Testing the Social Cognitive Model of Well-being among international students in China

Drawing upon the social cognitive career theory (SCCT), this study tested the social cognitive model of well-being which seeks to explain student life experience i.e., the relationship between positive affect with environmental support available to international students; mediated by cognitive and behavioral factors (self-efficacy expectations, outcome expectations, goal progress), towards the paths of academic satisfaction, and overall life satisfaction. Two hundred and ninety-four international students completed the survey questionnaire. Structural Equational Modelling (SEM) was used to test the overall model, alongside Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) to test the model fitness. The SEM-based path analyses showed that the overall model fits the data well. Moreover, all the hypotheses were supported except for four paths (academic support → academic outcome expectation; academic outcome expectation → academic satisfaction, academic goal progress → life satisfaction; positive affectivity → academic satisfaction). Study findings also support the applicability of the social cognitive model of well-being; specifically, this demonstrates the power of particular predictor variables significant for student satisfaction and well-being. The study adds to the existing literature on the cross-cultural utility of the social cognitive model of well-being. Practical and theoretical implications as well as limitations and future recommendations are discussed at the end.

This version of the article has been accepted for publication, after peer review (when applicable) and is subject to Springer Nature’s AM terms of use, but is not the Version of Record and does not reflect post-acceptance improvements, or any corrections. The Version of Record is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12144-023-04962-x