The Impact of Family Rituals on Well-Being of College Students: A Chain Mediating Model of Social Connectedness and Self-Control

Ming-Zheng Wu Yang LI Jie WANG Hong-Ye Liu

Journal of Psychological Science ›› 2021, Vol. 44 ›› Issue (6) : 1346-1353.

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PDF(702 KB)
Journal of Psychological Science ›› 2021, Vol. 44 ›› Issue (6) : 1346-1353.

The Impact of Family Rituals on Well-Being of College Students: A Chain Mediating Model of Social Connectedness and Self-Control

  • Ming-Zheng WuYang LI2,Jie WANG3,Hong-Ye Liu4,
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Abstract

This study aims to explore the influence of family rituals on college students' well-being and its mechanism. Family rituals refer to specific, repeated special events that involve two or more family members. These events constitute symbolic acts that are developed throughout the family history; they are imbued with meanings that are constructed and perceived by all of the family members, which promote the family members’ sense of belonging, interpersonal communication, and shared memories. Nowadays, in the process of social transformation and family transformation in China, many family rituals disappear and many family rituals are born (for example, during the Spring Festival, the custom of setting off firecrackers in every family is banned along with the requirement of environmental protection). Under this background, we hope to encourage the education sector and families in general to pay attention to the role of family rituals in promoting adolescent development for maintaining and strengthening the family structure and reducing social risks in the period of social transformation. In order to explore the help of family rituals on adolescent mental health and social adaptation under the Chinese culture, as well as to popularize and develop the concept of family rituals in China, this study used questionnaire method to investigate the Chinese college students. Chinese version of the Family Ritual Questionnaire (FRQ-CV) is introduced in this study, the fitting index, the consistency reliability, criterion-related validity and test-retest reliability of the scale were established. And the FRQ-CV, Social Connectedness Scale, Self-control Scale and Index of Well-being were used to measure 671 college students, 315 males and 356 females. The study used SPSS 24 to perform correlation analysis, and with reference to Hayes (2018) on multiple intermediary inspection method, used SPSS 24 Process plug-in for intermediary structure model analysis and bootstrap path effect analysis, for building the structure of variables: family rituals promote adolescents' well-being, social connectedness and self-control as a chain mediation mechanism, means family rituals promote social connectedness, then promote self-control, finally improve adolescents' well-being. The results show that (1) Family rituals have a significant predictive effect on well-being (95%CI [0.029, 0.085]). (2) Self-control can play as a mediating role for family rituals to promote well-being (95%CI [0.003, 0.014]). (3) Social connectedness can play as a mediating role for family rituals to promote well-being (95%CI [0.069, 0.110]). (4) Family rituals promote well-being through a chain mechanism of social connectedness and self-control (95%CI [0.003, 0.013]). The current study suggests the mechanism of family rituals in promoting well-being of college students, enriches the research on the mechanism of family rituals and shows the important role of family rituals. In terms of theory, this study reveals the chain mediating role of social connection and self-control in the relationship between family rituals and well-being, and further explores the mechanism by which family rituals influence individuals' well-being. In terms of applications, this study empirically reveals the positive effects of family rituals on college students' social connectedness, self-control and well-being, and provides a reference for the development and promotion of family rituals in China.

Key words

Family ritual / Well-being / Social connectedness / Self-control

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Ming-Zheng Wu Yang LI Jie WANG Hong-Ye Liu. The Impact of Family Rituals on Well-Being of College Students: A Chain Mediating Model of Social Connectedness and Self-Control[J]. Journal of Psychological Science. 2021, 44(6): 1346-1353
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