Relationships Between College Students’ Belief in a Just World and Their Learning Satisfaction: The Chain Mediating Effects of Gratitude and Engagement

Abstract

Aichun Liu,1,2 Zhaojun Chen,1,3 Shichao Wang,1 Jianpeng Guo,1 Lin Lin3 1Institute of Education, Xiamen University, Xiamen, People’s Republic of China; 2Mental Health Education and Counseling Center, Nanjing Institute of Tourism and Hospitality, Nanjing, People’s Republic of China; 3College of Humanities, Yantai Nanshan University, Longkou, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Jianpeng Guo, Email [email protected]: This paper reveals the mechanism of the influence of belief in a just world on college students’ learning satisfaction, and provides reference for further improving the quality of talent training in higher education.Methods: By convenient sampling method, 131,894 college students from 348 undergraduate universities in China were investigated on the belief in a just world scale, gratitude scale, learning engagement scale and learning satisfaction scale. Then, SPSS, AMOS and other software were used to analyze the data.Results: 1) Belief in a just world, gratitude, learning engagement and learning satisfaction are positively correlated. 2) Belief in a just world can not only directly and positively predict college students’ learning satisfaction, but also indirectly and positively predict college students’ learning satisfaction through gratitude and learning engagement respectively. 3) Gratitude and learning engagement play a chain mediating role between belief in a just world and learning satisfaction.Conclusion: Belief in a just world positively predicts college students’ learning satisfaction through gratitude and learning engagement, suggesting that colleges and universities should create a fair learning environment and enhance college students’ sense of gratitude, so as to improve college students’ belief in a fair world and gratitude level, thus promoting their learning engagement and finally improving their learning satisfaction.Keywords: college students, belief in a just world, gratitude, learning engagement, learning satisfaction

Keywords

• college students
• belief in a just world
• gratitude
• learning engagement
• learning satisfaction