Music learning engagement and perceived psychological wellbeing among university students: an indirect association involving perceived emotional intelligence in music learning.

OBJECTIVE: Music learning involves sustained practice, evaluative feedback, and emotionally demanding experiences, yet limited research has examined how learning engagement and perceived emotion-related competence are jointly associated with psychological wellbeing. This study investigated the associations among music learning engagement, perceived emotional intelligence in music learning, and perceived psychological wellbeing among university students. METHODS: Cross-sectional survey data were collected from 423 students recruited through student networks associated with three universities in Guizhou Province, China, who had participated in formal or organized music-learning activities. Covariance-based structural equation modeling was used to examine the measurement structure and the direct, indirect, and total associations among the study variables. Percentile bootstrap confidence intervals were estimated using 5,000 resamples. RESULTS: Music learning engagement was positively associated with perceived psychological wellbeing (β = 0.419, 95% bootstrap CI [0.305, 0.531]) and perceived emotional intelligence in music learning (β = 0.584, 95% bootstrap CI [0.496, 0.665]). Perceived emotional intelligence in music learning was also positively associated with perceived psychological wellbeing after music learning engagement was included in the model (β = 0.430, 95% bootstrap CI [0.308, 0.544]). The standardized indirect association was 0.251, 95% bootstrap CI [0.178, 0.326]. The model explained 34.1% of the variance in perceived emotional intelligence in music learning and 57.0% of the variance in perceived psychological wellbeing. CONCLUSION: This study provides correlational evidence that music learning engagement, perceived emotional intelligence in music learning, and perceived psychological wellbeing are positively associated among university students. Perceived emotional intelligence in music learning accounted for part of the association between music learning engagement and perceived psychological wellbeing within the specified model. The findings provide a more differentiated understanding of how learning involvement, emotion-related self-perceptions, and psychological functioning are connected in university music-learning contexts.