Relationship between super-leadership and self-directed learning ability in online nursing education: The mediating effects of self-leadership and self-efficacy perceptions

Self-directed learning ability is a core competence that enables students to enhance their academic achievement, clinical competence, and professional growth in nursing education. Super-leadership—as a strategy to develop the learning process—promotes students’ self-leadership, which, in turn, enhances perceived self-efficacy perception and ultimately facilitates self-directed learning ability. Few studies have rigorously determined the influences of super-leadership, self-leadership, and academic self-efficacy perceptions on self-directed learning ability in online nursing education during the COVID-19 pandemic. To determine the mediating effects of self-leadership and self-efficacy perceptions in the relationship between perceived super-leadership and self-directed learning ability. This study was conducted using a quantitative mediation analysis design. One hundred and fifty nursing students were conveniently recruited from two nursing colleges offering the same four-year nursing degree program. Participants completed a super-leadership scale, a self-leadership scale, an academic self-efficacy scale, and a self-directed learning ability inventory. Data were analyzed with Pearson's correlations, regression analysis, Sobel's test, and Hayes's Process Macro using the bootstrap method. Self-directed learning ability was correlated with perceived super-leadership (r = .47, p