Introduction: This survey aimed to probe the associations between altruism, social support and subjective health among incoming students with low level of social desirability.
Methods: Totally, 5,634 incoming university students were assessed and 2,472 students with a low tendency toward social desirability were recruited for analysis.
Results: The results indicated that altruism and perceived social support were correlated and both could predict subjective health simultaneously. Path analysis indicated that altruism may promote health directly and indirectly by social support.
Discussion: Developing curriculums to enhance altruism and social support could be an important issue for university students.
Keywords: World Health Organization Quality of Life brief version; altruism; social desirability; social support; university student.
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