Development and Validation of an Academic Involution Tendency Questionnaire based on Factor Analysis and Network Analysis

Abstract

Academic involution tendency (AIT) is a psychological or behavioral tendency that college students with unclear career plans, driven by peer pressure, spend a lot of time and energy on learning but fail to obtain the limited resources to match their pay. Accurate measurement of AIT is pivotal for safeguarding students’ well-being and promoting comprehensive development. While prior research primarily addressed AIT’s motivational aspect, overlooking its emotional and cognitive dimensions. This study reframes AIT as a personality trait, offering a comprehensive definition spanning cognitive, motivational, and emotional aspects. Consequently, we developed the AIT-17—a 17-item instrument for measuring AIT. Through factor and network analyses, we establish a three-factor structure—career planning clarity, utilitarian learning, and negative learning experience—for AIT. Both the complete AIT-17 questionnaire and its sub-dimensions exhibit high internal consistency reliabilities. Additionally, we provide some criterion-related evidence supporting the AIT-17's validity as a reliable measure of AIT.