Factors affecting study-related burnout among Finnish university students: teaching-learning environment, achievement motivation and the meaning of life

Abstract

This study of a large sample (n = 3035) examined relationships between study-related burnout and components of the teaching-learning environment, achievement motivation and the perceived meaning of life. The overall model, tested with structural equation modelling, revealed that the factor of the teaching-learning environment correlated with both student conceptions of perceived proper workload and achievement motivation. No direct relationship between university students’ conceptions of the teaching-learning environment and burnout was found. In addition, the relation between workload and burnout was minor. Achievement motivation mediates student perceptions of the teaching-learning environment (as well as the perceived workload and the meaning of life). This finding stresses the meaning of teachers’ daily pedagogical decisions. Those are essential for students’ positive perceptions that in turn support efficacy beliefs and increase motivation and, indirectly, well-being. This implication should be taken into account in further research concerning study-related burnout and in university teachers’ pedagogical training.