The mediating effect of motivational types in the relationship between perfectionism and academic burnout

Abstract This study examines the mediating role of motivation in the relationship between perfectionism and academic burnout in Korean undergraduates. To measure perfectionism, two types of scales (i.e., APS-R and HFMPS) were used. Also, five types of motivation (i.e., amotivation, external motivation, introjected motivation, identified motivation, and intrinsic motivation) were examined, distinctively. As a result, intrinsic motivation mediated the relationship between adaptive perfectionism, namely high standards and self-oriented perfectionism, and academic burnout. Identified motivation showed the same results as intrinsic motivation. That is, adaptive perfectionism was positively associated with greater levels of both intrinsic and identified motivation and, in turn, greater intrinsic (or identified) motivation was negatively associated with academic burnout. Meanwhile, there were mediated effects of amotivation in the relationship between maladaptive perfectionism (i.e., discrepancy and socially prescribed perfectionism) and academic burnout. Specifically, maladaptive perfectionism was positively related to greater level of amotivation and, in turn, greater amotivation was positively related with academic burnout. Lastly, introjected motivation only mediated the link between socially prescribed perfectionism and academic burnout. The practical implications were discussed.