Physical exercise and Positive Psychological Traits in college students: indirect associations through cognitive reappraisal and Subjective Well-Being

Positive Psychological Traits as an integral component of individuals’ mental health, academic development, and social adaptation, are important for the healthy development of college students. This study aimed to examine the association between physical exercise and Positive Psychological Traits among college students and to investigate the theory-specified indirect associations involving cognitive reappraisal and Subjective Well-Being. A questionnaire survey was conducted among 620 college students using the Physical Exercise Rating Scale, the Chinese College Students’ Positive Psychological Traits Scale, the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, and the General Well-Being Schedule. PROCESS Model 6 and bootstrap analysis were used to examine the indirect associations. The results indicated that: (1) Physical exercise was significantly and positively associated with Positive Psychological Traits and showed a significant positive total association; however, the residual direct association was not statistically significant after cognitive reappraisal and Subjective Well-Being were included in the model; (2) physical exercise was significantly and positively associated with cognitive reappraisal, while cognitive reappraisal was positively associated with both Subjective Well-Being and Positive Psychological Traits; and (3) two significant indirect pathways were identified: physical exercise → cognitive reappraisal → Positive Psychological Traits and physical exercise → cognitive reappraisal → Subjective Well-Being → Positive Psychological Traits, whereas the indirect pathway through Subjective Well-Being alone was not statistically significant. Conclusion: Physical exercise was positively associated with Positive Psychological Traits, with significant indirect associations through cognitive reappraisal alone and through the theory-specified ordered indirect pathway involving cognitive reappraisal followed by Subjective Well-Being, whereas the residual direct association was not statistically significant. These findings suggest that cognitive reappraisal may represent an important psychological pathway linking physical exercise with Positive Psychological Traits among college students. Because all variables were assessed concurrently, the ordering of the two intermediate variables should be interpreted as theoretically specified rather than as an empirically established temporal sequence.