Chan Hiu-Sze, Tong Yuk-Yue, Lee Sau-Lai, Chiu Chi-Yue
Department of Sociology, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, SAR, China.
School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, UK.
Appl Psychol Health Well Being. 2025 Feb;17(1):e70001. doi: 10.1111/aphw.70001.
Meaning in life protects individuals from mental distress during social upheaval. We posit that a growth mindset and consistency of interest positively predict meaning in life during social upheaval. The present research tested the hypothesis that among adolescence living in a period of social upheaval, the presence of a growth mindset (the belief in malleability of valued personal attributes) positively predicts persistent engagement in purpose-congruent interests (consistency of interest), which in turn positively predicts the feeling that life is meaningful (presence of meaning in life). To test this hypothesis and to clarify the temporal causal connections among growth mindset, consistency of interest, and presence of meaning in life, we conducted a 3-wave longitudinal cross-lagged panel study with 275 Hong Kong adolescents between late 2017 and early 2020, which covered a period of social upheaval. As hypothesized, having a growth mindset predicted meaning in life two years later through the mediating effect of consistency of interest. These findings extended past findings by identifying a new causal pathway for the temporal causal effects of a growth mindset on the presence of meaning in life over two years in a population and context with high vulnerability to mental distress. (193 words).
生活意义能保护个体在社会动荡期间免受精神困扰。我们认为，成长型思维模式和兴趣的一致性能正向预测社会动荡期间的生活意义。本研究检验了以下假设：在处于社会动荡时期的青少年中，成长型思维模式（相信有价值的个人特质具有可塑性）的存在能正向预测对与目标相符的兴趣的持续投入（兴趣的一致性），而这反过来又能正向预测生活有意义的感觉（生活意义的存在）。为了检验这一假设并厘清成长型思维模式、兴趣的一致性和生活意义的存在之间的时间因果联系，我们在2017年末至2020年初期间对275名香港青少年进行了一项三波纵向交叉滞后面板研究，该时期涵盖了一段社会动荡时期。正如假设的那样，拥有成长型思维模式通过兴趣一致性的中介作用，在两年后预测了生活意义。这些发现扩展了以往的研究结果，通过在一个极易遭受精神困扰的人群和背景中，确定了成长型思维模式对两年内生活意义存在的时间因果效应的一条新因果路径。
