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Physical Exercise and Undergraduate Students’ Subjective Well-Being: Mediating Roles of Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction and Sleep Quality

Year: 2022

Type: article

Abstract: This study aimed to examine the association between physical exercise and subjective well-being among undergraduate students, as well as its underlying mechanism-the potential mediating roles of basic psychological need satisfaction and sleep quality-from the perspective of self-determination theory. A sample of 770 undergraduate students (mean age was 19.90 ± 1.15 years old; 464 women) were recruited voluntarily to complete a set of measures examining physical exercise habits, psychological need satisfaction in exercise, sleep quality, and subjective well-being. The results indicated that (1) physical exercise was positively associated with undergraduate students' subjective well-being; (2) psychological need satisfaction and sleep quality could significantly mediate this relation, which contained three pathways-the independent mediating effects of sleep quality and basic psychological need satisfaction and the sequential mediating effect of them. These findings not only reveal the mediating mechanism underlying the relation between physical exercise and subjective well-being by integrating the psychological and physical factors together but also provide an empirical basis for formulating prevention and intervention programs aimed at promoting the health and subjective well-being of undergraduate students.

Source: Behavioral Sciences

DOI: 10.3390/bs12090316

Authors: Sen Lin, Liming Li, Dong Zheng, Libiao Jiang

Institutions: Shaanxi University of Science and Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University

Language: English

Topic: Motivation and Self-Concept in Sports

Subfield: Social Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $1,466