant across academic year.

CONCLUSIONS

The results indicated global support for the social cognitive model of academic satisfaction as a guide for developing interventions to facilitate the positive adjustment and wellbeing of nursing students in the practicum.

Social-Cognitive Predictors of Iranian College Students’ Academic Well-Being

The purpose of this study was to examine the application of Lent and Brown’s social-cognitive model in predicting academic well-being of Iranian students. A total of 400 undergraduate students (252 female students and 148 male students) completed the measures of academic satisfaction, self-efficacy, environmental support, goal progress, and personality traits. Path analysis indicated that the modified social-cognitive model provided good fit to the data and accounted for substantial portion of the variance in academic satisfaction. The results of path analysis showed that self-efficacy, goal progress, environmental supports, and resources both directly and indirectly had relationship with academic well-being. It was revealed that only one of the personality traits (conscientiousness) had a direct and significant correlation with students’ academic well-being. However, neuroticism, conscientiousness, and extroversion had indirect and significant correlations with academic well-being through self-efficacy, environmental supports, and resources. According to the obtained findings, this research supported the role of social-cognitive variables in the academic well-being of Iranian students.

Key Teacher Attitudes for Sustainable Development of Student Employability by Social Cognitive Career Theory: The Mediating Roles of Self-Efficacy and Problem-Based Learning

Higher education policy and talent training are failing to meet the ever-changing expectations of employers and society in Taiwan, resulting in a gap between university education and employment. This study used social cognitive career theory (SCCT) to explore the relationships among self-efficacy, transformational leadership (TL), student employability (SE), and problem-based learning (PBL) in higher education institutions (HEIs). The analysis of 637 undergraduates from 16 Taiwanese HEIs using structural equation modeling (SEM) shows significant positive correlations among self-efficacy, PBL, TL, and SE, with PBL and self-efficacy as key mediators. Based on these findings, the researchers propose feasible suggestions for related issues and future research.

A Conceptual Framework Toward Understanding of Knowledge Acquisition Sources and Student Well-Being

There are a multitude of factors influencing student employability, with all previous studies basing their conclusions upon predetermined variables according to different theories and exploring the relevance between them. In this study, teachers' knowledge transfer and market orientation-are put forward on the basis of the marketing concepts in order to explore the conspicuousness between various factors within the structural model. This study uses students from colleges in Taiwan and mainland China, and purposive sampling is adopted to acquire samples required for statistics. A total of 1,222 valid questionnaires were collected from Taiwanese and Mainland China students. The results indicate that knowledge transfer, market orientation and absorptive capacity have significant impacts on student employability, that the absorptive capacity has a positive moderating effect on the influence of knowledge transfer and market orientation on student employability. Based on results and findings, this study will provide suggestions for theoretical and practical implications.

A Latent Growth Modeling Analysis of the Effects of Perceived Supports, Perceived Barriers, and Coping Efficacy on Latina/o Engineering Students’ Life Satisfaction

Using latent growth modeling (LGM) procedures, this study tested a model of Latina/o engineering students’ life satisfaction based on Lent and Brown’s social cognitive well-being model with a sample of 342 Latina/o engineering students attending a Hispanic-serving institution. Participants completed measures of perceived supports, perceived barriers, and coping efficacy at 3 points, each approximately 1 year apart, and life satisfaction at Time 3. The results indicated that perceived supports, perceived barriers, and coping efficacy changed across time. Specifically, perceived supports and coping efficacy decreased and perceived barriers increased over time. Individual differences were found in the growth patterns of these constructs, with participants with low perceived supports and coping efficacy at Time 1 demonstrating more decrease and those with low perceived barriers at Time 1 demonstrating more increase in these variables over time. In the multivariate LGM analysis, the proposed model fit the data, but only partial support was found for the relations among the variables. Specifically, high perceived barriers were negatively related to low coping efficacy, high perceived supports were positively related to high coping efficacy, and high coping efficacy was positively related to high life satisfaction. However, coping efficacy did not mediate the relations between supports and barriers to life satisfaction. Finally, growth in perceived barriers was negatively related to the decline of coping efficacy. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

Estado anímico y juicios de satisfacción académica: infusión afectiva analizada mediante redes semánticas || Mood and academic satisfaction judgments: affective infusion analyzed by semantic networks

La Satisfacción Académica ha demostrado ser una variable clave para comprender y promover el comportamiento académico óptimo en la población universitaria. Diferentes investigaciones han demostrado además que los juicios de satisfacción, al igual que otros juicios sociales, no reflejan necesariamente estados internos estables. Por el contrario, estarían sujetos a una variedad de influencias transitorias, como pueden ser los estados anímicos. El presente estudio tuvo como objetivo principal verificar la relación entre el estado de ánimo y los juicios de satisfacción académica en estudiantes universitarios. La muestra fue dividida en dos grupos en función del estado de ánimo predominante (grupo de afecto negativo intenso n = 46 y grupo afecto positivo intenso n = 48), comparando luego los grupos respecto a la satisfacción académica. Mientras el estado de ánimo se midió con la escala PANAS, los juicios de satisfacción se obtuvieron mediante la Técnica de Redes Semánticas Naturales. Consistentemente con la Teoría de la Red Asociativa y el Modelo de Procesamiento de la Información, los resultados muestran que la elaboración cognitiva de la satisfacción académica varía de manera congruente con el estado anímico predominante en los estudiantes. Se discuten las implicaciones y limitaciones del estudio.

