The Measurement and Influence of Colleges’ Academic Involution

Abstract: Academic involution may harm the cultivation and development of college students, but there has not been a reliable measurement tool to assess it. This paper developed a Colleges’Academic Involution Scale (CAIS) and examined its reliability and validity with 3 studies. Study 1 generated a 31-item pool based on literature review, daily cases, and interview, and filtered items based on a 338-undergraduate sample. Study 2 confirmed a 16-item final version CAIS, which consisted of three dimensions: unwilling hardworking, excessive competition, and surface learning, based on a large sample (N = 3000) and an independent sample (N = 571). Based on the 3000-undergraduate sample, more than 60% of college students are involved in academic involution. Specifically, individuals with high scores in the CAIS showed stronger zero-sum belief, higher trait anxiety, lower life satisfaction, and poorer sleep quality, but not greater creative potential. Study 3 revealed that the test-retest reliability of the final version scale reached 0.83 based on a new sample (N = 99). The CAIS could be a reliable and effective tool for future research exploring harms, causes, and ways to mitigate academic involution.