Artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chatbots promised to streamline administrative tasks and offer just-in-time support within higher education institutions. However, many existing chatbots prioritised simple information delivery over the cultivation of deeper student engagement and intrinsic motivation. This paper argued that Self-Determination Theory (SDT), a prominent framework for understanding motivation, offered a robust model for designing chatbots that went beyond passive answering to become active facilitators of student agency. SDT emphasised three core psychological needs: autonomy, competence, and relatedness. This paper explored how the intentional integration of these needs into chatbot design could transform administrative support interactions into opportunities to empower students as self-directed learners.

Nursing graduates in the Philippines are presented with many professional paths, collectively forming a complicated web. This descriptive exploratory study confronted the realities of financial stability with the interest of individuals in combining their love for patient care with their job choice motivation. Twelve separate interviews were undertaken, with an average duration of 45 minutes. The student accounts distinguished intrinsic and extrinsic reasons for career choices (e.g., altruism, sense of purpose, caring, and helping others) (e.g., workload, salary, career aspirations, and work–life balance). By focusing on the initial career aspirations and future practice settings considered by nursing students in the Philippines, this study sheds light on the interplay between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and cultural values that influence their early career decision-making process. Although practical factors such as job stability and familial obligations are substantial, the drive frequently originates from Filipino cultural values such as pag-aalaga (nurturance), pakikisama (togetherness), pagkalinga (caring), and pakikiisa (communion).

ABSTRACT This study surveyed Chinese early childhood teaching and research officers, who are personnel specialising in teaching, research and guidance services within the early childhood education system. Using interviews and questionnaires and drawing on an ‘onion’ model which structured traits into hierarchical concentric circles, we built a theoretical competency model incorporating intrinsic motivation, professionalism, teaching guidance, research leadership, and coordination and innovation. This model demonstrated good reliability and validity. Then, descriptive statistics and latent profile analysis were used to examine the competencies of 634 teaching and research officers. The results revealed that these teaching and research officers generally perceived their competency at a medium level. Four latent profiles were identified, showing low, middle, upper-middle and high competency. Teaching and research officers with more preschool work experience or a relevant professional background were more likely to demonstrate higher-level competency. These findings provide theoretical insights into the competency structure of teaching and research officers and offer practical implications for enhancing systems of support for early childhood educators.

Physicians' preferences for financial and non-financial incentives significantly influence their job satisfaction and career choices. A comprehensive understanding of these preferences can aid in the optimisation of incentive policies. While prior studies have examined these preferences using discrete choice experiments (DCEs), the effects of intrinsic motivations, such as altruism and job satisfaction, on incentive responsiveness remain poorly understood. Understanding this heterogeneity is essential for designing incentive policies that are effective and tailored to the healthcare context in China. This study aimed to assess how physicians' altruism and job satisfaction shape their preferences for financial and non-financial incentives. This study employed a DCE methodology and surveyed 886 physicians from urban tertiary hospitals. The DCE design was based on a comprehensive literature review and focus group interviews, assessing physicians' preferences regarding attributes such as work environment, workload, career development opportunities and career identity. Mixed logit models were used to estimate the willingness to pay for each attribute and analyse heterogeneity across subgroups based on levels of altruism and job satisfaction. Financial incentives were the most important factor for physicians, followed by attributes such as work atmosphere and workload. On average, physicians expressed a willingness to sacrifice 4859.035 ¥ for an improved work atmosphere and 4335.008 ¥ in exchange for reduced workload. Subgroup analysis showed that physicians with low- and medium-altruism prioritised improvements related to working conditions, while those with high-altruism placed greater emphasis on intrinsic career development and career identity. Furthermore, physicians reporting low-job satisfaction demonstrated heightened sensitivity to both financial and non-financial incentives, whereas those with high-job satisfaction showed weaker preference for financial incentives and greater preference for improvements in work atmosphere (β=1.002) and work environment (β=0.876). The findings highlight the need to align incentive policies with physicians' intrinsic motivations and current job satisfaction. Financial incentives remain a key driver of job preferences. Non-financial factors, including improvements in the work atmosphere, work environment, workload, career development and professional identity, also play an important role in supporting physicians' job satisfaction and retention. Considering differences in altruism and job satisfaction can help healthcare institutions and policymakers develop more targeted and context-specific incentive strategies.

