Zizhong Zhang^1,2, Chen Luo^3,4,*

Journal of Psychology in Africa, Vol.35, No.1, pp. 61-67, 2025, DOI:10.32604/jpa.2025.066008 - 30 April 2025

Abstract Online gaming has become a daily norm, leading to unique forms of game-bullying distinct from traditional cyberbullying due to its immersive nature and ranking systems. This study examined how game-bullying victimization (GBV) affects depression via self-esteem, moderated by resilience and the state of flow, among 359 Chinese MOBA (Multiplayer-online-battle-arena) gamers (30.7% female, mean age = 23.8 years, SD = 4.57 years). The analysis revealed a direct link between GBV and depression. Self-esteem mediates this relationship, with higher GBV associated with lower self-esteem and subsequently greater depression. Resilience moderates both direct and indirect effects, mitigating GBV’s More >

Melissa Mashaba¹, Curwyn Mapaling^2,*, Wandile F. Tsabedze³

Journal of Psychology in Africa, Vol.35, No.1, pp. 29-35, 2025, DOI:10.32604/jpa.2025.066007 - 30 April 2025

Abstract The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic introduced significant psychosocial stressors for morticians in South Africa, yet their coping mechanisms remain underexplored. This study investigated how South African morticians (N = 10, Black males) coped with these stressors during the pandemic through semi-structured interviews. Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) informed thematic analysis identified five themes: (i) death overload distress associated with trauma and fear of exposure; (ii) insomnia due to worry, workload, and fear of infection; (iii) stigmatisation from community avoidance and negative perceptions; (iv) social isolation and anxiety related to emotional disconnection, personal protective equipment (PPE) shortages, More >

Wenyin Yang¹, Zhijie Xu², Yang Liu^2,*

Journal of Psychology in Africa, Vol.35, No.1, pp. 43-49, 2025, DOI:10.32604/jpa.2025.065880 - 30 April 2025

Abstract Drawing upon the Conservation of Resources theory, this study investigated the relationship between proactive personality and strengths use, as well as the mediating role of psychological safety and the moderating role of exploitative leadership within this relationship. Data were collected from 368 employees (females = 57.61%; mean age = 32.35; SD = 6.31) working in various organizations in China at two points in time with a two-week interval. We conducted structural equation modeling and a moderated mediation path analysis to test our hypotheses. The results demonstrated that proactive personality is positively related to strengths use More >

Hao Fang¹, Xiaoyu Xu^2,*

Journal of Psychology in Africa, Vol.35, No.1, pp. 151-157, 2025, DOI:10.32604/jpa.2025.065786 - 30 April 2025

Abstract This study explored the relationship between perceived social support and employment anxiety among Chinese college students, as well as the mediating and moderating effects of psychological resilience and career adaptability on this relationship. A total of 1928 college students (females = 1371, mean age = 20.42, SD = 1.05) completed the Perceived Social Support Scale, Employment Anxiety Questionnaire, Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale and Career Adapt-Abilities Scale. Mediation analysis results showed that psychological resilience mediated the relationship between perceived social support and employment anxiety for lower employment anxiety. Career adaptability moderated the mediating effect of psychological resilience More >

Guangqiang Wang¹, Hui Bai², Shuo Wang³, Yangbang Hu^4,*

Journal of Psychology in Africa, Vol.35, No.1, pp. 117-125, 2025, DOI:10.32604/jpa.2025.065785 - 30 April 2025

Abstract This study aimed to explore the mediating roles of self-efficacy and intrinsic motivation on the relationship between teacher autonomy and teacher job satisfaction. Data were from the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS 2018), with a sample of 3131 junior high school teachers (female = 2337; male = 794) from Shanghai, China. The mediating effect was analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results showed that teacher autonomy was positively associated with teacher job satisfaction, self-efficacy, and intrinsic motivation. Both self-efficacy and intrinsic motivation were associated with teacher job satisfaction. Self-efficacy was associated with teacher intrinsic More >

