Abstract:

Objective To explore the relationship among social exclusion，sense of control，self-esteem and cooperative tendency of freshmen in universities，and to test the mediating role of sense of control and self-esteem between social exclusion and cooperative tendency. Methods In December 2023，a convenience sampling method was adopted to survey 750 freshmen at a university in Guizhou Province using the college students' social exclusion questionnaire，the cooperative tendency rating scale，the Chinese version of the sense of control questionnaire，and the Rosenberg self-esteem scale. The collected data were analyzed through correlation analysis and chain mediation analysis. Results The social exclusion score of freshmen was（32.23±8.90） points，the sense of control score was （53.70±7.88）points，the self-esteem score was （28.36±3.72）points，and the cooperative tendency score was （47.76±6.83）points. There were statistically significant differences in social exclusion scores among freshmen of different genders and left-behind experience（both P<0.05），and there were statistically significant differences in sense of control scores and self-esteem scores among freshmen of different places and left-behind experience（all P<0.05）. Social exclusion was negatively correlated with self-esteem，sense of control，and cooperative tendency（r=-0.39，-0.44，-0.24，all P<0.01），sense of control was positively correlated with self-esteem and cooperative tendency（r=0.60，0.19，both P<0.01），and self-esteem was positively correlated with cooperative tendency（r=0.32，P<0.01）. Social exclusion could not only directly predict the college freshmen's cooperative tendencies（β=-0.62，t=-13.35，P<0.01），but also indirectly predict it through sense of control and self-esteem. Conclusion Social exclusion negatively predicts college freshmen's cooperative tendencies，while sense of control and self-esteem play a chain mediating role in this process. For the reduction of cooperation tendency caused by social exclusion of college freshmen，the influence of social exclusion can be weakened by improving individual sense of control and cultivating their high self-esteem，and at the same time，the cooperation tendency of college freshmen can be improved.

Key words: Social exclusion, Sense of control, Self-esteem, Cooperative tendency, Freshman