Emotion Regulation and Psychological Capital of Chinese University Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Serial Mediation Effect of Learning Satisfaction and Learning Engagement

The mediating mechanism between the emotion regulation and psychological capital of university students is currently unclear. This study analyzed the serial mediation of learning satisfaction and learning engagement on the relationship between the emotion regulation and psychological capital of university students during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. A total of 328 undergraduates and postgraduates from universities in different regions of China were surveyed through an online questionnaire. The tools used in the study were the emotion regulation questionnaire, university student learning satisfaction questionnaire, learning engagement questionnaire, and psychological capital questionnaire. The analysis revealed both direct and indirect mediation effects. It was found that emotion regulation can positively predict psychological capital. Further, learning satisfaction and learning engagement can act as mediating variables between emotion regulation and psychological capital, respectively. Learning satisfaction and learning engagement can also have a serial mediation effect between emotion regulation and psychological capital. The results show that learning support should be strengthened to improve the learning satisfaction and learning engagement of students and, consequently, enhance their psychological capital.