ArticleFrontiers in psychology2026
Sense of purpose and perception of involution (
Article in Frontiers in psychology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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Abstract
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, 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.
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