Social Behavior and Personality

Editors’ Newsroom: Polishing our words or replacing our voices? Generative artificial intelligence in academic writing

Ana Stojanov — 2025-03-05

In this edition of Editors' Newsroom, Associate Editor Dr. Ana Stojanov considers how generative artificial intelligence is being used in academic writing.

Mitigation of problem behaviors among migrant children in China: A chain mediation model

Wenlan Xie — 2025-03-05

This study explored the influence of social support on problem behaviors exhibited by migrant children, and examined the potential mediating role of interpersonal security and positive psychological capital (PsyCap). Migrant children (N = 746) and local urban children (N = 401) completed the Social Support Scale, the Interpersonal Security Scale, the Psychological Capital Questionnaire, and the Adolescent Character and Behavioral Problem Behavior Tendency Questionnaire. We compared the groups and conducted an intervariable correlational analysis of the migrant group’s results. The findings indicated that social support, interpersonal security, and PsyCap were negative predictors of problem behaviors in migrant children. Interpersonal security and PsyCap mediated the relationship between social support and problem behaviors via three pathways: interpersonal security alone, PsyCap alone, and the interpersonal security–PsyCap chain. Enhancing migrant children’s sense of interpersonal safety and building prevention-oriented positive parenting psychosocial support networks may help to reduce migrant children’s problem behaviors.

How to release stress from future uncertainty: A sequential mediation study based on self-determination theory

Qiao Lu — 2025-03-05

Since the global COVID-19 pandemic, future uncertainty has been an increasing threat to mental health, particularly among graduates. While previous studies have consistently focused on this, how to alleviate stress from future uncertainty among potential graduates remains unclear from a self-determined perspective. Our predictive correlational study explored the mediating role of agentic engagement and academic self-efficacy in the relationship between perceived autonomy support and stress from future uncertainty with a sample of 528 potential university graduates. Through use of a self-report survey, the findings revealed that perceived autonomy support significantly and negatively predicted stress, agentic engagement alone did not mediate this relationship, and agentic engagement and academic self-efficacy together mediated this link. These results demonstrate the mechanism between perceived autonomy support and stress from future uncertainty, providing implications for relieving students’ stress resulting from future uncertainty.

Achievement goal orientation and physical education learning burnout: A mediating model test

Bojin Cheng — 2025-03-05

We applied achievement goal orientation theory to examine the relationship between university students’ achievement goal orientation and learning burnout in the physical education context, and the moderating effect of state boredom according to the difficulty of the teaching content. Participants comprised 406 general table tennis students. In the easy-content group, mastery proximity orientation and achievement proximity orientation had a significant negative impact on learning burnout, and mastery avoidance orientation and achievement avoidance orientation had a significant positive impact on learning burnout. In the challenging-content group, achievement proximity orientation, mastery avoidance orientation, and achievement avoidance orientation had a significant positive impact on learning burnout. Only mastery proximity orientation had a significant negative impact on learning burnout. Regardless of the level of difficulty of the teaching content, state boredom mediated the impact of achievement goal orientation on students’ learning burnout. This study enhances understanding of the process of physical education learning burnout.

Inclusive human resource management practices influence young new employees’ proactive organizational socialization

Xinxing Dai — 2025-03-05

All new employees experience organizational socialization when they enter a company. Effective organizational socialization is crucial in shaping an enterprise’s competitiveness and helping new employees to achieve better performance. This study explored the effect of inclusive human resource management practices (HRMP) on proactive organizational socialization among younger employees. We adopted a sample of 440 respondents and used multilevel analyses to test the data. The results showed that inclusive HRMP had a positive influence on younger employees’ sense of psychological safety, perception of an inclusive climate, and proactive organizational socialization. In addition, inclusive HRMP influenced proactive organizational socialization via both perception of an inclusive climate and sense of psychological safety. Further, protean career orientation had a moderating effect on these two mediating processes. Implications of the findings are discussed.

Transformational leadership and perceived performance of taekwondo athletes: Leader trust as a mediator

Myoung-Eun Park — 2025-03-05

Transformational leadership has received considerable research attention across various contexts. However, further investigation of this leadership style is required within the unique context of university taekwondo teams. This study investigated the effect of transformational leadership on leader trust and perceived performance within university taekwondo teams in South Korea. Analysis of 219 survey responses through structural equation modeling showed a positive influence of transformational leadership on both leader trust and perceived performance. Leader trust acted as a partial mediator of the relationship between transformational leadership and perceived performance. This study highlights the importance of leader trust in enhancing athlete performance. The implications of transformational leadership are discussed in this context.

