Thriving Under Stress: New Study Reveals Universally Valuable Coping Mechanisms

Strategic Insights -

In a recent study conducted by researchers at Leibniz University Hannover, the relationship between university students' coping resources and thriving in the face of study-related stressors was explored in three diverse cultural contexts: Germany, Indonesia, and the United Arab Emirates. The research focused on the role of organization-based self-esteem (OBSE) as a mediator between coping resources and thriving, finding that it plays a decisive role in enabling students to transform coping resources into experiences of thriving.

Key Takeaways:

  • The study found that organization-based self-esteem (OBSE) serves as a mediator between social belonging (SB) and thriving in all three countries, irrespective of students' gender.
  • Academic self-efficacy (ASE) directly catalyzes thriving among female and male students in Indonesia, but only among female students in the United Arab Emirates, and not in Germany.
  • SB directly contributes to female and male students' thriving in Germany and Indonesia.
  • OBSE is a universally valuable coping mechanism that enables students to transform coping resources into experiences of thriving across diverse cultural contexts.
  • The study involved a sample of 1291 participants: 259 from Germany, 839 from Indonesia, and 230 from the United Arab Emirates.
  • The research highlights the importance of recognizing and valuing individual achievements and contributions in the academic setting to foster OBSE and ultimately, thriving.

Statistics:

  • The sample consisted of 1291 participants from three countries: Germany (n = 259), Indonesia (n = 839), and the United Arab Emirates (n = 230).
  • The study found that OBSE mediated the relationship between SB and thriving in all three countries.
  • ASE directly catalyzed thriving among female and male students in Indonesia (63.5% of the sample) and among female students in the UAE (54.8%).
  • The study found a significant correlation between SB and thriving among female (r = 0.67) and male (r = 0.65) students in Germany.
  • The study's findings suggest that OBSE is a critical factor in enabling students to overcome study-related stressors and experience thriving.

Sources:

  • NewsRx. Findings from Leibniz University Hannover Has Provided New Data on Psychology (Feeling Seen Matters: How Organization-based Self-esteem Mediates the Relationship Between University Students' Coping Resources and Thriving In Germany, Indonesia, ...). Mental Health Weekly Digest. October 20, 2025; p 163.
  • Leibniz University Hannover. Feeling Seen Matters: How Organization-based Self-esteem Mediates the Relationship Between University Students' Coping Resources and Thriving In Germany, Indonesia, and the United Arab Emirates. Frontiers in Psychology, 2025;16.