Meaning in life, positive cognition, and learning motivation: A mediational analysis among Chinese college students.

ABSTRACT:

Background

While a sense of meaning in life is known to boost students' learning motivation, the psychological process explaining how this happens is not well understood. This study investigated whether positive thinking (positive cognition) acts as the crucial bridge connecting these two.

Methods

We conducted a survey with 345 university students in Chongqing, China. They completed questionnaires measuring their sense of meaning in life (both the search for meaning and the feeling of having it), their tendency for positive thinking, and their motivation for learning (both for internal satisfaction and external rewards).

Results

We found a clear link: students with a stronger sense of life meaning also reported higher levels of positive thinking and greater learning m

SUBMITTER: Liu SH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12431252 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature