Abstract

Drawing on Social Cognitive Theory, this study examined whether peer support mediates the association between perceived teachers’ empowering leadership and learning engagement among undergraduates at four private universities in Yunnan, China (N = 679). Structural equation modeling indicated a significant total effect of perceived teachers’ empowering leadership on learning engagement (β = .720, p < .001). When peer support was specified as a mediator, the direct effect remained significant (β = .473), and the indirect effect was β = .247 (95% CI [.179, .299]), accounting for approximately 34.3% of the total effect and supporting partial mediation. These findings suggest that empowering instructional behaviors are associated with learning engagement both directly and indirectly through peer support; the path from perceived teachers’ empowering leadership to peer support was β = .560, and peer support was in turn positively associated with learning engagement (β = .442). The results are consistent with a social-relational pathway from the instructional environment through peer dynamics to student engagement, and point to the role of collaborative classroom structures in supporting engagement in resource-constrained higher education settings.

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