ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Sport Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1601079
This article is part of the Research TopicPsychological Factors in Physical Education and Sport - Volume VIView all 9 articles
The Role of Social Support and Psychological Capital in College Students' Physical Exercise Behavior: A Mediation Analysis
Provisionally accepted
- Southwest University, Chongqing, China
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The physical exercise behavior of college students is closely related to their physical and mental health. Research has shown that social support and psychological capital are related to college students' physical exercise behavior, but their correlation needs further exploration.Objectives This study seeks to investigate the relationship between social support, psychological capital and university students' physical exercise behavior, with a further in-depth analysis of the mediating roles played by psychological capital within this dynamic.Methods Using cluster sampling, we surveyed 359 college students in Southwest University, employing the Sports Activity Level Scale (SALS), the Positive Psychological Capital Questionnaire (PPCQ), the Social Support Scale (SSS). Data were analyzed using SPSS 26.0 and STATA 17.0, and common method bias was tested using Harman's single-factor test. The significance of the mediation effects was tested using the Kohler, Karlson, and Breen (KHB).
Keywords: Physical exercise behavior, college students, social support, Psychological Capital, Mediation analysis
Received: 27 Mar 2025; Accepted: 15 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Xiong, Si, Huang, Ouyang, Ma, Huang and Huang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Xiaoling Huang, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
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