Teachers’ emotional support and college students’ adaptation: the mediating roles of intrinsic goals and psychological need satisfaction

Abstract

Introduction – This study investigates the mechanisms through which teachers’ emotional support influences college students’ adaptation, focusing on the chain mediating roles of intrinsic goals and psychological need satisfaction, grounded in Self-Determination Theory (SDT). Methods – A stratified cluster sampling approach was used to collect data from 632 undergraduate students across China. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was conducted for construct validity, and mediation analyses were performed using Hayes’ PROCESS macro (Model 6). Results – (1) Teachers’ emotional support significantly and positively predicts college students’ adaptation (β = 0.48, p < 0.001); (2) the direct effect of intrinsic goals on adaptation is non-significant (p=0.086), indicating intrinsic goals influence adaptation indirectly via psychological need satisfaction; (3) the chain mediation pathway is statistically significant (95% CI [0.034, 0.074]), with psychological need satisfaction accounting for 78.9% of the total indirect effect. Discussion – These findings provide empirical evidence for the internalization process of external support, suggesting teachers’ emotional scaffolding primarily aids adaptation by fostering intrinsic aspirations that subsequently fulfill students’ basic psychological needs.