Ciptro Handrianto, Ary Kiswanto Kenedi, Shahid Rasool
ObjectiveThis study examined the conditional indirect influence of optimism on the relationship between satisfaction with life (SWL) and student work engagement (SWE), mediated by academic self-efficacy (ASE), among Indonesian undergraduates.MethodsA cross-sectional online survey was conducted with 166 undergraduate students from universities in Padang, Indonesia. Structural Equation Modeling (AMOS) was used to test direct and indirect effects, while the PROCESS macro (Model 8) examined moderated mediation with bootstrapped confidence intervals.ResultsSWL, ASE, and optimism were significant positive predictors of SWE. ASE mediated the relationship between SWL and SWE. Significantly, optimism moderated this mediated pathway: the indirect effect of SWL on SWE via ASE was significantly stronger among students with lower optimism.ConclusionThe findings confirm that life satisfaction enhances work engagement by boosting academic self-efficacy, especially for less optimistic students. This highlights the importance of fostering self-efficacy in academic settings, particularly as a targeted intervention for students with lower dispositional optimism. The study clarifies a key conditional mechanism in the well–being–engagement link within higher education. © 2026 Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Universitas Negeri Padang, Padang, Indonesia; Universitas Samudra, Langsa, Indonesia; Florida Gulf Coast University, FL, United States