Mengjun Zhu^1,#,*, Xing’an Yao^2,#,*, Mansor Bin Abu Talib¹

Journal of Psychology in Africa, Vol.35, No.1, pp. 83-90, 2025, DOI:10.32604/jpa.2025.065784 - 30 April 2025

Abstract This study investigated the role of intentional self-regulation and the moderating role of peer relationship in the relationship between teacher-student relationship and learning engagement. The study sample comprised 540 Chinese senior secondary school students between the ages of 15–18 (51.67% boys; M_age = 16.56 years; SD_age = 0.90). They completed surveys on the Teacher-Student Relationship Scale, the Selection, Optimization, and Compensation (SOC) Scale, the Peer Relationship Scale for Children and Adolescents, and the Learning Engagement Scale. The results following regression analysis showed that teacher-student relationship predicted higher learning engagement among senior secondary school students. Intentional self-regulation More >

Yujing Tao^*

Journal of Psychology in Africa, Vol.35, No.1, pp. 99-105, 2025, DOI:10.32604/jpa.2025.065783 - 30 April 2025

Abstract This study investigated the relationship between college students’ awe and depression, along with the mediating roles of future self-continuity and presence of meaning. 891 Chinese college students (570 female; mean age 18.59; SD 1.34) from one university completed four surveys: Dispositional Awe Subscale, Future self-continuity Scale, Meaning in Life Scale and Depression Scale. Using structural equation modelling and the bootstrap method, the results delineated that awe negatively related to depression, and future self-continuity and presence of meaning had a serial mediation effect, reducing depression. The study implies educational institutions should foster a positive mental health More >

Youming Song^*, Yuxin Li, Yin Wang, Yuan Xie, Gang Qiao, Jingyi Chen

Journal of Psychology in Africa, Vol.35, No.1, pp. 51-59, 2025, DOI:10.32604/jpa.2025.065781 - 30 April 2025

Abstract Although numerous findings show that people experience both positive and negative experiences with regards to solitude, the relationship between solitude capacity and emotional experience remains unclear. The current study investigated the extent to which emotion regulation may play a suppressive role in the relationship between solitude capacity and emotional experience. Questionnaires on solitude capacity, emotion regulation, and emotional experience were completed by a sample of Chinese college students (n = 844; 432 females; Mean_age = 19.79 years, SD = 1.43 years). The results of the indirect effect test showed that cognitive reappraisal suppresses the prediction of solitude More >

Xiaoying Zeng^1,*, Ying Liu², Yufei Li², Yongping Yu²

Journal of Psychology in Africa, Vol.35, No.1, pp. 91-97, 2025, DOI:10.32604/jpa.2025.065779 - 30 April 2025

Abstract This study constructed a moderated mediation model to examine how the social support received by teachers is associated with their work pay fairness perception in relation to their job satisfaction and job performance. Data were collected from 2411 preschool teachers in China (female = 98.01%; mean age = 29.12 years, SD = 6.28 years). These data were analyzed using structural equation modelling, bootstrapping and latent moderate structural equations. The results indicated that teachers’ perception of pay fairness is directly associated with self-rated job performance. Additionally, pay fairness perceptions have an indirect effect on higher job More >

Pei Jiang¹, Ziyue Shu¹, Shuqin Li^1,*, Qianrong Liu², Weihua Wang¹

Journal of Psychology in Africa, Vol.35, No.1, pp. 127-133, 2025, DOI:10.32604/jpa.2025.065777 - 30 April 2025

Abstract This longitudinal study investigated how self-management and learning burnout influences the relationship between habitual mobile phone use and subjective well-being among first-year university students. A sample of 1172 Chinese university students participated in a two-wave survey, with data collected six months apart at two time points (T1, T2). The results of Pearson correlation revealed that higher habitual mobile phone use at T1 was associated with lower subjective well-being at T2. Self-management was associated with healthy phone use habits and higher subjective wellbeing. Learning burnout risk was higher with habitual phone usage. Lower self-management and learning More >