The Reciprocal Associations Between Academic Contingent Self-Worth and Life Satisfaction Among Chinese College Students

This study examined the reciprocal associations between academic contingent self-worth and life satisfaction at the between- and within-person level among college students. 1183 freshmen from eight Chinese universities (736 females, M age = 18.61 at Wave 1) reported on their academic contingent self-worth and life satisfaction three times over a year, and the data were analyzed using both cross-lagged panel model and random intercept cross-lagged model. Findings of both approaches consistently revealed negative bidirectional cross-lagged associations between academic contingent self-worth and life satisfaction both at the between- and within-person level. Academic contingent self-worth predicted decreased life satisfaction from Wave 2 to Wave 3, but not from Wave 1 to Wave 2, whereas life satisfaction predicted decreased academic contingent self-worth across three waves. The findings suggested that college students’ tendency to base their self-worth on academic performance may gradually impair their life satisfaction, and promoting life satisfaction may in turn help to alleviate academic contingent self-worth among college students.