大學生完美主義與學業倦怠、生活滿意度之關係：學校歸屬感之中介效果

Relationship between Perfectionism, Academic Burnout, and Life Satisfaction in University Students: School Belonging as a Mediator

10.6251/BEP.202409_56(1).0008

林宜薇(Yi-Wei Lin)；陳慧娟(Huey-Jiuan Chen)

大學生 ； 生活滿意度 ； 完美主義 ； 學校歸屬感 ； 學業倦怠 ； university student ； life satisfaction ； perfectionism ； school belonging ； academic burnout

教育心理學報

56卷1期（2024 / 09 / 01）

191 - 223

繁體中文;英文

本研究旨在了解大學生的完美主義特質、學校歸屬感、學業倦怠與生活滿意度的關聯性，並探究學校歸屬感是否在關聯路徑扮演中介角色。研究參與者為臺灣554位大學生。研究工具包括自編的「學校歸屬感量表」、「學業倦怠量表」，以及修編的「完美主義量表」和「生活滿意度量表」。實徵資料以Pearson積差相關、結構方程模型（structural equation modeling, SEM）進行分析，並且透過拔靴法（bootstrapping）檢驗中介效果。主要研究結果顯示：（一）完美主義之奮力向上可負向預測學業倦怠三個分構念，包含筋疲力竭、心理疏離、認知損傷，且可正向預測生活滿意度和學校歸屬感；完美主義擔憂向度可正向預測學業倦怠之四項分構念，包含筋疲力竭、心理疏離、認知損傷及情緒損傷，且可負向預測生活滿意度和學校歸屬感；（二）學校歸屬感可中介奮力向上與筋疲力竭、情緒損傷之關係；同時也在奮力向上與生活滿意度之間扮演中介角色；（三）學校歸屬感在完美主義擔憂向度與筋疲力竭、情緒損傷之間，以及完美主義擔憂向度與生活滿意度之間，亦同樣具有中介效果；（四）學校歸屬感能預測較低的學業倦怠與較高生活滿意度。本研究依據前述結果進行討論，並提出相關建議，以作為未來學術研究及大學輔導實務工作之參考。

