AUTHOR=Chen Wei , Yang Tao , Luo Jing 

TITLE=Core self-evaluation and subjective wellbeing: A moderated mediation model

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Public Health

VOLUME=Volume 10 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2022.1036071

DOI=10.3389/fpubh.2022.1036071

ISSN=2296-2565

ABSTRACT=Much has been written documenting the positive association between core self-evaluation and adolescents’ subjective well-being, but little is known about the mediating and moderating mechanisms which underly this relationship. This study constructed a moderated mediation model to examine whether meaning in life mediated the relationship between core self-evaluation and subjective well-being, and whether this mediating process was moderated by adolescents’ self-esteem. A sample of 1,185 adolescents completed the Core Self-Evaluation Scale (CSES), the Meaning in Life Questionnaire (MLQ), the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale (RSES), and the Index of Well-being Scale (IWS). The results indicate that after controlling for gender and age, core self-evaluation contributed significantly to subjective well-being(β = .900, p < .001). Meaning in life played a mediating role in the relationship between core self-evaluation and subjective well-being (β = .143, p < .01), with core self-evaluation indirectly affecting subjective well-being through meaning in life (βindirect = .068, 95% CI = [.024, .119]). Self-esteem moderated the path mediated by meaning in life, more specifically, the conditional indirect effect between core self-evaluation and SWB was significant for adolescents with medium and low self-esteem (effect = .056, 95% CI = [.014, .106]; effect = .092, 95% CI = [.034, .159]. Both mediating and moderating effects were shown to exist in the association between core self-evaluation and adolescents’ subjective well-being. The findings of this study helpful to clarify the mediation and moderating mechanism of the beneficial influence of adolescents' core self-evaluation on subjective well-being.