Perceived Involution and Academic Burnout Among University Students: The Mediating Role of Anxiety and the Moderating Role

Abstract

Background: The concept of “involution” has gained prominence in the context of China’s education system, reflecting students’ perceptions of intense and often fruitless academic competition. How-ever, little is known about how perceived involution affects students’ psychological outcomes, par-ticularly academic burnout.

Objective: This study investigates the relationship between perceived involution and academic burnout among university students. Specifically, it examines whether anxiety mediates this rela-tionship and whether self-control moderates the effect of perceived involution on anxiety.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 673 university students in China. Stand-ardized scales were used to assess perceived involution, anxiety, self-control, and academic burnout. The data were analysed using SPSS 26.0 and the PROCESS macro (version 4.2), incorporating me-diation (Model 4) and moderation (Model 7) analyses with bootstrapping procedures.

Results: Perceived involution significantly and positively predicted academic burnout. Anxiety was found to partially mediate this relationship. Furthermore, self-control moderated the effect of per-ceived involution on anxiety, such that the positive association was weaker for individuals with higher levels of self-control.

Conclusion: These findings indicate that perceived involution contributes to academic burnout by exacerbating anxiety, while self-control acts as a protective factor against it. The study offers theo-retical insights into the emotional mechanisms of burnout and provides practical implications for stress intervention and mental health promotion in higher education.