Roles of parents in life satisfaction and educational hope among Chinese high school students

Feng Han; Celeste Yuet-Mui Yuen

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1334397

Roles of parents in life satisfaction and educational hope among Chinese high school students

Front Psychol. 2024 Apr 15:15:1334397. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1334397. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Feng Han¹, Celeste Yuet-Mui Yuen²

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Education, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
² Department of Educational Administration and Policy, Faculty of Education, Hong Kong Centre for the Development of Educational Leadership, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong SAR, China.

Abstract

The well-being of the Chinese high school students linked to the National Higher Education Entrance Examination, known as gaokao, has been a spotlight education issue in China. This study employed self-determination theory and Bourdieu's sociocultural theory to examine the relationship between life satisfaction, educational hope, and parental support among Chinese high school students. A number of 3,810 high school students from eight schools in Jiangsu, China, completed a validated context-relevant questionnaire. Structural equation model analysis suggested that parental support significantly impacted students' life satisfaction and educational hope. Findings showed that parental intangible support in terms of providing information, advice, encouragement, praise, and care has a direct and significant impact on the life satisfaction of Chinese youth. The extent to which students attach importance to and put effort into achieving their educational aspirations, known as goal commitment, mediated the relationship between parental support and life satisfaction. Moreover, Chinese high school students' educational hope is shaped by their family. Parental support moderates goal commitment, which varies based on parental education background. In short, parents play a critical role in the growth and development of Chinese high school students.

Keywords: educational aspirations; gaokao; goal commitment; high school students; hope; life satisfaction; parental support.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This work was supported by the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation under Grant [number: 2022 M721836].