Socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era. With the shift in the principal contradiction in Chinese society, fostering a healthy social mentality is of great practical significance for advancing the modernization of social governance and enhancing its efficacy. A reasonable approach involves analyzing the current governance challenges caused by inadequate cultivation of social mentality, marking the goals set by the Party and the state for fostering a sound social mentality, clarifying the two-way interaction between social mentality and social governance, and proposing pathways such as improving real-life social conditions, addressing typical negative social mentalities, and strengthening the cultivation of social mentality in key areas. This aims to achieve a positive interplay between nurturing a healthy social mentality and advancing the modernization of social governance.