Previous studies have shown that self-esteem is an important predictor of subjective well-being. However, the majority of research has focused on self-esteem at the individual and the collective ...level, but has mostly ignored self-esteem at the relational level. According to social identity theory, individuals can maintain and enhance self-esteem through personal traits (personal self-esteem, PSE), relationships with significant others (relational self-esteem, RSE), and relationships with larger groups (collective self-esteem, CSE). The current research investigated whether RSE and CSE can predict subjective well-being beyond PSE among Chinese college students. With four cross-sectional studies and one longitudinal study (N = 847), we found that, when controlling for PSE, RSE was associated with greater life satisfaction, positive affect, meaning in life, happiness, and subjective vitality (Studies 1-5), but CSE was not (Studies 2-5). Implications are discussed.
•Sense of relatedness to parents, teachers, and peers were examined in relation to academic and well-being outcomes.•Latent growth modeling was used to measure changes in engagement, disaffection, ...and well-being.•Sense of relatedness positively predicted engagement, achievement, and well-being.
The aim of this study was to examine how adolescent students' sense of relatedness toward parents, teachers, and peers were differentially related to engagement, disaffection, achievement, and well-being. Two longitudinal studies were conducted among Filipino high school students. Study 1 focused on how sense of relatedness was associated with academic outcomes (engagement, disaffection, and achievement), while Study 2 focused on how relatedness was associated with well-being. Results of Study 1 showed that students' sense of relatedness predicted both initial levels and changes in engagement and disaffection, which in turn, mediated the effects of relatedness on subsequent academic achievement. Parental relatedness seemed more important for academic achievement compared to teacher and peer relatedness. In Study 2, sense of relatedness was found to be associated with positive and negative affect. Findings of this study provide evidence for the importance of relatedness in facilitating optimal outcomes and suggest that different types of relatedness may have differential effects. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Background
Beliefs about the malleability of intelligence (fixed or growth mindsets) are strongly influenced by teachers and parents. However, the social contagion of mindsets among one's classmates ...has not been given sufficient attention.
Aims
This study aimed to examine the social contagion of mindsets among one's peers by investigating the relationship between classmates' mindsets and one's own mindset.
Sample
In Study 1, 676 students nested within 19 classes were surveyed, and in Study 2, 848 students nested within 30 classes participated.
Methods
Students were surveyed across two time points 7 months apart. Multilevel modelling was used.
Results
The mindset of one's classmates at Time 1 predicted one's own mindset at Time 2 even after adjusting for one's own Time 1 mindset. These effects held even after controlling for demographic variables, social desirability, and achievement goals.
Conclusion
The current study provided evidence for the social contagion of mindsets. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Past studies have mostly focused on investigating actual economic inequality with less work devoted to understanding perceived economic inequality and its antecedents. However, numerous studies have ...shown that perceived inequality is a strong predictor of psychological, political, and social outcomes and hence is an important outcome in and of itself. This paper aims to identify the socioecological (i.e., actual inequality) and psychological (legitimation and fairness considerations) antecedents of perceived economic inequality. We hypothesized that individuals who legitimized income inequality would perceive less inequality, whereas individuals who experienced unfairness engendered by income inequality would perceive more inequality. We utilized a nationally representative sample in China (N = 33,600 respondents nested within 25 provinces) and conducted multilevel longitudinal analyses to test our hypotheses. In line with our predictions, we found that legitimation of inequality was associated with less perceived inequality six years later, whereas unfairness was associated with more perceived inequality six years later. In addition, we found that in more unequal areas, people perceived less income inequality. These longitudinal effects were robust when controlling for prior years of perceived inequality, economic development, and sociodemographic factors. Findings have implications for system justification and economic inequality theories.
Much of the research on the detrimental effects of inequality on well-being is based on cross-sectional surveys, which may have over- or under-estimated the relationship between income inequality and ...well-being. Moreover, the vast majority of the work comes from Western industrialized contexts but it is not known to what extent the same pattern holds in non-Western developing countries.
The current research aims to address these two issues by investigating the longitudinal effects of income inequality on well-being in China.
We used the China Family Panel Studies dataset in 2010–2014. Our study includes a representative sample of 29,331 residents from 20 provinces in China. The participants completed measures of well-being, including subjective well-being and psychological distress. We examined whether provincial-level income inequality in 2010 predicted individual-level well-being in 2014.
Multilevel analyses showed that residents in more unequal provinces had lower subjective well-being and greater psychological distress. The patterns still held, after controlling for baseline well-being and a number of covariates, including age, gender, education, income, ethnicity, marital status, and urban/rural residence. The effects of inequality on well-being differed across socioeconomic groups.
Findings suggest that income inequality has long-term adverse consequences on well-being in a non-Western developing society. Furthermore, its effects are moderated by financial wealth.
•Income inequality is detrimental to long-term well-being among the Chinese.•Income inequality is associated with poorer subjective well-being.•Income inequality is associated with higher psychological distress.•Effects of income inequality on well-being differ across socioeconomic groups.