Unlocking innovation: Artificial intelligence usage and innovative behavior in the workplace

Xiao Han — 2025-03-05

Despite the substantial potential of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance labor efficiency and stimulate creativity, successful integration into the workplace involves multiple challenges and a significant risk of failure. Drawing upon the job demands–resource model, this study examined the internal mechanisms through which AI influences innovative behavior by exploring the mediating effect of job crafting and the moderating effects of creative self-efficacy and a strengths-based psychological climate. We conducted an online survey of 519 Chinese employees with AI experience to test our moderated mediation model. Regression analysis revealed that the use of AI positively affected innovation behavior by facilitating job crafting, with a stronger effect observed in employees with higher creative self-efficacy. In addition, a strengths-based psychological climate positively moderated the relationship between job crafting and innovative behavior. These findings highlight the nuanced interplay between AI adoption, organizational climate, and individual perceptions, offering strategies to harness AI’s innovation potential.

The influence mechanism of brand ritual on consumers’ self–brand connection

Yanjun Peng — 2025-03-05

We used an experimental method to explore the mediating mechanism and boundary conditions of how brand ritual influences consumer self–brand connection. Study 1 examined primary and mediating effects with 151 participants, and Study 2 examined moderating effects with 180 participants. The research findings showed that complexity of brand ritual had a positive impact on consumer self–brand connection, and that immersion played a mediating role in this association. In addition, the impact of complexity of brand ritual on consumer self–brand connection was moderated by product type. Specifically, for hedonic products, high (vs. no or low) brand ritual was associated with a stronger consumer self–brand connection, while for utilitarian products, low brand ritual was linked to a stronger consumer self–brand connection. Implications of the findings are discussed.

Social-emotional competence and school bullying of adolescents in rural western China: A cross-lagged analysis

Chuanli Yang — 2025-03-05

Social-emotional competence (SEC) has been recognized as a key factor in the prevention of school bullying, but the exact relationship between these variables remains unexplored. We conducted a longitudinal study of 1,452 primary and secondary school students from rural western China. Results of a cross-lagged analysis showed that after a 2-year interval, students’ SEC showed an upward trend, while school bullying showed a downward trend. Further, students’ T1 SEC significantly and negatively predicted school bullying at T2, and school bullying at T1 significantly and negatively predicted SEC at T2, suggesting that there was a bidirectional, long-term, negative crossover relationship between SEC and school bullying. Finally, the cross-lagged models of students’ SEC and school bullying showed significant differences between left-behind and boarding children. Implications of the findings are discussed.

Parent–child relationship and learning engagement: A moderated mediation model

Mengjun Zhu — 2025-03-05

This study investigated how parent–child, peer, and teacher–student relationships affect high school students’ learning engagement. Participants comprised 658 Chinese high school students who completed anonymous surveys at a single time point. The results showed that (a) all three relationships positively predicted learning engagement, (b) peer relationships partially mediated the effect of parent–child relationships on learning engagement, and (c) teacher–student relationships moderated both the direct pathway through which parent–child relationships affected learning engagement and the latter part of the mediated pathway through peer relationships. The findings have implications for the design of future educational programs, which could leverage the combined benefits of parent–child and peer relationships to enhance teacher–student relationships and boost students’ learning engagement.

Teacher support and academic achievement among Chinese middle school students: A moderated mediation model

Bo Han — 2025-03-05

Despite the ability of teacher support to improve students’ development and achievement, contemporary education practices in China tend to follow traditional Chinese teaching philosophy’s emphasis on discipline instead. This study examined the mediating effect of attachment to school and the moderating effect of parental involvement on the relationship between teacher support and academic achievement in the Chinese context. We used convenience sampling to survey 1,205 Chinese middle-school students and conducted conditional process analyses. Results were as follows: (a) teacher support was positively associated with students’ attachment to school and academic achievement, (b) attachment to school mediated the relationship between teacher support and academic achievement, and (c) parental involvement moderated the relationships between teacher support and academic achievement and between attachment to school and academic achievement. Through explaining the complex interactions between factors in the family and school domain, this study has important implications for school administrators and teachers to calibrate their teaching orientations.