Intrinsic motivation encourages engagement in professional tasks, driven by personal interest, internal satisfaction, and a sense of purpose rather than external rewards or pressures. In the teaching profession, intrinsically motivated teachers are more likely to demonstrate creativity, resilience, and commitment to student success, as they perceive fulfillment from the act of teaching itself. This qualitative exploration focused on understanding intrinsic motivation, particularly altruistic values, among teacher education instructors. College teachers (n=19) were sampled to be interviewed about their altruistic motives and how they work towards quality education. The findings revealed that teacher education instructors were primarily driven by intrinsic motivation rooted in moral responsibility, personal fulfillment, and a commitment to lifelong learning. This internal drive translated into active engagement in professional development, research, and the consistent implementation of inclusive, equity-oriented teaching strategies. Teachers expressed a strong sense of purpose in their work, often describing teaching as a moral obligation to contribute to the development of future citizens. The study showed that intrinsically motivated teachers demonstrated a higher tendency to adopt innovative and student-centered teaching practices. Their motivation was deeply linked with altruistic values and a desire to promote social transformation, which manifested in their relational approach to teaching, emphasizing empathy, care, and responsiveness to student needs. Consequently, the findings emphasized the need for systemic support, including reduced structural barriers and targeted training in care-based pedagogies, to sustain and enhance teachers’ intrinsic motivation and altruistic engagement in education.

Welcome to this second edition of Northumbria Psychology Bulletin which showcases the outstanding research conducted by our Psychology students at all levels, both on campus and remote. Having returned to Northumbria following a seventeen year absence, I am struck by the transformation of the research infrastructure and culture during the intervening period. This bulletin is a perfect example of that upward trajectory in Psychology research excellence. The quality of papers in this volume is a testament to the staff and students in the School of Psychology, as is the range of subject matter and methodologies. The papers in this issue include: a cross-sectional, quantitative investigation into the impact of gratitude writing; an examination of the influence of atypical sensory processing on autistic and ADHD traits; a qualitative exploration of the efficacy of online mental health interventions; and assessment of the effectiveness of a brief checklist for mitigating attentional blindness in radiology. Taken together, these papers reflect both the methodological breadth and the applied aspects of our Psychology degrees. Each study also has clear benefits with respect to impact on, and engagement with, relevant communities. To echo the editorial from Volume 1 of this series, it is particularly impressive that this bulletin exists because of continued student engagement beyond the degree. While there are institutional benefits from distinguishing our students with respect to research track record, clearly this bulletin stems from the intrinsic personal motivation to take self-initiated research ideas through to publication. I am sure that this volume will stimulate and engage readers and form part of a highly successful series.

The Takaful industry in Malaysia continues to face a persistent challenge: high turnover rates among Takaful agents, which disrupt business continuity, weaken customer trust, and hinder long-term institutional growth. Despite the industry’s rapid expansion, many agents struggle to sustain their careers due to intense competition, emotional pressure, unstable income structures, and the increasing complexity of Shariah-compliant financial services. These issues highlight a critical gap in understanding what enables Takaful agents to remain resilient and committed in a demanding and evolving marketplace. To address this gap, this qualitative study explores the lived experiences, challenges, and coping strategies of industry practitioners through in-depth interviews with 12 participants from diverse levels of involvement in the Takaful ecosystem. The participants, aged between their late twenties and mid-forties with three to fifteen years of experience, provided rich insights into the social, psychological, and organisational factors that shape agent sustainability. Using an interpretive approach, the study moves beyond prior research that relied predominantly on quantitative surveys and offers a more nuanced understanding of the dynamics influencing long-term career continuity. The findings reveal that sustaining Takaful agents requires a multifaceted approach that includes continuous human capital development, a balanced system of intrinsic and extrinsic motivators, and the psychological resilience needed to manage workplace stress. Islamic Work Ethics, particularly honesty, accountability, social responsibility, and ethical commitment, emerge as essential pillars of long-term professional sustainability. Grounded in Human Capital Theory and Self-Determination Theory, this study contributes theoretical refinement and offers practical insights for agency managers, training academies, and policymakers seeking to strengthen workforce stability and retention in the Islamic insurance sector.

