The link between self-efficacy and well-being among emerging adults: the role of need crafting and need satisfaction

Abstract

Half of the emerging adults (aged 18-25) in the Netherlands report poor mental health, highlighting the need for further research into the causes and solutions of well-being. In the current study the relation between self-efficacy and psychological well-being is investigated, and to what extent this relation is explained by the sequential mediation of need crafting and need satisfaction among emerging adults. A cross-sectional design with convenience- and snowball sampling (N = 106) was used. Regression analyses showed positive associations between self-efficacy, need crafting, need satisfaction, and psychological well-being. Mediation analyses showed that need crafting and need satisfaction acted as sequential mediators in the relation between self-efficacy and psychological well-being. This means that believing in one’s own abilities (i.e., to change your environment, health behavior, and/or increase your well-being) appears linked to more proactive need crafting behaviors, more need satisfaction, and higher levels of psychological well-being. The latter potentially occurs via need crafting and need satisfaction. For interventions, this means that fostering self- efficacy may be an important element for the effectiveness of well-being and crafting interventions. Longitudinal and/or experimental research is needed to confirm the direction of the effects found in the present study.