Frontiers in Psychology最新文献

Background: The Price-Mueller model and the Job Demands-Resources model examine how organizational working conditions influence turnover intention through the mediating mechanisms of subjective experiences, such as job satisfaction and burnout.

Methods: To address the specific needs of indigenization and professionalization, we constructed a model incorporating "job embeddedness" based on existing models to better predict Chinese social works' turnover intention. This study used Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to test the proposed model.

Result: The model showed good fit indices. organizational working conditions significantly influenced turnover intention. The mediating effects of job embeddedness and job satisfaction were significant across most pathways. Job embeddedness demonsrated the strongest explanatory power for turnover intention within the mode.

Conclusions: Strategies for reducing social workers' turnover intention should not only consider the job satisfaction pathway but, more importantly, prioritize the stronger mediating mechanism of job embeddedness linking organizational working conditions to turnover.

In the hospitality industry, where service quality heavily depends on frontline employees' emotional engagement and wellbeing, leadership behaviors play a critical role in shaping employees' workplace experiences. Despite the growing attention to dark leadership styles, limited research has examined how Machiavellian leadership (ML) affects employees' happiness at work (HAW) and the underlying psychological mechanisms in hospitality settings. Drawing on social exchange theory, this study investigates the impact of ML on employees' HAW, the mediating role of psychological contract breach (PCB), and the moderating role of coworker exchange (CWX). Study 1 employed a scenario-based experiment, recruiting 188 employees from four five-star hotels in China to examine the causal relationship between ML and employees' HAW by manipulating ML conditions. Study 2 was conducted among frontline employees of 11 five-star hotels in Southwest China, utilizing a three-wave survey (N = 483) to collect data. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to analyze the mediating role of PCB and the moderating effect of CWX in this relationship. The results indicate that ML significantly reduces employees' HAW. Furthermore, PCB mediates the negative impact of ML on employees' HAW, while CWX plays a significant moderating role in the relationship between ML and HAW. These findings extend the dark leadership literature by elucidating how ML disrupts social exchange processes and undermines employees' HAW in service-oriented organizations. From a practical perspective, the study highlights the importance of mitigating the negative consequences of ML through effective psychological contract management and by fostering high-quality CWX relationships in hospitality organizations.

Introduction: In China, master's students form a large and growing population confronting unique developmental challenges, such as academic pressure and career uncertainty. However, specialized mental health research targeting this group, particularly focusing on the interplay between demographic factors and psychological resources, remains underdeveloped. This study investigates how residential background (rural vs. urban) and gender predict psychological strain among Chinese master's students, as well as the predictive and moderating roles of self-esteem in this relationship.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in August 2025 among 315 master's students at Jiamusi University, a public university in northeastern China. Participants completed the Psychological Strain Scale (PSS; α = 0.96) and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES; α = 0.82). Data were analyzed using Pearson correlations, hierarchical regression, independent samples t-tests.

Results: Rural students reported significantly higher total psychological strain and higher scores on all strain dimensions (aspiration, coping, deprivation, value strains) than their urban peers, with the largest difference observed in deprivation strain (Cohen's d = 0.59). Males exhibited significantly higher deprivation strain than females (d = 0.29). Self-esteem emerged as the strongest negative predictor of total strain (β = -0.66, p < 0.001) and all dimension-specific strains. Furthermore, the protective effect of self-esteem was significantly stronger for females than for males (interaction B = -0.65, SE = 0.23, t = -2.83, p = 0.004), whereas its effect was consistent across rural and urban groups.

Discussion: Psychological strain in Chinese master's students is shaped by the complex interplay of structural (rural-urban background), cultural (gender roles), and psychological (self-esteem) factors. Self-esteem serves as a universal protective asset. Interventions should integrate structural equity measures, gender-responsive support, and universal self-esteem cultivation. Establishing a university-family-society collaborative education mechanism is crucial for effective mental health promotion.

Introduction: Human rights and democratic orientations are often considered mutually reinforcing. However, in institutional settings such as sport, this relationship may be shaped by governance structures and everyday experiences of authority. This study examined associations between Sport Sciences students' perceptions of human rights in sport and their democratic attitudes at a Faculty of Sport Sciences at a Turkish university.

