Perception of kindness at university relates to emotion regulation and well-being outcomes among Chinese early childhood pre-service teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic

There is growing attention about the psychological rewards associated with kind school climates in primary and secondary school settings. Its mental health benefits, however, remain under-explored in higher education contexts. This study addresses this gap through examining the role of university kindness or perception of kind acts in university settings in emotion regulation, life satisfaction, psychological flourishing, and coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) anxiety among 915 Chinese early childhood pre-service teachers using a structural equation modelling (SEM) approach. Results demonstrated that university kindness was related to increased life satisfaction and psychological flourishing as well as reduced the COVID-19 anxiety. Bias-corrected bootstrapping analysis showed that university kindness had indirect effects on life satisfaction and psychological flourishing via cognitive reappraisal. This research underscores the mental health advantages associated with promoting kindness-oriented climates in university contexts.