Study on the Relationship Between Peer Support and Aesthetic Ability Among University Students in Hebei Province: The Mediating Role of Self-efficacy

This study is grounded in the holistic education framework of higher education and focuses on the social and psychological mechanisms underlying the development of university students’ aesthetic ability. It aims to examine the relationships among peer support, self-efficacy, and aesthetic ability, as well as the pathways through which these variables interact. In current practice, aesthetic education in higher education institutions tends to emphasize curricular offerings and extracurricular activities, while insufficient attention has been paid to the roles of peer interaction and psychological factors in the formation of aesthetic ability. Consequently, the underlying mechanisms warrant further empirical investigation. Addressing this gap, the present study takes university students from higher education institutions in Hebei Province as its research sample and proposes three research objectives: to examine the overall levels and characteristics of peer support, self-efficacy, and aesthetic ability; to analyze the interrelationships among these three variables; and to test the mediating role of self-efficacy in the relationship between peer support and aesthetic ability. A quantitative research design was adopted, employing questionnaire surveys and statistical analyses. Stratified random sampling was used to select undergraduate students from different types of universities across Hebei Province. The research instruments included contextually adapted scales measuring peer support, self-efficacy, and aesthetic ability. Specifically, aesthetic ability was conceptualized in terms of aesthetic perception, aesthetic appreciation, and aesthetic creativity, while peer support was operationalized through four dimensions: emotional support, behavioral modeling, informational support and advice, and companionship and supervision. Following data collection, descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, regression analysis, and Bootstrap mediation tests were conducted. The results indicate that university students in Hebei Province demonstrate moderately high levels of peer support, self-efficacy, and aesthetic ability. Significant positive correlations were found among all three variables, and self-efficacy was shown to play a significant partial mediating role in the relationship between peer support and aesthetic ability. These findings reveal the internal psychological pathways through which peer support influences aesthetic ability and provide empirical evidence for optimizing peer support environments and enhancing aesthetic education practices in higher education. Future research may extend the sample to different regions and cultural contexts and employ longitudinal or experimental designs to further explore the dynamic effects of multiple forms of social support and psychological variables on the development of aesthetic ability.