Methods: Using a cross-sectional survey design, data were collected from 232 students (117 female, 115 male) using the Human Rights in Sport Scale (Personal, Social, Solidarity Rights) and the Democratic Attitude Scale (Respect for Diversity, Sensitive Behaviour, Glorification of Power, Social Responsibility).

Results: Males scored higher than females on Personal and Social Rights, and students who did not exercise regularly reported higher Personal and Social Rights than regular exercisers. No departmental or income differences were observed. Correlations between rights perceptions and democratic attitudes were generally small and varied across subdimensions. In hierarchical regression models controlling for gender, regular exercise, department, and income, Solidarity Rights positively predicted Respect for Diversity, whereas Personal and Social Rights were negatively associated with Glorification of Power.

Discussion: Overall, the findings indicate that the relationship between perceptions of human rights in sport and democratic attitudes is complex rather than uniformly positive. The results suggest that different dimensions of rights consciousness are linked to distinct orientations towards authority and diversity in sporting settings.

The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in language services, education, and knowledge production has imposed substantial occupational displacement pressures on English majors, thereby triggering significant AI-related anxiety. However, existing research rarely systematically explores the formation mechanisms of AI anxiety among English majors, especially lacking an in-depth analysis of the protective role of career adapt-abilities and their internal heterogeneity. This study adopts a dual-perspective approach-integrating variable-centered and person-centered analyses-to investigate how career adapt-abilities influence AI anxiety and the mediating role of core self-evaluations. A total of 444 English major students from four comprehensive universities in Sichuan, China, were recruited during July and August 2025. Measurements included the Career Adapt-Abilities Scale, Core Self-Evaluation Scale, and AI Anxiety Scale. Results show that career adapt-abilities significantly and negatively predict AI anxiety, with core self-evaluations partially mediating this relationship. Latent profile analysis identified three distinct career adapt-abilities subgroups-low, medium, and high-with significant differences in core self-evaluations and AI anxiety levels among them. Notably, the low career adapt-abilities group exhibited the highest AI anxiety, while the high group showed the lowest. Both analytic strategies converge to demonstrate that career adapt-abilities constitute an essential psychological resource mitigating AI anxiety in English majors, with core self-evaluations serving as a key cognitive mechanism. This study reveals a dual-pathway influence of career adapt-abilities on AI anxiety, offering a novel theoretical framework for understanding technological anxiety formation. Moreover, the pronounced heterogeneity of career adapt-abilities underscores the necessity for stratified career development education and psychological interventions tailored to diverse student groups, providing practical guidance for optimizing talent cultivation in English major programs.

Introduction: This study examined how social exclusion relates to malevolent creativity among college students and tested the mediating role of aggression and the moderating role of team sports participation.

Methods: A total of 1,288 students (656 males, 632 females) from universities in Shanghai completed validated scales assessing social exclusion, aggression, malevolent creativity, and team sports participation. Data were analyzed using the PROCESS macro with bootstrapping, controlling for gender, grade, and age.

Results: Social exclusion significantly and positively predicted malevolent creativity, and that aggression partially mediated this association. Social exclusion remained a significant predictor of malevolent creativity after including aggression, while the indirect effect via aggression was also significant, indicating a partial mediation pattern. Furthermore, team sports participation significantly moderated both the social exclusion-aggression and the aggression-malevolent creativity paths: the positive associations were stronger at low levels and weaker at high levels of team sports participation.

Conclusion: These findings suggest that social exclusion may impact malevolent creativity in emerging adults partly by increasing aggression, whereas sustained engagement in team sports functions as a protective factor that mitigates this risk. The study highlights the importance of integrating sport-based interventions into campus mental health and behavioral prevention programs to guide creativity toward prosocial ends.

Objectives: This study seeks to clarify the role of environmental ethics awareness as a mediator and environmental organization membership as a moderator in the relationship between nature relatedness and environmental behavior among young adults.

Methods: The participants consist of 693 young adults (Mage = 22.45 ± 4.37, 60.8% were female). We collected data using a personal information form, the Environmental Ethics Awareness Scale, the Nature Relatedness Scale, and Environmental Behavior Scale. We examined relationships among variables using Pearson's correlation and moderated mediation analysis using Hayes's bootstrapping.

