Psychological Dimensions and Their Inner Relationships of College Students’ Network Civilization

Abstract

Network civilization is a product of the rapid development of the virtual world. This study aims to investigate the psychological structure of college students’ network civilization and to explore the role of value judgment and value identification between college students’ psychological perception and value selection. In this study, 1096 college students (511 men and 585 women) completed the anonymous questionnaire on network civilization. They completed the scales of psychological perception, value judgment, value identification, and value selection. The total scale and each subscale both had high Cronbach’s alphas (0.90–0.97), indicating good reliability. Results indicated the following: (1) Psychological perception and value selection are positively correlated. (2) Psychological perception improves college students’ value selection by enhancing their value judgment. (3) Psychological perception may positively affect college students’ value selection via value identification. (4) There is a chain-mediating role between psychological perception, value judgment, value identification, and value selection. These testimonies also contribute to and provide an empirical basis for guidance strategies for the cultivation of network civilization and moral education among college students.

Keywords

• network civilization
• psychological structure
• college students
• value identification
• psychological perception