Frontiers in psychology · 2026
Academic motivation and burnout among Chinese doctoral students: the mediating role of academic resilience and the moderating role of perceived stress.
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Zhao Geng
Аннотация
BACKGROUND: Academic burnout is a persistent concern in doctoral education, but the associations among doctoral students' motivation, resilience, stress, and burnout may depend on how motivational resources operate under demanding conditions. Drawing on Self-Determination Theory and Conservation of Resources theory, this study examined whether academic resilience statistically mediated the association between academic motivation and academic burnout, and whether perceived stress moderated the motivation-resilience association.
METHODS: A cross-sectional online survey was completed by 525 currently enrolled doctoral students in China. Academic motivation was operationalized as a nine-item composite reflecting intrinsic interest, instrumental reasons for doctoral study, and clarity of purpose/low amotivation. Academic resilience, perceived stress, and academic burnout were assessed with context-adapted self-report measures. Regression models corresponding to PROCESS Models 4 and 7 were estimated with 5,000 bootstrap resamples while controlling for gender, training stage, discipline, and marital status.
RESULTS: Academic motivation was negatively associated with burnout (total effect B = -0.956, p < 0.001) and positively associated with resilience (B = 0.951, p < 0.001). Resilience was negatively associated with burnout after motivation was controlled (B = -0.446, p < 0.001), and the indirect association was significant [effect = -0.424, 95% bootstrap CI (-0.504, -0.344)]. The motivation × stress interaction was significant but opposite to the hypothesized attenuation pattern (B = 0.173, p < 0.001): the positive motivation-resilience association was stronger, not weaker, at higher perceived stress. The index of moderated mediation was -0.077, 95% bootstrap CI [-0.113, -0.043].
CONCLUSION: Stronger academic motivation and resilience were associated with lower reported burnout, and the indirect association through resilience was statistically significant. The motivation-resilience association also varied across levels of perceived stress, although the observed direction differed from the original hypothesis. Given the cross-sectional design, adapted self-report measures, and very high intercorrelations among the focal variables, these findings should be regarded as preliminary evidence of conditional associations rather than as evidence of a distinct psychological process.
METHODS: A cross-sectional online survey was completed by 525 currently enrolled doctoral students in China. Academic motivation was operationalized as a nine-item composite reflecting intrinsic interest, instrumental reasons for doctoral study, and clarity of purpose/low amotivation. Academic resilience, perceived stress, and academic burnout were assessed with context-adapted self-report measures. Regression models corresponding to PROCESS Models 4 and 7 were estimated with 5,000 bootstrap resamples while controlling for gender, training stage, discipline, and marital status.
RESULTS: Academic motivation was negatively associated with burnout (total effect B = -0.956, p < 0.001) and positively associated with resilience (B = 0.951, p < 0.001). Resilience was negatively associated with burnout after motivation was controlled (B = -0.446, p < 0.001), and the indirect association was significant [effect = -0.424, 95% bootstrap CI (-0.504, -0.344)]. The motivation × stress interaction was significant but opposite to the hypothesized attenuation pattern (B = 0.173, p < 0.001): the positive motivation-resilience association was stronger, not weaker, at higher perceived stress. The index of moderated mediation was -0.077, 95% bootstrap CI [-0.113, -0.043].
CONCLUSION: Stronger academic motivation and resilience were associated with lower reported burnout, and the indirect association through resilience was statistically significant. The motivation-resilience association also varied across levels of perceived stress, although the observed direction differed from the original hypothesis. Given the cross-sectional design, adapted self-report measures, and very high intercorrelations among the focal variables, these findings should be regarded as preliminary evidence of conditional associations rather than as evidence of a distinct psychological process.