The mediating effect of conflict resolution on the relationship between student's negotiating leadership skill and student's performance at selected universities in Zhejiang Province China

Incorporating student leadership, sports activities, and conflict-resolution training into the curriculum is believed to foster essential life skills, strengthen social bonds, and increase student engagement, ultimately enhancing academic outcomes. Despite isolated research across psychology, education, and organizational studies, a notable interdisciplinary gap remains in understanding how cognitive, emotional, and behavioral factors collectively shape students' leadership, conflict-resolution abilities, and academic success. This study addresses this gap by investigating whether conflict-resolution skills mediate the relationship between negotiation-based leadership (NLS) and academic performance among university students in Zhejiang Province, China. Employing a quantitative, cross-sectional research design, the study surveyed 1,861 students from three institutions, drawn from a total population of 37,527 for the purpose of assessing extracurricular participation's impact on leadership development, conflict-resolution abilities, and academic outcomes. The findings reveal a strong positive effect of negotiation-based leadership skills on academic performance (β= 0.963, p<0.01) as well as on conflict-resolution skills (β=0.980 p<0.01). Additionally, conflict-resolution skills independently and positively impacted academic outcomes (β= 0.618, p<0.01) and partially mediated the link between negotiation-based leadership and academic achievement (mediation effect β=0.606, p<0.01). The results underscore that negotiation leadership has a direct and indirect influence on academic success (β=0.146, p< 0.05), as mediated by conflict-resolution capabilities. These findings highlight the importance of structured student activities in nurturing negotiation leadership and academic success through effective conflict management. They also suggest practical implications for university administrators, educators, and policymakers: incorporating extracurricular-led conflict management and leadership training into curricula can support holistic student development and performance