The Relationship Between Gratitude and Academic Satisfaction Among Nursing Students: The Serial Mediating Roles of Academic Buoyancy and Academic Grit

Academic satisfaction is an important indicator of students’ academic experiences and is closely related to their continued engagement in learning and future professional development. Although gratitude, academic buoyancy, and academic grit are associated with positive academic outcomes, the psychological processes underlying the link between gratitude and academic satisfaction remain unclear. We examined these relationships in a cross-sectional survey of 826 full-time nursing students from four universities in China, recruited via convenience sampling. Participants completed self-report measures of gratitude, academic buoyancy, academic grit, and academic satisfaction. Pearson correlations and Hayes’ PROCESS Model 6 were used to examine a proposed serial mediation model, adjusting for age and internship experience. Gratitude was positively correlated with academic buoyancy, academic grit, and academic satisfaction. Its direct association with academic satisfaction remained positive after adjustment (β = 0.203, 95% CI [0.146, 0.260]). Significant indirect associations were observed through academic buoyancy and academic grit individually and through the proposed sequence from academic buoyancy to academic grit (β = 0.049, 95% CI [0.0297, 0.0708]). These findings suggest that buoyancy and grit may help characterize the relationship between gratitude and academic satisfaction in nursing students. Because all variables were measured at a single time point, neither the proposed ordering of the mediators nor causal relationships can be established.