Gratitude and college students’ school belonging: The mediating role of perceived stress and meaning in life

We examined the relationship between gratitude and school belonging of college students, and the potential mediating role of perceived stress and meaning in life in such a relationship. Participants were college students (n = 1 691) from 10 universities in China (male = 768; average age = 20.76 years, SD = 1.45 years). The path analysis results indicate that gratitude can predict college students’ school belonging, and the higher the level of gratitude, the higher the college students’ school belonging. Perceived stress is lower with higher meaning in life. Sense of gratitude is associated with lower perceived stress and higher meaning in life. Lower stress and higher meaning in life are associated with school belonging. Perceived stress and meaning in life play a mediating role between gratitude and college students’ school belonging for higher school belonging with lower stress and higher meaning of life. In addition, the meaning in life plays a mediating role between perceived stress and college students’ school belonging for higher sense of school belonging. These findings align with find-remind-bind theory of gratitude which proposes that when individuals perceive the social resources they possess, they are enabled to strengthen existing social relationships. By implication, colleges can enhance college students’ sense of belonging to the school through gratitude education, guiding them to release stress by recognising the meaning of life.