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The relationship between social exclusion and meaning in life among college students: a moderated mediation model
1School of Law (Humanities and Social Sciences), Taiyuan University of Science and Technology, Taiyuan, China.
Objective:
To explore the relationship between social exclusion and meaning in life among college students, as well as the roles of loneliness and nostalgia in this relationship.
Methods:
From August to October 2025, a sample of 1714 college students from a university in Taiyuan City was assessed using the Social Exclusion Questionnaire for College Students, the Loneliness Scale, the Indigenous Nostalgia Scale, and the Meaning in Life Scale.
Results:
(1) Social exclusion significantly and negatively predicted college students' meaning in life. (2) Loneliness partially mediated the relationship between social exclusion and meaning in life. (3) Nostalgia significantly moderated the direct path, the first half of the mediation path (social exclusion → loneliness), and the second half of the mediation path (loneliness → meaning in life) in the mediation model.
Conclusion:
Social exclusion can negatively predict college students' meaning in life both directly and indirectly through loneliness. Nostalgia moderates the direct effect of social exclusion on meaning in life as well as the first and second halves of the mediating process.
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