BACKGROUND: Life satisfaction is a core indicator of well-being, especially during emerging adulthood, a period marked by rapid psychological and social changes. Although social support is widely recognized as essential for life satisfaction, the mechanisms underlying this relationship-particularly the mediating role of psychological resilience and the moderating role of gender-require further investigation.
OBJECTIVE: This study examined (a) the association between social support and life satisfaction, (b) whether psychological resilience mediates this association, and (c) whether gender moderates these relationships among Turkish university students.
METHOD: A cross-sectional, correlational design was used with purposive sampling. The sample included 553 young adults (53.9 % female; M_age = 23.4, SD = 2.6) from universities across Turkey. Participants completed the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), and Brief Resilience Scale (BRS). Analyses were conducted using correlation analyses, PROCESS Macro Model 14 with bootstrapping (5000 samples), and moderation analysis. All mediation and moderation relationships were interpreted using bootstrap confidence intervals.
RESULTS: Perceived social support significantly predicted life satisfaction (β = 0.54, p < .001), explaining 29 % of the variance. Psychological resilience served as a significant mediator in this relationship (indirect estimate = 0.11, 95 % CI [0.06, 0.16]). Gender significantly moderated both the direct relationships and the indirect pathway. Specifically, the positive associations between both social support and life satisfaction (β = 0.10, p = .002) and resilience and life satisfaction (β = 0.08, p = .006) were stronger among women. Moderated mediation analysis further revealed that the indirect pathway through resilience was more pronounced in women (B = 0.14, 95 % CI [0.08, 0.20]) than in men (B = 0.07, 95 % CI [0.03, 0.12]), with a significant index of moderated mediation (B = 0.07, 95 % CI [0.02, 0.13], p = .001).
CONCLUSION: The findings underscore the importance of perceived social support in promoting life satisfaction among emerging adults, with psychological resilience serving as a key intermediary. Gender differences in these pathways point to the value of culturally sensitive, gender-responsive interventions aimed at strengthening resilience and social support systems during this pivotal life stage.
