Promoting academic self-efficacy, positive relationships, and psychological resilience for Chinese university students’ life satisfaction

The current study, based on the PERMA model, proposed and examined a hypothetical model exploring the effects of academic self-efficacy, positive relationships, and psychological resilience on university students’ life satisfaction. We collected data from a large sample of 1,089 university students in southwest China. The participants completed a battery of self-report questionnaire items measuring academic self-efficacy, positive relationships, psychological resilience, and life satisfaction. The results of the structural equation modeling analysis demonstrated a good fit for our data, suggesting that academic self-efficacy positively predicted university students’ life satisfaction through two independent mediators: positive relationships and psychological resilience. Findings yielded from the empirically validated hypothetical model add value to and enrich the PERMA model within a group of Chinese university students. The implications and practical suggestions for improving university students’ life satisfaction are discussed in light of these findings.