The Impact of Labor Education Participation on University Students' Subjective Well-being: The Chain Mediating Roles of Meaning In Life and Resilience

Objective This study investigated how labor education participation influences college students' subjective well-being, considering the strategic deployment of educational resources and contemporary labor education policies. It specifically examines the chain mediation effect of life meaning and resilience. The research highlighted the distinct benefits of labor education in enhancing students' mental health and overall quality, offering theoretical insights for refining college labor education systems and boosting students' mental health. Methods After the undergraduates completed a semester of labor education, a multistage sampling method was employed to select 1,033 full-time undergraduates from a university in Sichuan Province. Participants completed a questionnaire survey incorporating the Labor Education Participation Scale, the Chinese Life Meaning Questionnaire, the Resilience Scale, and the Well-being Index Scale. Descriptive statistics and correlation analyses were performed using SPSS 26.0. To verify the theoretical hypothesis, a structural equation model (SEM) was constructed using Amos 26.0. The mediation effect was tested through the Bootstrap method, with 2,000 samples drawn. Results correlation analysis revealed significant positive correlations between labor education participation, meaning in life, resilience, and subjective well-being (r = 0.394–0.657, p < 0.01). Specifically, labor education participation was positively correlated with meaning in life (r = 0.463), resilience (r = 0.394), and subjective well-being (r = 0.568); meaning in life was positively correlated with resilience (r = 0.399) and subjective well-being (r = 0.657); resilience was positively correlated with subjective well-being (r = 0.639). Secondly, confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the measurement models demonstrated a good fit (X²/df = 3.153–5.046, CFI = 0.923–0.989, TLI = 0.915–0.985, SRMR = 0.017–0.036, RMSEA = 0.046–0.063), with both the convergent and discriminant validity meeting academic standards. Thirdly, structural equation modelling revealed that labor education participation directly predicted college students' subjective well-being (β = 0.199, p < 0.01), with a total effect value of 0.682 (p < 0.01). Additionally, labor education participation influences subjective well-being through three significant indirect pathways: ① a single mediator of meaning in life (effect value = 0.223, 95% CI=[0.187, 0.267], accounting for 32.698% of the total effect); ② a single mediator of resilience (effect value = 0.189, 95% CI=[0.141, 0.247], accounting for 27.713% of the total effect); ③ a chain mediation from meaning in life to resilience (effect value = 0.071, 95% CI=[0.053, 0.092], accounting for 10.410% of the total effect). Conclusion Labor education participation directly enhances college students' subjective well-being and indirectly empowers them. Both the sense of life's meaning and resilience serve as independent mediators in this relationship, while also creating a synergistic empowerment effect through a chain pathway. This study contributes to the localised application of positive psychology theory within the context of Eastern collectivist culture. It offers empirical evidence for developing educational programmes that integrate labor practice with psychological development, thereby supporting mental health initiatives in higher education institutions.