Journal of Northeastern University(Social Science) ›› 2025, Vol. 27 ›› Issue (5): 149-158.DOI: 10.15936/j.cnki.1008-3758.2025.05.016

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How Does Psychological Anxiety Affect Doctoral Candidates’ Academic Ability and Academic Enthusiasm: Based on Conservation of Resources Theory

Zhen QU, Junyao TANG   

  1. School of Education,Renmin University of China,Beijing 100872,China
  • Received:2024-11-12 Online:2025-09-25 Published:2025-10-16

Abstract:

Psychological anxiety is a common psychological issue among doctoral candidates. However, the relationship between psychological anxiety and the cultivation quality of doctoral candidates remains unexplored. Based on the data from Nature’s 2019 global survey of doctoral candidates and grounded in the conservation of resources theory, the impact of psychological anxiety on doctoral candidates’ academic ability and academic enthusiasm is investigated. The results show that psychological anxiety has a significant negative effect on both academic ability and academic enthusiasm, which increases with the increase of anxiety level; psychological anxiety hinders the development of academic ability by weakening research investment and suppresses academic enthusiasm by reducing the satisfaction of pursuing doctoral degrees. The impact of psychological anxiety varies contingently on doctoral candidates’ levels of academic ability and academic enthusiasm, and multidimensional support provided by supervisors and schools can effectively alleviate its negative effect. Early intervention, improved training environments, and enhanced academic and emotional support from supervisors are essential to improving the overall quality of doctoral education.

Key words: psychological anxiety, doctoral education, academic ability, academic enthusiasm, conservation of resources theory

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