Teachers’ Caring Behaviors and Students’ Learning Outcomes: The Mediating Role of Self-Efficacy in Chinese College Students
Abstract
Teachers’ caring behaviors have been identified as a key factor in fostering positive student learning outcomes, yet the underlying mechanisms of this relationship remain insufficiently explored. Drawing upon social cognitive theory, this study investigates the mediating role of self-efficacy in the link between teachers’ caring behaviors and students’ learning outcomes among college students enrolled in physical education courses in China. This study collected 384 valid responses from students across eight universities in Guangxi Province, including both public and private undergraduate institutions. All sampled universities offered physical education courses. Standardized instruments were used to measure teachers’ caring behaviors, self-efficacy, and student learning outcomes. SPSS 29.0 and PROCESS Macro (Model 4) were employed to assess the hypothesized mediation model using 5,000 bootstrap samples. The findings indicated that teachers’ caring behaviors significantly predicted students’ self-efficacy (β = 0.327, p < .001), which in turn positively predicted their learning outcomes (β = 0.289, p < .001). The indirect effect of teachers’ caring on learning outcomes through self-efficacy was significant (β = 0.095), with a 95% bias-corrected confidence interval [0.058, 0.144] not including zero, confirming the mediating role. The total effect (β = 0.271) remained significant, while the direct effect (β = 0.176) was reduced but still statistically meaningful. Self-efficacy partially mediates the relationship between teachers’ caring behaviors and students’ learning outcomes. These findings highlight the importance of fostering student self-efficacy in educational contexts to enhance learning outcomes, particularly in physical education settings.
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