The Relationship Between Trait Mindfulness and Well-Being in College Students: The Serial Mediation Role of Flow Experience and Sports Participation

PURPOSE: The current college students have a lot of mental pressure due to their heavy study, life and work burdens, and the incidence of college students’ problems continues to rise. Sports are considered to be one of the best ways to improve the well-being of college students. However, the mechanism of college students’ well-being is still unclear. This article is intended to exploring the mechanism of action of Trait Mindfulness (TM) on well-being in college students. METHODS: Four hundred and ninety six college students were tested with Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale, Flow Experience Scale, Physical Activity Rating Scale, and Subjective Well-being Scale. RESULTS: College students’ trait mindfulness (TM) can predict well-being, college students’ trait mindfulness (TM) can have an indirect impact on well-being through flow experience, and college students’ trait mindfulness (TM) has an indirect impact on well-being through sports participation. In addition, flow experience and sports participation play a sequential mediating role between college students’ trait mindfulness (TM) and well-being. CONCLUSION: Flow experience and sports participation play a sequential mediating role between college students’ trait mindfulness(TM) and well-being. The current research results indicate that college students get well-being in sport activities. Trait mindfulness influences the behavioral tendency of sports participation through the mediation of thinking activities and cognitive function sequences. The results of this study provide a new literature reference for expanding the theory of positive emotion expansion and well-being. In addition, this study also provides an important basis for improving college students’ well-being and college education.