Mediating Role of Spiritual Wellbeing in the Relationship Between Cognitive Flexibility and Metacognitive Beliefs of Students

Background and Purpose: The critical position of spirituality and spiritual wellbeing has drastically been recognized in recent decades, and cognitive flexibility and metacognitive beliefs play an essential role in health-related behaviors. The present study investigated the mediating role of spiritual wellbeing between cognitive flexibility and the students’ metacognitive beliefs.  Materials and Methods: The research method was descriptive-correlational. The statistical population included all students of Islamic Azad University, Sari branch, Sari City, Iran, in the ۲۰۲۲-۲۰۲۳ academic year. A total of ۳۶۴ students were selected by stratified random sampling based on their education level and were asked to answer the questionnaires about spiritual wellbeing (Palotzian and Ellison, ۱۹۸۲), cognitive flexibility (Dennis and Vanderwaal, ۲۰۱۰), and metacognitive beliefs (Wells and Cartwright-Houghton, ۲۰۰۴). Data analysis was done by structural equation modeling using SPSS software, version ۲۴ and AMOS software, version ۲۳. Results: In this study, ۶۹% of the participants were women and ۳۱% were men. About ۵۷% were ۲۵ years or younger, ۶۳% were undergraduate students, ۳۰% were postgraduate (Master’s degree), and ۷% were PhD students. The results indicated that all direct paths between study variables were significant (P<۰.۰۱). The relationships of the indirect paths were significant through the mediating role of spiritual wellbeing (P<۰.۰۱). Conclusion: According to the research results, spiritual wellbeing mediates cognitive flexibility and metacognitive beliefs in university students. Thus, it is possible to design special programs in order to improve metacognitive beliefs and strengthen cognitive flexibility through spiritual health.

Keywords:

Spiritual health , Cognitive flexibility , Metacognitive beliefs ​​​​​​​