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. 2025 Apr 4;15(1):11543.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-96358-z.

Analysis of the role of self-efficacy and interpersonal relationships in the relationship between subjective family socio-economic status and college students' trust character: a case study of a university in Shaanxi Province, China

Ziyue Song  1   2 , Wenlong Zhao  3
Affiliations

Analysis of the role of self-efficacy and interpersonal relationships in the relationship between subjective family socio-economic status and college students' trust character: a case study of a university in Shaanxi Province, China

Ziyue Song et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

Trust can assist college students in navigating the challenges of loss during their growth and development, ultimately facilitating their personal growth and well-being. From the perspective of virtue, this study proposes a new concept of "trust character", which reveals the relationship between subjective family socioeconomic status and college students' trust character through self-efficacy and interpersonal communication. In this study, 1211 college students from a university in Shaanxi Province were surveyed by stratified sampling using the Subjective Family Socioeconomic Status Scale, the Self-Efficacy Scale, the Interpersonal Interaction Scale, and the Trust Character Scale. The results showed that subjective family socioeconomic status was significantly positively correlated with self-efficacy (r = 0.161), interpersonal communication (r = 0.193), and trust character (r = 0.160). Self-efficacy was positively correlated with interpersonal communication (r = 0.461) and trust character (r = 0.616). Interpersonal communication was positively correlated with trust character (r = 0.492). The direct and indirect effects of subjective family socioeconomic status on college students' trust character were significant, including the mediating value of self-efficacy was 0.080 (61.07%), the mediating value of interpersonal communication was 0.032 (24.43%), and the chain mediating value of self-efficacy and interpersonal communication was 0.019 (effect size) was 14.50%.The research shows that the trust character of college students is composed of three dimensions: trust yourself, trust others, trust people. Self-efficacy and interpersonal communication not only play an independent mediating role but also play a chain mediating role between subjective family socioeconomic status and college students' trust character.

Keywords: Interpersonal communication; Self-efficacy; Subjective family socioeconomic status; Trust character.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests. Ethical Statement: This study has been approved by the Ethics Committee of the School of Humanities of Xi’an Jiaotong University (20231022), and the participants agreed to participate in the study through the informed consent process. The procedure has been reviewed by the Ethics Committee of the School of Humanities of Xi’an Jiaotong University and certified that the research was conducted in accordance with the ethical standards stipulated in the Declaration of Helsinki.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The logical framework diagram of the relationship between subjective family socioeconomic status and the trust character of college students.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Gravel diagram.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
The relationship model between subjective family socioeconomic status and trust character. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01,*** < 0.001; χ2/df = 1.991, GFI = 0.999, AGFI = 0.992, CFI = 0.999, TLI = 0.994, RMSEA = 0.029.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
The relationship model between subjective family socioeconomic status and trust yourself. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01,*** < 0.001.
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
The relationship model between subjective family socioeconomic status and trust others. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01,*** < 0.001.
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
The relationship model between subjective family socioeconomic status and trust people. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01,*** < 0.001.
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