SCCT Research in the International Context

Since its introduction in 1994, social cognitive career theory (SCCT) has attracted attention from researchers and practitioners in the United States and other countries. This article provides a review of selected research performed outside the United States regarding SCCT’s interest, choice, performance, and satisfaction models. Results of a database search identified 37 studies, which contained 41 independent samples from 21 countries and were published in the English language. The majority of these studies were conducted in Asian (e.g., China and Taiwan) and European (e.g., Portugal, Germany, and Italy) countries and tested the interest/choice and satisfaction models in adolescent and college student samples who were enrolled in courses or majors related to the field of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM; or Holland’s Investigative and Realistic themes). Existing international SCCT research offers robust evidence for the mediating role of self-efficacy, but less consistent support for that of outcome expectations, in the relations of proximal contextual factors to outcomes of interest, choice goals or goal progress, and academic or job satisfaction. Additionally, this review provides preliminary evidence for mastery experience and physiological state as two key sources of efficacy beliefs and for the effects of personality traits (e.g., positive affect and emotional stability) on academic or job satisfaction. Results of a recent meta-analysis are also summarized to offer an empirical synthesis of international SCCT research testing the choice model. Based on this review, directions for future international SCCT research are highlighted, and suggestions for career counseling are discussed.

Test of the Social Cognitive Model of Well-Being in Spanish College Students

The social cognitive model of well-being was tested in a sample of 373 college students in Spain. Participants completed measures of academic self-efficacy, environmental support, goal progress, academic satisfaction and stress, trait positive affect, and overall life satisfaction. A path analysis indicated that the model fit the data well and accounted for substantial portions of the variance in academic domain satisfaction, academic stress, and life satisfaction, though a few path coefficients (e.g., from positive affect and environmental support to academic stress) were nonsignificant. We consider the findings in relation to prior tests of the well-being model and discuss implications for practice and future research.

Well-Being of College Students in China

In this study, we tested a modified academic satisfaction model based on social cognitive career theory in a sample of 757 college students in China. The hypothesized model included personality traits (extraversion and emotional stability), self-construals (independence and interdependence), environmental and person-cognitive variables (supports, self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and perceived goal progress) in the academic domain, and academic and global well-being outcomes. Pathways that consisted of academic supports, self-efficacy, and goal progress partially mediated the effects of personality traits and self-construals on academic satisfaction and/or stress, which were, in turn, predictive of life satisfaction. Although Chinese students perceived outcomes of completing a college degree as favorable, such outcome expectations did not predict progress made in the academic domain. Multigroup analyses showed that the modified academic satisfaction model was applicable to both male and female college students in two major metropolitan areas—Chongqing in Southwest China and Shanghai in East China. With evidence for measurement equivalence, full structural equivalence was present by gender, whereas two of the hypothesized paths differed by location. Results of the study suggest that outreach or intervention programs, which involve gathering supports, boosting self-efficacy, and facilitating goal progress in the academic domain, are particularly beneficial for promoting the well-being of Chinese college students.

Subjective well-being and its association with peer caring and resilience among nursing vs medical students: A questionnaire study

BACKGROUND

The subjective well-being (SWB) of nursing and medical students is a very important component in the training of future nurses and doctors, as well-being enables them to be more productive.

OBJECTIVES

The study examined the effects of peer caring and resilience on SWB as well as the mediating and moderating effects of resilience in the relationship between peer caring and SWB.

DESIGN

A cross-sectional survey design was used.

SETTINGS

A university and an affiliated hospital in China.

PARTICIPANTS

The convenience sample consisted of 426 nursing students and 336 medical students.

METHODS

Questionnaires comprising peer caring measurement, a resilience scale and a well-being scale were used in the spring of 2014.

RESULTS

Students participate in the study showed low SWB. There was a significant difference between nursing students and medical students in peer caring, but not in SWB and resilience. The mediating effects of resilience on the relationship between peer caring and SWB were examined. As hypothesized, resilience mediated the relationship between peer caring and SWB partly for nursing students (SE=0.022, 95% CI=0.041-0.128) and fully for medical students (SE=0.023, 95% CI=0.067-0.161). Resilience did not statistically significantly moderate the peer caring-SWB relationship for nursing students (β=0.092, p=0.057) but did so for medical students (β=0.108, p<0.05).

CONCLUSION

Peer caring and resilience improved the SWB of both nursing students and medical students. In addition, resilience improved SWB through peer caring for both nursing students and medical students, and higher resilience in medical students enhanced the positive effects of peer caring on SWB. Therefore, educators should promote peer caring and resilience in order to improve students' SWB.