Meaning in life from a cultural perspective: the role of cultural identity, perceived social support, and resilience among Chinese college students

Abstract For college students facing psychological “weaning”, the lack of a sense of meaning in life can lead to a series of psychological and behavioral problems, such as anxiety, depression, and even increased risk of aggressive behavior or suicide. Therefore, it is necessary to explore the influe...

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Main Authors: Song Zhou, Lixia Jiang, Wenjie Li, Man Leng
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Springer Nature 2025-01-01
Series:Humanities & Social Sciences Communications
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-04424-8
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author Song Zhou
Lixia Jiang
Wenjie Li
Man Leng
author_facet Song Zhou
Lixia Jiang
Wenjie Li
Man Leng
author_sort Song Zhou
collection DOAJ
description Abstract For college students facing psychological “weaning”, the lack of a sense of meaning in life can lead to a series of psychological and behavioral problems, such as anxiety, depression, and even increased risk of aggressive behavior or suicide. Therefore, it is necessary to explore the influencing factors related to college students’ sense of meaning in life, especially from the more macroscopic perspective of culture. In this study, 974 college students (Mean age = 19.96, SD = 1.80) from China were selected as respondents, and structural equation modeling and network analysis were used to explore the deep-rooted mechanisms between cultural identity and meaning in life, as well as the role that perceived social support and resilience play in this pathway. The results indicate that cultural identity has a significant positive effect on college students’ meaning in life, while perceived social support and resilience play a chain mediating role in both. In addition, the network analysis was employed to further identify the core items of each variable in the model. This study aims to explore the mechanism between cultural identity and college students’ meaning in life from a novel perspective, providing more insights for college students to seek and obtain a sense of meaning in life.
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spelling doaj-art-d826a09318e641d5bee3b2ea2e589f702025-02-02T12:13:10ZengSpringer NatureHumanities & Social Sciences Communications2662-99922025-01-0112111310.1057/s41599-025-04424-8Meaning in life from a cultural perspective: the role of cultural identity, perceived social support, and resilience among Chinese college studentsSong Zhou0Lixia Jiang1Wenjie Li2Man Leng3School of Psychology, Fujian Normal UniversitySchool of Psychology, Fujian Normal UniversitySchool of Psychology, Fujian Normal UniversitySchool of Psychology, Fujian Normal UniversityAbstract For college students facing psychological “weaning”, the lack of a sense of meaning in life can lead to a series of psychological and behavioral problems, such as anxiety, depression, and even increased risk of aggressive behavior or suicide. Therefore, it is necessary to explore the influencing factors related to college students’ sense of meaning in life, especially from the more macroscopic perspective of culture. In this study, 974 college students (Mean age = 19.96, SD = 1.80) from China were selected as respondents, and structural equation modeling and network analysis were used to explore the deep-rooted mechanisms between cultural identity and meaning in life, as well as the role that perceived social support and resilience play in this pathway. The results indicate that cultural identity has a significant positive effect on college students’ meaning in life, while perceived social support and resilience play a chain mediating role in both. In addition, the network analysis was employed to further identify the core items of each variable in the model. This study aims to explore the mechanism between cultural identity and college students’ meaning in life from a novel perspective, providing more insights for college students to seek and obtain a sense of meaning in life.https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-04424-8
spellingShingle Song Zhou
Lixia Jiang
Wenjie Li
Man Leng
Meaning in life from a cultural perspective: the role of cultural identity, perceived social support, and resilience among Chinese college students
Humanities & Social Sciences Communications
title Meaning in life from a cultural perspective: the role of cultural identity, perceived social support, and resilience among Chinese college students
title_full Meaning in life from a cultural perspective: the role of cultural identity, perceived social support, and resilience among Chinese college students
title_fullStr Meaning in life from a cultural perspective: the role of cultural identity, perceived social support, and resilience among Chinese college students
title_full_unstemmed Meaning in life from a cultural perspective: the role of cultural identity, perceived social support, and resilience among Chinese college students
title_short Meaning in life from a cultural perspective: the role of cultural identity, perceived social support, and resilience among Chinese college students
title_sort meaning in life from a cultural perspective the role of cultural identity perceived social support and resilience among chinese college students
url https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-04424-8
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