Since 2015, Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) surveys have revealed significant associations of students' learning anxiety, learning motivation, bullying behavior, and well-being with their perceived sense of school belonging. In 2022, a PISA survey revealed a declining trend in the sense of school belonging among Taiwanese students in international schools; the school belonging index (standardized index) was found to be 0.01, which is close to the average of -0.02 outlined by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Taiwan still lags behind other East Asian countries with resilient educational systems, such as the Republic of Korea and Japan, which have a school belonging index of 0.26 and 0.25, respectively (OECD, 2023). According to the 2019 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS 2019) report, Taiwanese students in fourth grade rank second to last among corresponding students of 57 countries in terms of their sense of school belonging, with the percentage of students having a weak sense of school belonging being approximately 1.75 times higher than the international average. The same report indicates that the sense of school belonging of Taiwanese students in eighth grade ranks fourth to last among 39 countries (Chang, 2021). In summary, sense of school belonging is a highly valued factor at all educational levels. According to recent survey data from TIMSS 2019 and PISA 2022, Taiwanese students in elementary and secondary schools subjectively perceive their sense of school belonging as weak, raising major concerns among educators. University is a critical period for career exploration and self-integration during which students face challenges that differ from those they encounter in elementary and secondary school, and these challenges mean an increase likelihood of burnout (Lin & Huang, 2014; Robins et al., 2018). As a result of the current knowledge-based economy, university student dropout rates and students' insufficient inner resources typically have negative effects on career development and international competitiveness (Sosu & Pheunpha, 2019). Various Taiwanese media outlets have reported a trend of record-high dropout rates among university students, and societal criticism is being levelled at higher education because of deteriorating quality. To solve this problem, the Ministry of Education has started encouraging universities to implement dropout prevention and counseling programs (Fan et al., 2022). To the best of our knowledge, no longitudinal studies have yet drawn causal inferences between academic burnout and dropout or withdrawal in Taiwan. According to Western studies, academic burnout is an essential factor in the path toward dropout or withdrawal intention. When university students experience academic burnout, their focus and academic performance are poor (May et al., 2015), and they become more likely to experience learning-related fatigue, which includes psychological detachment, exhaustion, cognitive impairment, and emotional depletion (Schaufeli et al., 2020). This fatigue negatively affects their psychological well-being (Rehman et al., 2020) and makes it more likely they will drop out of their studies (Marôco et al., 2020), which would negatively affect their learning process and quality of life. Many Western studies have indicated that sense of belonging positively correlates with academic achievement (Pittman & Richmond, 2007), psychological health (Moeller et al., 2020), and life satisfaction (Civitci, 2015; Suhlmann et al., 2018) in university students. According to the perfectionism social disconnection model (Hewitt et al., 2006), perfectionists strive to achieve a perfect image by avoiding the negative effects of social evaluation and establishing social connections. However, because of their sensitivity in interpersonal interactions, perfectionists are usually reluctant to present their true selves or struggle to develop a sense of belonging because of their excessive pursuit of achievement. The resulting alienation can easily lead to psychological distress (Magson et al., 2019). Lim et al. (2021) argued that loneliness originates from the universal human need for belonging and that loneliness and belonging are not binary opposites but rather a spectrum that reflects varying degrees of social connectedness. Pillow et al. (2015) conducted a study with 869 American university students and discovered that, after the shared variance between control and belonging was controlled for, the need for belonging moderately correlated with loneliness. Therefore, fostering a sense of school belonging may significantly contribute to alleviation of the psychological detachment associated with academic burnout (Allen et al., 2018). Dopmeijer et al. (2022) argued that fostering a sense of belonging in university students can prevent their academic burnout and enhance their ability to adapt. Multiple studies have reported a negative correlation between social support and academic burnout (Rehman et al., 2020; Zhang et al., 2021). Recent studies have also revealed a relationship between sense of school belonging and academic burnout (Dopmeijer et al., 2022). Slaten et al. (2018) reported a strong correlation between social support and sense of belonging. Social support refers to an individual's perception or receipt of care or assistance from significant others (family, school, or peers). As a concept, sense of school belonging was first defined by Goodenow and Grady (1993) as "the extent to which students feel cared for, accepted, included, respected, and supported in the school environment." This definition includes the key aspects of school support. According to Hoffman et al. (2002) and Slaten et al. (2018), unlike social support, sense of school belonging refers to the broader environmental characteristics of the school microsystem and is influenced by various school environmental factors. Of these factors, peer, teacher, or school support is often regarded an essential component of students' sense of school belonging. In addition to social relationships, this concept has complex and diverse components, such as classroom comfort, positive teacher-student relationships, a sense of university belonging, trust in the university, psychological safety, harmonious communication between faculty and staff, respect for diversity, and an emphasis on cultural inclusivity (Riley, 2017). In ecological contexts, the connotations of sense of school belonging are richer than those of social support at school and closely related to students' well-being, academic performance, and physical health (Allen et al., 2018; Arslan et al., 2020). In university settings, which emphasize independence and autonomy while valuing social connections, sense of belonging should be prioritized in school governance (Allen et al., 2021). Aker and Şahin (2022) reported that fostering a sense of school belonging effectively mitigates school burnout in medical students. In their meta-analysis, Allen et al. (2018) discovered that sense of school belonging affected students' academic achievement and moderated their academic burnout. Heider (2021) indicated that remote learning resulted in a weak sense of belonging among students, which subsequently led to feelings of loneliness and burnout. In the present study, we expanded the findings of Dopmeijer et al. (2022) by exploring the relationships between sense of school belonging, perfectionism (perfectionistic strivings and concerns), life satisfaction, and academic burnout. We also examined the role played by the sense of school belonging of Taiwanese university students in this association. A total of 554 Taiwanese university students were included in the study. Evaluations were conducted using the Perfectionism Scale, School Belonging Scale, Academic Burnout Scale, and Satisfaction with Life Scale as research instruments. Descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlation analysis, and structural equation modeling were used for data analysis. Bootstrapping was performed to test the significance of the mediating effects. The results indicated that perfectionistic striving was significantly negatively correlated with exhaustion, mental distance, and cognitive impairment but significantly positively correlated with school belonging and life satisfaction. By contrast, perfectionistic concern was significantly positively correlated with exhaustion, mental distance, cognitive impairment, and emotional impairment but significantly negatively correlated with life satisfaction and school belonging. School belonging mediated the relationship of perfectionistic striving with exhaustion and emotional impairment and the relationship of perfectionistic striving with life satisfaction. Similarly, school belonging played a mediating role in the relationships of perfectionistic concerns with exhaustion, emotional impairment, and life satisfaction. Overall, school belonging predicted a low level of academic burnout and a high level of life satisfaction. Given the aforementioned findings, this study offers suggestions for future research. First, the negative effects of perfectionistic concerns on the lives of university students and the positive effects of sense of belonging must be recognized. Second, the importance of perfectionistic striving with a sense of belonging for university students should be acknowledged to achieve positive results. Third, a sense of school belonging should be fostered to effectively mitigate academic burnout and enhance ongoing educational engagement. Fourth, the role of sense of school belonging in the lives of university students should be emphasized. University educators should develop a deeper understanding of the key functions of school belonging and actively collaborate to nurture it. This approach can enable university students to fully appreciate supportive campus environments, which can in turn promote positive evaluations and outlooks on their educational journey, ultimately leading to rewarding and dynamic university experiences.