Frontiers in psychology · 2026
Sense of purpose and perception of involution (Nei Juan): the role of actual-ideal self-discrepancy and future time perspective.
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Yang Guoliang, Wang Zhihua, Fang Miaoying, Wu Weijiong, Wang Ruiming
Аннотация
OBJECTIVE: The concurrent increase in "hollowed-heart" syndrome (which describes a state of purposelessness) and involution anxiety severely impairs the psychological development of contemporary Chinese undergraduates. From a de-involution perspective, this study aimed to examine the relationship between sense of purpose and perceived involution, and to explore the mediating role of actual-ideal self-discrepancy and the moderating effect of future time perspective in this association.
METHOD: A total of 747 Chinese undergraduates completed online and offline questionnaires measuring the four core psychological variables.
RESULTS: (1) Sense of purpose exerted a significant negative direct effect (β = -0.27, p < 0.001) on perceived involution; (2) Actual-ideal self-discrepancy partially mediated this negative relationship (indirect effect = -0.06, SE = 0.01, 95% CI [-0.08, -0.03]); (3) Future time perspective moderated the first-stage path of the indirect effect. Simple slope analyses showed that the sense of purpose-perceived involution association was significant at a low (M - 1SD) level of future time perspective (simple slope: β = -0.24, p < 0.001), but was not significant at a high (M + 1SD) level of future time perspective (simple slope: β = -0.02, p > 0.05), such that the mediating role of actual-ideal self-discrepancy was weaker among individuals with a higher future time perspective.
CONCLUSION: A stronger sense of purpose mitigates undergraduates' perceived involution by reducing actual-ideal self-discrepancy. Cultivating life purpose and future-oriented cognition may help alleviate undergraduates' involution anxiety. Based on self-discrepancy theory and socioemotional selectivity theory, these findings clarify the underlying mechanism of the involution perception and have practical implications for college mental health education and targeted stress interventions.
METHOD: A total of 747 Chinese undergraduates completed online and offline questionnaires measuring the four core psychological variables.
RESULTS: (1) Sense of purpose exerted a significant negative direct effect (β = -0.27, p < 0.001) on perceived involution; (2) Actual-ideal self-discrepancy partially mediated this negative relationship (indirect effect = -0.06, SE = 0.01, 95% CI [-0.08, -0.03]); (3) Future time perspective moderated the first-stage path of the indirect effect. Simple slope analyses showed that the sense of purpose-perceived involution association was significant at a low (M - 1SD) level of future time perspective (simple slope: β = -0.24, p < 0.001), but was not significant at a high (M + 1SD) level of future time perspective (simple slope: β = -0.02, p > 0.05), such that the mediating role of actual-ideal self-discrepancy was weaker among individuals with a higher future time perspective.
CONCLUSION: A stronger sense of purpose mitigates undergraduates' perceived involution by reducing actual-ideal self-discrepancy. Cultivating life purpose and future-oriented cognition may help alleviate undergraduates' involution anxiety. Based on self-discrepancy theory and socioemotional selectivity theory, these findings clarify the underlying mechanism of the involution perception and have practical implications for college mental health education and targeted stress interventions.