Numerous researchers have over recent years tried to study which factors were more paramount in citizenship development. An interesting development within this approach has been made by deliberative democracy which has often been considered to have the capacity to boost civic virtue. Some research also reveals that the tendency to deliberate about the future may be related to positive perception. This suggests that positive perception helps people become more aware of the future and civic participation. Therefore, this research aimed to examine the effects of positive perception on civic virtue and the mediating effects of personal deliberative belief in college students. A total of 308 college students in Taiwan were invited to complete a questionnaire. SEM analysis revealed that positive perception had a direct (β = 0.62, p < 0.001) and indirect relationship with civic virtue through the mediators of personal deliberative belief. Personal deliberative belief also had a direct effect on civic virtue (β = 0.42, p < 0.001). The results indicate that higher positive perception and personal deliberative belief can promote civic virtue. College staff and teachers should consciously cultivate students’ positive perceptions and provide deliberative democracy in colleges to promote students’ civic participation and develop civic virtue in the future. Meanwhile, identifying potential mediators of personal deliberative belief between positive perception and civic virtue is able to promote the development of deliberative pedagogy in the future.

 

Key words: Civic virtue, deliberative belief, positive perception, structural equation modeling, college students.