Abstract
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.
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The datasets generated and analyzed in the current research are available from the corresponding authors on reasonable request.
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Akhtar, M.N., Mahmood, A. & Işık, E. Testing the Social Cognitive Model of Well-being among international students in China. Curr Psychol 43, 9944–9954 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-023-04962-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-023-04962-x