Social anxiety and subjective well-being among Chinese college students: A moderated mediation model

Abstract This study examined the mediating effect of regulatory emotional self-efficacy and the moderating effect of meaning in life on the relationship between social anxiety and subjective well-being among Chinese college students. Nine hundred and eight Chinese students (Mage = 20.14, SD = 1.71; 49% males) completed self-reported questionnaires regarding social anxiety, regulatory emotional self-efficacy, meaning in life, and subjective well-being. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to determine the relation between social anxiety and subjective well-being and the moderated mediation model. The results revealed that regulatory emotional self-efficacy fully mediated the link between social anxiety and college students' subjective well-being. College students' meaning in life moderated the associations between social anxiety and college students' regulatory emotional self-efficacy and between regulatory emotional self-efficacy and subjective well-being. Particularly, the link between social anxiety and regulatory emotional self-efficacy was only significant for those with lower meaning in life. The association between regulatory emotional self-efficacy and subjective well-being was more robust for those with higher meaning in life. This study identified the critical factors associated with subjective well-being; it supplies empirical support for existing theories and provides practical implications for interventions aiming to improve Chinese college students' subjective well-being.