The effect of belief in a just world on psychological resilience in junior high school left-behind children: the role of gratitude and proactive personality

With the growing number of left-behind children, the mental health development and education of them have become one of the hot issues in Chinese society. Based on the actual dilemma that these children being left behind, this study explores the contents and ideas of positive education for the mental health development of left-behind children from the aspect of whether the development level of just world belief will affect the development of psychological resilience. To attain this goal, this study constructed a hypothetical model of belief in a just world and psychological resilience of left-behind children with gratitude as the mediating variable and proactive personality as the moderating variable. 399 research objects were randomly selected for each of the seventh, eighth, and ninth grades from two boarding junior high school students in Henan and Anhui Province. 385 research objects filled out the questionnaires effectively, with an effective rate of 96.49%.The results indicated that belief in a just world significantly and positively impacts the psychological resilience of left-behind children, while gratitude mediated this path between the two, with the mediating effect accounting for 22.04%, 28.83%, and 16.51% of the total effect in the model of belief in a just world, General Just-World Belief (GJB) and Personal Just-World Belief (PJB), respectively. Proactive personality moderated between belief in a just world and psychological resilience; the belief in a just world of left-behind children with high proactive personality had a positive predictive effect significantly on psychological resilience. The results of this study not only provide first-hand empirical data support for the assessment and realization of the acquisition and protection of the social and psychological rights of contemporary left-behind children in China, but also provide a theoretical basis, empirical support and operational behavioral indicators for left-behind children to shape healthy and sustainable psychological content; it also provides reference materials and basis for relevant administrative departments to formulate policies and measures to help vulnerable left-behind children.