{
  "abstract": "Background: Physical activity participation is an important component of health promotion among university students. However, students’ engagement in physical activity may be shaped not only by exercise-related conditions but also by social comparison experiences and individual psychological resources. Relative deprivation, as a negative social comparison experience, may be associated with lower physical activity participation, whereas psychological capital may represent an important psychological resource involved in this association.\n\nObjective: This study examined the relationships among relative deprivation, psychological capital, and physical activity participation among university students and examined whether psychological capital statistically mediated the association between relative deprivation and physical activity participation.\n\nMethods: A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted among university students at a university in Jiangsu Province, China, in February 2026. A total of 419 valid questionnaires were included in the analysis. Physical activity participation, personal relative deprivation, and psychological capital were measured using the Physical Activity Participation Scale, the Personal Relative Deprivation Scale, and the short version of the Psychological Capital Questionnaire, respectively. Descriptive statistics, independent-samples t-tests, Pearson correlation analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, structural equation modeling, and bootstrap mediation analysis were performed.\n\nResults: The structural model showed good fit to the data (χ2/df = 1.343, GFI = 0.941, CFI = 0.983, TLI = 0.981, RMSEA = 0.029, SRMR = 0.040). Relative deprivation was negatively associated with physical activity participation (β = −0.391, p < 0.001) and psychological capital (β = −0.518, p < 0.001), whereas psychological capital was positively associated with physical activity participation (β = 0.328, p < 0.001). Bootstrap mediation analysis indicated a significant indirect association through psychological capital, suggesting a partial mediating role of psychological capital (indirect effect = −0.179, 95% CI [−0.236, −0.128]). After controlling for gender and age, the indirect effect remained significant (indirect effect = −0.178, 95% CI [−0.235, −0.127]), supporting the robustness of the findings.\n\nConclusion: Relative deprivation was associated with lower physical activity participation among university students, with psychological capital showing a significant mediating role in this association. This indirect association remained significant after controlling for gender and age. These findings suggest that physical activity promotion in higher education should address the potential adverse role of relative deprivation and strengthen students’ psychological capital, including self-efficacy, hope, resilience, and optimism.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Faculty of Education, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia",
    "School of Physical Education, Ludong University, Yantai, Shandong, China",
    "School of Physical Education, Pingxiang University, Pingxiang, Jiangxi, China"
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 5,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Runqiang Dong"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Mohd Sahandri Gani Bin Hamzah"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Mohd Mahzan Bin Awang"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Jianguo Qiu"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Geng Yang"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/c1r5xw98pfdvx.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1923570",
  "fulltext_url": "https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13730892/",
  "id": "c1r5xw98pfdvx",
  "issns": [
    "1664-1078"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1923570",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "heading",
      "Original Research"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2739|Physical Activity and Health"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7223092921",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1923570/pdf",
  "pmcid": "PMC13730892",
  "pmid": "42984543",
  "published": "2026-10-21",
  "publisher": "Frontiers Media SA",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/c1r5xw98pfdvx.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-07T12:23:51Z",
      "native_id": "PMC13730892",
      "source": "pmc",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1923570"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "openalex:2739|Physical Activity and Health",
      "subfield": "epidemiology-public-health"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Relative deprivation and physical activity participation among university students: the mediating role of psychological capital",
  "title_text": "Relative deprivation and physical activity participation among university students: the mediating role of psychological capital",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-08T12:21:12Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/c1r5xw98pfdvx",
  "venue": "Frontiers in Psychology",
  "versions": []
}