Background and purpose Game-based learning has become an increasingly popular pedagogical approach in physical education, particularly in the context of early childhood football. This strategy is believed to be able to increase the tactical awareness of young players through a contextual, fun, and meaningful gaming experience. This study aims to systematically review various studies that examine the effectiveness of game-based learning strategies in improving the tactical understanding of young football players. A mixed-methods approach is used to integrate quantitative and qualitative findings from a variety of relevant sources. Material and methods This study selected scientific articles from Scopus, PubMed, and Google Scholar databases, with inclusion criteria in the form of publications in the last 10 years, focusing on participants aged 10–18 years, and involving a game-based intervention. Results From the results of the initial selection of 74 articles, a total of 21 studies met the criteria and were further analyzed. The results show that methods such as Teaching Games for Understanding, small-sided games, and conditioned games are consistently able to improve tactical understanding, decision-making, and active involvement of young players in training. In addition, this approach also supports the social development and intrinsic motivation of the participants. Conclusions Game-based learning strategies are effective in increasing tactical awareness and should be integrated into the early childhood coaching curriculum. Advanced research is recommended to explore its long-term implementation and adaptation to different cultural contexts.

Background Against the backdrop of rapid advancements in artificial intelligence and information technology, engineering university students face complex learning challenges. However, existing tools for measuring their intrinsic motivation—a crucial driver of learning—often lack cultural adaptability in the Chinese context, and systematic intervention strategies are scarce. Methods Based on Self-Determination Theory and the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory, we developed and locally adapted the Chinese College Student’s Intrinsic Motivation Learning Questionnaire (CIMLQ), removing the less applicable “Relatedness” dimension. The final 30-item instrument covers six dimensions: Interest/Enjoyment, Perceived Competence, Effort, Pressure/Tension, Perceived Choice, and Value/Usefulness. Its reliability and validity were tested with 450 engineering students. Subsequently, a 19-week randomized controlled trial ( N = 600) was conducted, comparing an experimental group receiving multidimensional motivation strategies (e.g., goal contracting, choice provision) with a control group under conventional instruction. Results Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses demonstrated good structural validity (cumulative variance explained: 66.13%) and internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = 0.829–0.891). The teaching experiment revealed that the experimental group showed a significantly higher post-intervention intrinsic motivation score (119.20 vs. 97.81, * p * < 0.001, a 21.8% increase) and better academic performance (80.10 vs. 76.57, * p * = 0.001) compared to the control group. Conclusion The CIMLQ proves to be a reliable and valid measure for assessing intrinsic motivation among Chinese engineering students. The findings provide empirical evidence that structured instructional interventions, designed based on the CIMLQ dimensions, can effectively enhance both intrinsic motivation and academic outcomes. This study offers a practical framework for fostering self-directed learning capabilities that are essential for adapting to evolving educational environments.

