The effects of the three good things intervention on subjective well-being in Chinese first-year college students

Abstract Subjective well-being (SWB) is a core indicator of mental health. Chinese first-year college students suffer increased stress, which negatively impacts their SWB during the critical university adaptation period. Existing research on the Three Good Things (TGT) interventions is mainly rooted in Western culture. Moreover, the moderating effects of autonomy and intrinsic motivation on the TGT intervention have not yet been explored. The present study had two main targets. One is to test the effectiveness of the TGT intervention in improving SWB among Chinese first-year college students. The other is to explore the moderating roles of autonomy and intrinsic motivation in intervention effects. We conducted an experiment with 183 participants, using a 2 (autonomy: autonomous/non-autonomous)×2 (intrinsic motivation: high/low) between-subjects design. The results showed the TGT intervention significantly improved SWB in the intervention group (t = -8.457, p < 0.001), with a significant Time × Group interaction (F = 22.296, p < 0.001). Both autonomy (F = 5.565, p = 0.020) and intrinsic motivation (F = 8.693, p = 0.004) had significant positive main effects on changes in SWB (ΔSWB). A significant interaction between the two factors was also found (F = 4.560, p = 0.035). This study confirms the effectiveness of the TGT intervention among college students in an Eastern culture and stresses the importance of autonomy for boosting intervention effects, especially for students with low intrinsic motivation. Our findings supply empirical support for cross-cultural effectiveness and the personalized design of TGT intervention for college students.