Open AccessMediating effects of general self-efficacy on the relationship between the source of meaning in life and prosocial behaviours in vocational college nursing students: A cross-sectional study
Author(s) -
L. Cheng,
Yansheng Ye,
Zhaoyang Zhong,
Fengying Zhang,
Xiuying Hu,
Ren-Shan Cui,
Qian Chen
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0243796
Subject(s) - prosocial behavior , self efficacy , psychology , meaning (existential) , vocational education , scale (ratio) , descriptive statistics , structural equation modeling , clinical psychology , nursing , social psychology , medicine , pedagogy , statistics , physics , mathematics , quantum mechanics , psychotherapist
Objectives To examine the mediating effect of general self-efficacy on the relationship between the source of meaning in life (SML) and prosocial behaviours in vocational college nursing students. Methods Between March and June 2019, a cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted, and 799 nursing students from three vocational colleges completed the Source of Meaning in Life Scale, General Self-Efficacy Scale and Prosocial Behaviours Scale. Data were analyzed using structural equation modelling and statistical analysis by SPSS (version 23.0, IBM). Results The average SML, general self-efficacy and prosocial behaviours scores of the 799 nursing students were 6.43±0.83, 2.48±0.59 and 3.69±0.62, respectively. Correlation analysis showed that SML, general self-efficacy and prosocial behaviours were positively correlated (P<0.01). General self-efficacy partially mediated the relationship between SML and prosocial behaviours (P<0.01); this mediating effect contributed 22.97% of the total effect and explained 17.6% of the variance in the dependent variable. Conclusions Educators should focus on cultivating nursing students’ cognition and experience of meaning in life and their efficacy in life, study and work, which can improve students’ “people-oriented” service and prosocial behaviour and the quality of nursing services.