Zhongyong thinking and subjective well-being among Chinese undergraduate students: Prosocial behavior as a mediator

Shisi Zhou — 2025-03-05

Researchers have maintained that subjective well-being is not only a measure of quality of life but also has basic significance for mental health; however, a detailed investigation is needed of how culture influences subjective well-being. I investigated the prevalence of Zhongyong thinking, evaluated the relationship between Zhongyong thinking and subjective well-being among Chinese undergraduate students, and measured the mediating effect of prosocial behavior on this association. Data were collected from 657 Chinese undergraduate students aged 18–24 years, who anonymously completed the Zhongyong Thinking Style Scale, the Prosocial Behavior Scale, and the Subjective Well-Being Scale. The results showed that Zhongyong thinking was positively related to both prosocial behavior and subjective well-being, and that prosocial behavior partially mediated the relationship between Zhongyong thinking and subjective well-being. The findings offer meaningful implications for improving the subjective well-being of Chinese undergraduate students and give a more detailed way to describe subjective well-being.

Career calling and employee creativity: The mediating role of grit

Ling Wang — 2025-03-05

Despite the importance of employee creativity in driving organizational innovation, the complex interplay between the influencing mechanisms remains unclear. To address this gap, we developed a theoretical model to examine the antecedents of employee creativity, incorporating career calling as the independent variable and grit as a mediating variable. Participants comprised 406 employees of a large enterprise in China, who completed surveys at a single time point. Using bootstrapping analysis and structural equation modeling, we found that career calling was positively associated with grit, while grit played a mediating role in the relationship between career calling and employee creativity. These findings indicate that prioritizing the cultivation of employees’ career calling and the development of their grit will effectively promote creativity among employees.

From classroom to startup: The mediating role of self-efficacy in entrepreneurial education

Xiaoxue Qian — 2025-03-05

This study investigated the influence of entrepreneurial education on self-employment intentions, incorporating the mediating roles of entrepreneurial self-efficacy and intrinsic motivation. Applying social cognitive theory, I used structural equation modeling to analyze survey responses from 418 Chinese college students across Beijing and Shanghai. The results showed that entrepreneurial education significantly predicted self-employment intentions, while entrepreneurial self-efficacy and intrinsic motivation played mediating roles in this relationship. The findings contribute to the entrepreneurship literature as well as providing practical insights by demonstrating the critical role educational programs play in teaching entrepreneurial skills and fostering the psychological attributes necessary for initiating entrepreneurial ventures.

Preschool teachers’ effort–reward imbalance and job burnout: The role of psychological empowerment and employment status

Ying Zhou — 2025-03-05

We explored the relationship between effort–reward imbalance and job burnout among preschool teachers in China, along with the role of psychological empowerment and teachers’ employment status. Preschool teachers (N = 433) completed the Effort–Reward Imbalance Questionnaire, the Psychological Empowerment Scale, and the Maslach Burnout Inventory–Educators Survey. Results showed that effort–reward imbalance significantly predicted preschool teachers’ job burnout by contributing to their psychological empowerment. Further, the predictive effect of effort–reward imbalance on psychological empowerment was moderated by teachers’ employment status. Thus, we can conclude that effort–reward imbalance predicts job burnout among preschool teachers through the mediating effect of psychological empowerment and the moderating effect of teachers’ employment status. This study not only further reveals the mechanism underlying the relationship between effort–reward imbalance and job burnout, but will also help with the development of interventions in a wider range of job burnout situations among preschool teachers.

Task performance, turnover intention, and their mechanisms in Chinese rural teachers

Xianhua Yang — 2025-03-05

Globalization is affecting all sectors, including education, reducing the stability and development of rural teachers. This cross-sectional study explored the predictive relationship between task performance and turnover intention, analyzing the mediating role of organizational identity and job satisfaction. Participants were 639 rural teachers in northwest China. The results showed that rural teachers’ task performance had a direct impact on their turnover intention, and organizational identity and job satisfaction played mediating roles in this relationship. Furthermore, the mediating effect of organizational identity was more significant than the mediating effect of job satisfaction. These findings enrich theoretical understanding of teacher turnover and provide practical guidance for rural schools and education management departments.

Erratum to Lee et al. (2019)

Seung Min Lee — 2025-03-05

In the article, “Effect of program type and reward timing on customer loyalty: The role of the sunk cost effect,” by Seung Min Lee, Sang Yong Kim, and Dong Young Kim (Social Behavior and Personality: An international journal, Vol. 47, No. 11, e8407. https://doi.org/10.2224/sbp.8407), there was an error in the display of Figures 1 and 2. Several of the bars had been reversed during layout and were showing incorrect results. The results were reported correctly in the article text. The figures have now been corrected in all versions of the article.