Research on achievement motivation has mostly focused on the importance of the proximal context. As a result, the roles of more distal sociocultural and ecological factors have been neglected. ...However, motivation does not occur within a social vacuum; it is embedded within pervasive environments, including the broader culture (values, beliefs, and norms) and social ecology (economic and political systems, interpersonal environments, and physical environment). This article argues for the critical need to include sociocultural and ecological perspectives in motivation research. More specifically, the aims are to (a) justify why cultural and ecological perspectives are needed, (b) present a tentative conceptual framework that could account for the critical roles of sociocultural and ecological factors that underpin motivation and learning, and (c) proffer recommendations on how to study culture and ecology within the field of achievement motivation research.
Mainstream research in higher education and motivation has shown the importance of intrinsic and instrumental motivation on student learning and achievement. However, the role of social motivation ...has been relatively neglected. This gap is especially salient in a collectivist cultural context where social factors play a critical role. Drawing on a nationally representative sample of Chinese college students (
n
= 67,182), this study investigated how social motivation towards (a) parents and teachers, (b) peers, and (c) the broader society are associated with deep approaches to learning including higher-order, integrative, and reflective learning. Structural equation modelling was used to analyze the data with the different types of social motivation posited as predictors of deep approaches to learning. Confirming prior research, the results showed that students with higher intrinsic and instrumental motivation were more likely to use deep approaches learning. More interestingly, students who had higher levels of social motivation directed towards parents/teachers, peers, and the broader society were also more likely to engage in deep approaches to learning. Furthermore, we also found significant mean-level differences in social motivation and deep approaches to learning for students of different genders, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, year levels, and institutional types. These findings demonstrate the importance of taking students’ diverse socio-demographic and institutional backgrounds into account. This article advocated for the importance of exploring social motivation to develop a more nuanced understanding of college students’ motivation and learning in a collectivist context.
Self-determination theory (SDT) posits the importance of three basic psychological needs (i.e., relatedness, autonomy, and competence) in promoting achievement. However, some cross-cultural ...researchers have cast doubt on the generalizability of the theory to non-Western cultures. The primary aim of the study was to test whether provision of support for relatedness, autonomy, and competence would be associated with achievement across both Western and Eastern cultures.
We drew on a subsample of students from the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) (n = 92,325 students from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, UK, and USA (Western societies); and Hong Kong SAR, Japan, Macau SAR, Shanghai, South Korea, and Taipei (Eastern societies); 46,006 were females and 46,319 were males, with a mean age of 15.77 (SD = 0.29) years). We used multi-group confirmatory factor analysis (MG-CFA) and multi-group structural equation modeling (MG-SEM) to analyze the data.
Provision of the three basic needs correlated positively with achievement across cultures, providing broad support for the cross-cultural universality of SDT. MG-SEM indicated that relatedness and autonomy support were equally important for student achievement in both Western and Eastern cultures, whereas competence support was found to be more important to students in the West than in the East.
Findings support the cross-cultural relevance of SDT while at the same time highlighting important cultural variations such as greater importance of competence support in the West, suggesting the need to be cognizant of both cross-cultural universality and variability in motivational theorizing.
Educational research has emphasized the importance of help-seeking in learning and engagement. However, little is known about the impact that help-giving may potentially have on student engagement ...and academic achievement. There is also a lack of knowledge about the environmental factors that might facilitate help-giving. This study investigated how help-giving is associated with student engagement and academic achievement by drawing on the Chinese College Student Survey (CCSS), which involved data from 67,182 Chinese college students. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data. Results showed that students who experienced a positive social climate, particularly those who had positive social interactions with their peers, teachers, and university staff members were more likely to help their peers with schoolwork. In turn, these students who helped their peers were more cognitively, emotionally, and behaviorally engaged. They also had higher levels of academic achievement themselves. The results applied to students of different demographic characteristics and different school types. Theoretical and practical implications of the research are discussed.
Research on learning engagement and cognitive load theory have proceeded in parallel with little cross-over of ideas. The aim of this research was to test an integrative model that examines how prior ...knowledge influences learning engagement via cognitive load and help-seeking strategies. A sample of 356 students from two middle schools in the north of China participated in the study. Analyses using structural equation modeling revealed that prior knowledge was positively associated with learning engagement, and that this relationship was mediated by cognitive load and instrumental help-seeking. Cognitive load also mediated the impact of prior knowledge on instrumental help-seeking, executive help-seeking and avoidance of help-seeking. The study shows that students with more prior knowledge and lower cognitive load are able to exercise higher levels of instrumental help-seeking, leading to good quality learning engagement. On the other hand, students with less prior knowledge and higher cognitive load are less able to engage in instrumental help-seeking, leading to lower engagement. Based on the research findings, recommendations for how teachers can improve learning engagement through decreasing cognitive load are discussed.
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