Proactive personality, social support and post-traumatic growth caused by COVID-19: mediating effect meaning in life in China

As the COVID-19 epidemic ends in China, it is worth exploring the growth after experiencing the trauma of the epidemic. China has been managing the epidemic for a relatively long time compared to other countries. Many scholars have researched trauma and post-traumatic growth in groups such as doctors and patients. However, little attention has been paid to the post-traumatic growth of ordinary people who experienced the epidemic in the Chinese context and the related influencing factors. Based on the educational system as the research context, this study proposes the effects of proactive personality and social support on PTG in the post-epidemic era through the mediation of meaningfulness of life. To empirically examine the influences of PTG in the post-epidemic era, an online survey of 1210 university students was conducted for data analysis. The analysis results suggest that proactive personality and social support positively influence meaning in life. Proactive personality, social support and meaning in life positively influence post-traumatic growth. Proactive personality and social support social support and proactive personality indirectly influence post-traumatic growth through the mediation of the meaning in life. This research empirically investigated the role of personality, social support, meaning in life, and post-traumatic growth among university students.