Hope and Life Satisfaction Among University Students: The Mediating Role of Psychological Resilience

Abstract

This study examined the indirect role of psychological resilience in the association between hope and life satisfaction among university students. University years involve substantial academic, social, and psychological change; therefore, identifying resources that support well-being during the transition to emerging adulthood is important. The sample comprised 500 undergraduate students from the Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences at Akdeniz University, selected through convenience sampling. Data were collected through face-to-face questionnaires. Hypotheses were tested with hierarchical regression, and indirect associations were examined using bootstrap analysis with 5000 resamples and 95% confidence intervals. Hope, psychological resilience, and life satisfaction were positively and significantly associated. Psychological resilience showed a significant indirect association between hope and life satisfaction, while the direct association remained significant. An alternative model with hope as the mediator also yielded a significant indirect association, indicating that temporal ordering cannot be established from these cross-sectional data. Additional analyses found no significant Hope × Psychological Resilience moderation effect. Overall, the findings highlight the interrelated roles of hope and psychological resilience in university students’ life satisfaction and underscore the need for longitudinal research to clarify their temporal relationships.