| Higher vocational education is a pioneering form of education in China dedicated to cultivating highly skilled and practical talents,thus playing a vital role in promoting the all-around development of infrastructure construction.Higher vocational students are a distinctive group in higher education institutions as their diplomas are less recognized by society compared with undergraduate students,making them feel looked down upon.Their unique educational background is prone to give rise to psychological problems such as low self-esteem,depression and a lack of self-worth and meaning in life.Meaning in life refers to an individual’s perception and awareness of the significance and values of the person’s existence.It’s a crucial factor influencing one’s physical and mental health,and its absence can lead to a void of self-existence,resulting in depression,aggression,and addiction.Previous studies have found that individuals whose basic psychological needs are highly satisfied tend to possess robust meaning in life and that those with strong meaning in life are more likely to exhibit a better level of psychological capital and personal growth initiative.Meanwhile,basic psychological needs serve as a positive predictor of psychological capital and personal growth initiative.As such,this study holds that psychological capital and personal growth initiative may be the key mechanism to explain the relationship between basic psychological needs and meaning in life.This study aims to delve into the potential mechanism linking basic psychological needs and meaning in life and explore the specific relationship between basic psychological needs,psychological capital,personal growth initiative and meaning in life,with the goal of finding a viable path to enhancing meaning in life among higher vocational students.Study 1 utilizes questionnaires to examine the relationship between variables.Study 2 dives into the possibility of boosting meaning in life among higher vocational students based on group intervention of the theory of psychological capital intervention(PCI).Deploying a questionnaire-based method,Study 1 handed out the Chinese version of the Basic Needs Satisfaction in General Scale(BNSG-S),the Chinese version of the Personal Growth Initiative Scale(C-PGIS-Ⅱ),the Positive Psychological Capital Questionnaire(PPQ)and Meaning in Life Questionnaire(MLQ)to students enrolled in three higher vocational colleges in Chengdu and collected a total of 1,275 valid questionnaires.The findings indicated that the overall level of psychological capital and the level of self-efficacy and resilience were significantly higher in male students than in female students.The readiness to change(RC)was substantially higher in students with urban household registrations and only-child students than in students having rural household registrations and more than one sibling.Additionally,only-child students scored much higher in planning(PL)and implementation body(IB)than students from multiple-child families.There was a significant positive relationship between higher vocational students’ basic psychological needs,psychological capital,personal growth initiative and meaning in life.Psychological capital and personal growth initiative played a mediating role between basic psychological needs and meaning in life,and both acted as significant partial mediators.Psychological capital and personal growth initiative played a chain mediating role between basic psychological needs and meaning in life,and both served as significant,complete mediators.Study 2 adopted the framework of PCI theory and 40 students were randomly divided into experimental group(20 students)and intervention group(20 students),the experimental group carried out group intervention based on PCI theory,The intervention group did not do any intervention;It was found after testing the difference between the experimental group and the intervention group and the difference between the pre and post tests,after 6 weeks of group intervention,the psychological capital level and sense of meaning in life of the experimental group were significantly improved.As per the findings of the two studies,basic psychological needs could influence meaning in life through psychological capital and personal growth initiative,offering insights and enlightenment for the quality cultivation and academic education of higher vocational students.On the one hand,families should treat these students with more respect,understanding and care,enabling them to elevate relational needs satisfaction through positive interaction with parents.On the other hand,as the main implementers of students’ education,schools should carry out diversified campus activities to make students feel motivated and encouraged to take part,thereby increasing students’ satisfaction with competence needs and autonomy needs.This study underscores the assertion of the self-determination theory that individuals can better accomplish positive development and self-actualization only when their three basic psychological needs are fulfilled. |
