Objective: Explore the influence of fear of COVID-19 on depression, with anxiety as a mediator and perceived social support and stress perception as moderates.Methods: From February to March 2020, 1,196 valid data were collected online through questionnaire by cluster sampling method. Fear of COVID-19 Questionnaire, the Patient Health Questionnaire 9-Item Scale (PHQ-9), the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-Item Scale (GAD-7), the Perceived Social Support Scale (PSSS) and the10-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) were used as the survey instrument, and the participants were female undergraduates from a liberal arts college of a Chinese university. Common method bias was assessed using Harman’s single-factor test in SPSS and confirmatory factor analysis in AMOS. The levels of participants’ anxiety, depression and perceived social support were described using frequency and percentage, Pearson Correlation test was used to measure the correlation between the variables. The PROCESS macro for SPSS (Model 1, Model 4, and Model 21) were applied to examine the mediating effect and moderating effect of the model.Results: Fear of COVID-19 can positively influence depression, anxiety plays a mediating role between fear of COVID-19 and depression, perceived social support negatively moderates the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and anxiety, and stress perception positively moderates the relationship between anxiety and depression. These five variables can form a moderated mediating effect model.Conclusion: Fear of COVID-19, anxiety and stress perception are risk factors for depression, perceived social support is a protective factor for depression. Reducing the fear of COVID-19, anxiety and stress perception and enhancing perceived social support are beneficial to reduce the level of depression.

As a novel thinking approach to human resource management, employee experience (EX) has become a critical strategic focus in fundamentally reframing the employment relationship. However, the construct definition and measures of EX have not been adequately addressed in the existing literature. Based on self-determination theory, this study provides a conceptual foundation for EX and emphasizes its conceptual uniqueness. Furthermore, through two phases (six studies) of the scale development procedure, we developed and validated a 20-item EX scale (EXS). Specifically, we first identified five dimensions of EX through three qualitative studies (Phase 1): work-related, interpersonal harmony, organizational management, professional development, and remuneration package. Subsequently, we validated the reliability, convergent and discriminant validity, predictive and incremental validity, and measurement invariance of the EXS through three quantitative studies (Phase 2). Our findings suggest that EX is related to similar constructs (job satisfaction, employee engagement, and workplace well-being) yet possesses unique characteristics and can significantly influence employees’ work-related consequences (turnover intention and organizational identification). Finally, the theoretical and practical implications, limitations, and future directions of this study are discussed.

The rapid growth of postgraduate education in China necessitates the imperative to augment the innovative behaviors of postgraduates. The purpose of this study was to explore whether a supportive mentoring style affects the innovative behavior of master’s degree students and the potential role that academic aspiration may play in the relationship between the two. A time-lag questionnaire was given to 911 master’s degree students in central China for Study 1. The results revealed that a supportive mentoring style positively predicted innovative behavior. Furthermore, the connection between a supportive mentoring style and innovative behaviors was mediated by academic aspirations. Study 2 matched five pairs of students with mentors to administer the survey using semi-structured interviews. The results confirmed the mechanisms through which supportive mentoring styles impact innovative behavior and provided more evidence for them. This study examines the development path of master’s degree students’ innovative behavior, reveals how internal (academic aspiration) and external (mentoring) factors impact such behavior, and offers insights into graduate students’ educational practices.

The new generation of employees has emerged as a major force in the labor market, and their employee experience has become a significant factor in transforming the employment relationship. The objective of this study is to see if perceived organizational support influences the employee experience of the new generation of employees. Also, considering that the underlying mechanisms between the two are unclear, this study explores the mediating role of proactive personality and the moderating role of emotional exhaustion. This study used the Perceived Organizational Support Scale, Employee Experience Scale, Proactive Personality Scale, and Emotional Exhaustion Scale to survey 550 new-generation employees in China. The results showed that: perceived organizational support facilitated the level of employee experience of new generation employees; proactive personality partially mediated the relationship between perceived organizational support and employee experience. In addition, emotional exhaustion moderated the relationship between perceived organizational support and proactive personality. This study reveals the mechanisms of organizational and individual factors on the employee experience of new generation employees, explores the growth path of employee experience of new generation employees, and provides insights into the management practice work of business leaders.

With the increase in master’s degree enrollment in China, ensuring the realization of value-added research skills of master’s degree students with limited educational resources has become an urgent problem. We developed hypotheses and tested the mediating effect of academic passion (AP) in the role of training environment satisfaction (TES) on research skill increment (RSI) and the moderating role of academic self-efficacy (ASE) using the perspective of Research Training Environment Theory (RTE). We used a structured questionnaire to collect responses from 911 master’s students from universities in central China, including 458 males (50.27%) and 453 females (49.73%), and 66.41% of the subjects were between the ages of 23 and 26. Our findings indicate that TES significantly impacts RSI and can influence RSI via a partially mediated effect of AP. In addition, we determined the moderating effect of ASE between the effects of the three variables. Based on RTE theory, we introduced the concept of value-add assessment and combined the two to realize the expansion of RTE theory. This study has implications for administrators and individuals in graduate education. It can help administrators make changes to the management model or methods of graduate education, as well as provide some inspiration for developing and improving master’s students’ research skills.