Involution perception and problematic smartphone use among Chinese college students: the indirect role of anxiety and the pathway-specific moderating role of psychological resilience.

Background: Involution, or "Neijuan" in Chinese, has recently been operationalized as escalating and often irrational competition characterized by increased effort with diminishing returns. Although involution has become increasingly salient in Chinese higher education, little is known about its association with problematic smartphone use (PSU) among college students. Grounded in the Interaction of Person-Affect-Cognition-Execution (I-PACE) model and Conservation of Resources (COR) theory, this study examined whether anxiety mediated the association between involution perception and PSU, and whether psychological resilience moderated this indirect association. Given that resilience is typically viewed as a protective factor but may also facilitate sustained, instrumental engagement under pressure, this study explored its potential pathway-specific moderating roles. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 1,002 undergraduate students from a university in Guangzhou, China (573 female, 429 male; mean age = 20.10 years, SD = 1.35). Participants completed validated self-report measures assessing involution perception (encompassing psychological pressure, social norms, competitive behaviors, and resource scarcity), PSU, anxiety, and psychological resilience. A moderated mediation model (PROCESS Model 8) was tested with 5,000 bootstrap samples, controlling for age and gender. Results: Involution perception was positively associated with PSU and anxiety, while psychological resilience was negatively associated with all three variables. Anxiety significantly mediated the association between involution perception and PSU. Psychological resilience moderated both pathways, but in opposite directions. As hypothesized, the positive association between involution perception and anxiety was weaker at higher levels of resilience. However, the direct association between involution perception and PSU was significantly stronger at higher levels of resilience. Conclusion: The findings reveal a pathway-specific role of psychological resilience in the context of involution. While resilience buffers the emotional toll of competitive pressure by reducing anxiety, it simultaneously amplifies the direct behavioral reliance on smartphones, potentially reflecting sustained, high-intensity engagement in a demanding environment. This pathway-specific effect suggests that resilience is not a uniformly protective factor. The results underscore the utility of targeting anxiety to mitigate PSU and highlight the need for nuanced interventions that distinguish between reducing emotional distress and managing device-dependent coping patterns in competitive educational settings.