The mediating role of university students’ psychological well-being in the relationship of poverty perception and social exclusion

Abstract

A strong perception of poverty reduces the motivation to participate in social activities. Therefore, it can be argued that the perception of poverty positively affects social exclusion but that psychological well-being perceptions reflecting people's life satisfaction mediate this effect. This study investigates the mediator function of psychological well-being in the impact of poverty perception on social exclusion. This quantitative study employs the relational survey model, one of the general survey models. The data were collected from 714 university students using simple random sampling. The poverty perception scale, social exclusion scale, and psychological well-being scale were used to collect data in the research. The findings show that psychological well-being is a lever in the relationship between perceptions of poverty and social exclusion: while stronger perception of poverty parallels a more robust perception of social exclusion, a positive variable, such as psychological well-being, has an explanatory function in this relationship.