The influence of exercise identity on college students' perceived social self-efficacy: chain mediating effect test.

Objective: This study aimed to examine the influence of exercise identity on college student's perceived social self-efficacy (PSSE), and to explore the chain-mediating roles of emotion regulation and motivation for physical activity in this relationship. Methodology: A total of 1,029 Chinese college students (mean age = 18.9 years, SD = 0.80) completed standardized measures, including the Exercise Identity Scale (EIS), Perceived Social Self-Efficacy Scale (PSSE), Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS-16), and Motivation for Physical Activity Measure-Revised (MPAM-R). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and mediation analysis (PROCESS Model 6 with 5,000 bootstrap samples), controlling for gender and age. Results: Exercise identity showed a significant positive direct effect on PSSE (β = 0.443, Conclusion: A stronger exercise identity is associated with higher perceived social self-efficacy among college students, both directly and through the mediating roles of emotion regulation and autonomous motivation for physical activity. Emotion regulation facilitates higher-quality motivation, which in turn enhances social confidence, forming a positive psychological pathway from exercise identity to social adaptation. These findings underscore the value of promoting exercise identity and emotion regulation skills to support college student's psychosocial wellbeing and adaptive functioning.