National identity and subjective well-being among college students: A sequential mediation analysis of collective and personal self-esteem

The current study examined the roles of collective self-esteem and personal self-esteem in the relationship between national identity and subjective well-being. Participants were 583 Chinese college students (females = 49%; mean age = 19.25 ± 1.85 years). They completed measures of national identity, collective self-esteem, personal self-esteem, and subjective well-being. Path analysis findings result indicated national identity to influence the students’ subjective well-being through three pathways: (1) national identity → collective self-esteem → subjective well-being, meaning higher subjective wellbeing with collective self-esteem. (2) national identity → personal self-esteem → subjective well-being, to suggest higher personal self-esteem was associated with subjective wellbeing; (3) national identity → collective self-esteem → personal self-esteem → subjective well-being. Compared to simple mediation models constructed with only personal self-esteem or collective self-esteem as a single mediating variable, the chain mediation model better explains the mediating mechanism of national identity on subjective well-being (the variance explained by the mediating variables increased by 65.38% and 59.26%, respectively). The collective self-esteem and personal self-esteem mediation is consistent with social identity theory, whereby national identity enhances collective self-evaluation, which in turn bolsters personal self-worth and subjective well-being. These findings of the current study offer new insights into how national identity affects subjective well-being in collectivistic culture.