Achievement Need and Burnout in University Students: Serial Mediation by Resilience and Life Satisfaction

Abstract

This study aims to examine the mediational roles of resilience and life satisfaction in the relationship between students’ achievement need and their burnout. The research group of the study consists of 490 (85.7% female, 14.3% male) university students continuing their education in several programs at 6 universities across Turkey. Maslach Burnout Inventory – Student Form (MBI-SF), Life Satisfaction Scale, Connor Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC), New Needs Assessment Questionnaire (NAQ) – Achievement Need Sub-dimension, and Personal Information Form were used as data collection tools in the research. According to the findings obtained from the analysis, achievement need, resilience, and life satisfaction have positive and significant relationships with the efficacy dimension of burnout. On the other hand, achievement need, resilience, and life satisfaction have negative and significant relationships with cynicism and emotional exhaustion sub-dimensions of burnout. In the mediation analysis, it was observed that resilience and life satisfaction serially mediated the relationship between the achievement need and burnout (efficacy, cynicism, exhaustion). Based on these findings, interventions aimed at increasing students’ resilience and life satisfaction can be beneficial in preventing student burnout.