The association between need frustration and subjective well-being among Chinese vocational college students in physical education contexts: a moderated mediation model.
This study examined associations between psychological need frustration and subjective well-being among vocational college students in physical education contexts, with a focus on cognitive reappraisal and sport-related attentional disruption.
Drawing on Self-Determination Theory, emotion regulation theory, and attentional control perspectives, we tested a moderated mediation model in which cognitive reappraisal statistically accounted for part of the association between psychological need frustration and subjective well-being, and sport focus disruption moderated the association between psychological need frustration and cognitive reappraisal. Data were collected from 2,344 vocational college students in China (M = 19.2 years, SD = 1.3; 52% female) using standardized questionnaires. PROCESS Model 7 with 5,000 bootstrap samples was used to examine conditional associations, controlling for age, gender, and weekly exercise time.
Psychological need frustration was negatively associated with subjective well-being, whereas cognitive reappraisal was positively associated with subjective well-being. Sport focus disruption moderated the association between psychological need frustration and cognitive reappraisal: this association was not significant at low levels of sport focus disruption but was positive and stronger at average and high levels. The conditional indirect association between psychological need frustration and subjective well-being through cognitive reappraisal was significant only at average and high levels of sport focus disruption.
These findings suggest a conditional pattern in which cognitive reappraisal may reflect a compensatory regulatory process under higher attentional disruption. Given the cross-sectional design, all findings should be interpreted as associations rather than evidence of causal or temporal mediation.
Drawing on Self-Determination Theory, emotion regulation theory, and attentional control perspectives, we tested a moderated mediation model in which cognitive reappraisal statistically accounted for part of the association between psychological need frustration and subjective well-being, and sport focus disruption moderated the association between psychological need frustration and cognitive reappraisal. Data were collected from 2,344 vocational college students in China (M = 19.2 years, SD = 1.3; 52% female) using standardized questionnaires. PROCESS Model 7 with 5,000 bootstrap samples was used to examine conditional associations, controlling for age, gender, and weekly exercise time.
Psychological need frustration was negatively associated with subjective well-being, whereas cognitive reappraisal was positively associated with subjective well-being. Sport focus disruption moderated the association between psychological need frustration and cognitive reappraisal: this association was not significant at low levels of sport focus disruption but was positive and stronger at average and high levels. The conditional indirect association between psychological need frustration and subjective well-being through cognitive reappraisal was significant only at average and high levels of sport focus disruption.
These findings suggest a conditional pattern in which cognitive reappraisal may reflect a compensatory regulatory process under higher attentional disruption. Given the cross-sectional design, all findings should be interpreted as associations rather than evidence of causal or temporal mediation.