Societal mattering, self-esteem and life satisfaction in a group of Spanish and Italian university students: a cross-cultural study

Although societal mattering has been identified as a relevant contributor to students’ well-being, it remains largely underexplored. The present cross-cultural study examined the associations among societal mattering, self-esteem and life satisfaction in a group of Italian (N = 191) and Spanish (N = 192) university students. The findings revealed that the Spanish group reported higher societal mattering and life satisfaction than Italian students, whereas no significant differences emerged in self-esteem. Structural analyses indicated that self-esteem mediated the relationship between societal mattering and life satisfaction in both groups. Among Spanish students, an alternative model with societal mattering as the mediator was also significant. These findings suggest that fostering both self-esteem and societal mattering may be crucial for enhancing students’ life satisfaction, with the relation between the two varying depending on cultural context.