Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Tests of Social Cognitive Model of Well-Being in Korean College Students

Abstract

This study examined the cross-cultural utility of a modified social cognitive model of academic and life satisfaction (Lent & Brown, 2008) by adding independent and interdependent self-construals with Korean college students in a cross-sectional (Study 1) and a longitudinal design (Study 2). In Study 1, 604 participants completed measures of academic self-efficacy, outcome expectations, goal progress, environmental support, positive affect, academic satisfaction, life satisfaction, and self-construals. In Study 2, 171 participants completed the same measures at two time points with a 15-week interval. Results of Study 1 indicated that the modified model provided a good fit to the data and that 21 out of 25 of the hypothesized paths were significant. In Study 2, the bidirectional model, which included three theorized sets of reciprocal relations (i.e., academic satisfaction to life satisfaction, positive affect to both environmental support and self-efficacy, and self-efficacy to both outcome expectations and goal progress) demonstrated an optimal fit to the data. Overall, the findings of the present study provide evidence for the validity of the modified social cognitive well-being model in Korean populations.