Objective The mechanism of strengths on life satisfaction has been a focus in positive psychology research. The current study investigated the influence of psychological strengths on life satisfaction and the mediating roles of general self-efficacy and coping style. Methods A sample of 913 college students in Zhejiang province completed the online questionnaires, including Strengths Knowledge and Strength Use Scale (SKSUS), Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS), General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES) and Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS). Bootstrapping method was adopted for mediating effect analysis. Results ①There are significant positive correlations among strength knowledge, strength use, task-oriented coping style, general self-efficacy and life satisfaction (r=0.390, 0.522, 0.345, 0.500). ②Strength use, task-oriented coping style and general self-efficacy act as mediators between strength knowledge and life satisfaction (the total indirect effect is 0.387, accounting for 96.03% of the total effect). ③Emotion-oriented coping style acts as mediator between strength knowledge, strength use and life satisfaction (the indirect effect of this path is 0.011, accounting for 2.73% of the total effect). Conclusion Strength knowledge may influence life satisfaction of university students through the mediating effects of strength use, task-oriented coping style, emotion-oriented coping style and general self-efficacy. |