Results: The correlation analyses revealed positive relationships between nature relatedness, environmental ethics awareness, environmental behavior, and environmental organization membership. Environmental ethics awareness mediates the correlation between nature relatedness and environmental behavior. The mediational relationship was further conditioned by environmental organization membership.

Conclusions: The findings highlight how both personal connection to nature and ethical awareness are related to environmental behavior, with these associations being more pronounced among organization members.

Introduction: This study examined how pianists assess their own abilities in four areas: technical proficiency, musical understanding, expressive control, and presentation skills.

Methods: Participants included piano students and professional pianists, all with at least ten years of experience. Results were compared across age and gender groups. The study involved 600 participants divided into three age groups: 13- to 15-year-olds (M = 14.2, SD = 2.01), 23- to 24-year-olds (M = 23.8, SD = 2.24), and 36- to 42-year-olds (M = 40.4, SD = 5.38). Data were collected using the Bem Sex-Role Inventory and a custom-designed piano competency questionnaire. The statistical significance of differences between men and women in their self-assessment of performance skills was then tested.

Results and discussion: Among music college students (mean age 23.8 years)-the only group where a significant gender difference was found-men rated their technical skills higher than women did. The assessment of other subscales revealed no statistically significant differences between male and female piano players. Overall, the data do not support the idea that gender influences how pianists evaluate their own competencies. In contrast, age differences proved significant across all scales of piano competency (p = 0.00). The results indicate that pianists in older age groups rate their technique, musical literacy, expressiveness, and stage skills more highly. This increase in self-assessment is directly correlated with years of practice. The present findings can be used by music educators, parents, piano enthusiasts, and professional pianists. By understanding how age and gender shape pianists' self-perception, educators can tailor teaching methodologies to align with how students perceive their own skills.

To explore non-art majors' intentions and behaviors of non-art majors concerning their ongoing enrollment in esthetic education courses, we constructed a theoretical framework integrating ECM and TPB for empirical analysis. The study surveyed undergraduate, master's, and doctoral students from the comprehensive universities in China. Questionnaires were collected from 519 students selected in esthetic education courses during the second semester of 2024, and integrated structural equation modeling was employed for testing. Analysis reveals that students' positive attitudes toward esthetic education courses and their perceived feasibility of selection are core variables affecting persistent selection intents. Furthermore, expectation confirmation and satisfaction with esthetic education courses indirectly influence sustained selection intentions. Overall, this study provides evidence that the integrated model offers greater explanatory power for non-art majors' intentions and behaviors regarding continued selection in esthetic education courses compared to any single model considered in isolation. This establishes a comprehensive theoretical framework for in-depth research on the intentions and behaviors of non-art majors regarding continued selection in esthetic education courses. Simultaneously, it offers practical insights for those aiming to enhance the development, promotion, and management of esthetic education courses at comprehensive universities.

Introduction: Development of computational thinking (CT) in science education requires assessment tools that capture dynamic skill progression within authentic classroom settings. Existing assessment tools focus on CT overall performance with approximate sub-dimensions and level divisions, making it challenging to provide continuous, targeted guidance for fostering high school students' CT competencies. This study aims to develop and validate the High School Students' Computational Thinking Observation Protocol (HS-CTOP), a process-oriented tool for tracking high school students' CT progression in science classrooms.

Methods: Grounded in the Abstraction, Decomposition, Evaluation, Generalization, and Algorithmic thinking (ADEGA) framework, the HS-CTOP operationalizes CT into seventeen sub-dimensions and four proficiency levels. Data were derived from video-coded behaviors of 613 students across 120 biology classes in seven regions of mainland China, with validation conducted via the Rasch partial credit model.

Results: The results confirm the HS-CTOP's robust psychometric properties, including an item reliability of 0.96, person reliability of 0.83, and satisfactory unidimensionality. The protocol effectively distinguishes CT levels across different student groups.

Discussion: The HS-CTOP provides educators with detailed insights into CT development patterns to inform differentiated instruction in science classrooms.