AI Insight
This study examined factors influencing life and academic satisfaction among 753 Chinese Generation Z college students in the post-pandemic era. The research found that core self-evaluations (CSE) positively affect student satisfaction both directly and indirectly through psychological capital (PSY), with these effects being stronger among students with higher socioeconomic status and lower tendencies toward social comparison. The results demonstrate that internal psychological resources like CSE and PSY play essential roles in students' mental wellbeing and satisfaction levels.
Why it matters
The findings provide evidence-based guidance for educational institutions and families to develop targeted interventions that build psychological capital and positive self-evaluations in young adults. Understanding how socioeconomic factors and social comparison tendencies moderate these relationships can help create more equitable mental health support strategies for diverse student populations in the post-pandemic context.
Understand the Science
IntroductionIn the post-pandemic era, the world has witnessed profound transformations with economic, social, and lifestyle changes. In such a special period, Generation Z is also undergoing unique trials. While confronting multifaceted and complex challenges, they also have positive adaptations, including improved psychological capital (PSY) and core self-evaluations (CSE). As the life and academic satisfaction for Generation Z have become an increasingly critical issue for higher education, we wanted to seek new insight into the reasons which influence the life and academic satisfaction for Generation Z. Previous studies have suggested that both CSE and PSY were separately positive predictors of young people’s sense of happiness. However, the indirect relationship between CSE and Generation Z’s satisfaction via PSY has rarely been researched.MethodsBased on positive psychology, social cognition theory, and social comparison theory, we develop a double moderated-mediation model and empirically tested our hypotheses using questionnaires from 753 Chinese college students, representing the Chinese youth. We further investigated PSY as a mediator and social comparison as well as socioeconomic status as double moderators in the relationships between CSE and Generation Z’s satisfaction.ResultsOur study indicated that low social comparison and high socioeconomic status could strengthen the positive effect of CSE on Generation Z’s satisfaction in daily life. Especially, CSE and PSY play essential roles in students’ mental state.DiscussionThe in-depth exploration of the complex relationships among these factors will help schools and families develop more effective strategies to improve the satisfaction and mental health of Generation Z in the long run.