Organizational climate plays a crucial role in shaping employee work engagement, particularly in non-profit institutions, such as universities, where limited resources necessitate strategic human resource management. This study investigated how various dimensions of organizational climate, such as leadership, employee relations, organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and employee motivation, affected work engagement among 272 employees at a university in Bandung, Indonesia. Using simple and multiple regression analyses, the results show that, while all five dimensions significantly influence work engagement when tested individually, only organizational commitment and employee motivation remain strong predictors when examined together. These findings indicate that internal factors, such as employees’ emotional attachment to their organization and intrinsic motivation, play a more decisive role in fostering engagement than structural or relational factors. The results also extend the Social Exchange Theory by highlighting that reciprocal relationships between organizational support and employee dedication are primarily strengthened through mechanisms of commitment and motivation. From a practical perspective, this study highlights the importance of human resource strategies that foster internal motivation and enhance organizational commitment. These include implementing transparent reward systems, providing career development opportunities, and recognizing employee contributions. Such initiatives can help universities create a more supportive and engaging work environment, despite resource limitations. Overall, this study adds to the literature on organizational climate by identifying the most influential factors for building and sustaining work engagement within education institutions, offering both theoretical insights and actionable implications for HR practitioners.

This study investigates the mediating roles of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in the relationship between digital technology use and mathematics achievement during the learning process. The research was conducted using a relational survey model and involved 420 fifth-grade students selected through convenience sampling. Data was collected using two instruments: the Digital Technology Use in Mathematics Learning Process Scale and the Mathematics Course Motivation Scale. Two separate mediation models were tested using the bootstrap method to analyze the mediating effects of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. The findings indicated that the use of digital technology in mathematics education significantly and positively influenced both intrinsic (β = .21, p < .001) and extrinsic motivation (β = .10, p < .05). Furthermore, intrinsic motivation was found to significantly and positively predict mathematics achievement (β = .16, p < .001), whereas extrinsic motivation had a significant negative effect on achievement (β = –.30, p < .001). Path analysis results suggested that both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation acted as indirect mediators in the relationship between digital technology use and mathematics achievement. This means that the impact of digital technology on achievement occurs indirectly through motivational processes. While digital technology enhances students' intrinsic motivation and positively contributes to their mathematics achievement, extrinsic motivation may have a negative impact. Based on these findings, it is recommended that strategies supporting intrinsic motivation be prioritized in digital learning environments. Additionally, the use of extrinsic rewards should be approached with caution and moderation.

The shortage of qualified social workers in Latvia is a persistent challenge that affects the quality, accessibility and sustainability of municipal social services. This study investigates the factors influencing attraction to the profession, motivation within it, and retention of social workers, social work students, and young people considering entering the profession. A mixed-methods approach was employed, combining quantitative surveys of 58 social work students and 197 municipal social workers, two expert interviews, and a focus group of tenth-grade students. The quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, t-tests, ANOVA and Spearman's correlations, while the qualitative data were examined through thematic analysis using Braun and Clarke's (2006) framework. The results suggest that intrinsic motivation is high across all groups, but that extrinsic challenges such as low salaries, emotional strain, burnout and a lack of career progression impede long-term retention. Generational differences were evident, with Generation Z prioritising flexibility and development opportunities more than older cohorts (Chillakuri, 2020; Kirchmayer, 2018). The profession's feminised public image and lack of awareness among young people further hinder recruitment, which is consistent with findings in other European countries (Galley, 2024; Hanlon, 2022). The study concludes with policy and organisational recommendations targeted at municipalities, national authorities and educational institutions, with the aim of improving workforce sustainability. These include salary reform, structured onboarding, enhanced psychological support, leadership development, targeted campaigns to attract men, and strengthened collaboration between schools and social service providers.

Background: Video games have emerged as a significant field of study in psychology, particularly in understanding human motivation. Self-Determination Theory (SDT) posits that human motivation is driven by three basic psychological needs: autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Objective: To examine how the basic psychological needs outlined by Self-Determination Theory—autonomy, competence, and relatedness—are fulfilled through the design of Dark Souls and the interactions within its online communities. Method: This study employed an exploratory qualitative approach, utilizing content analysis of comments from Dark Souls-related subreddits. A total of 82 comments were analyzed, focusing on themes related to autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Ethical considerations were addressed by ensuring the anonymity of users and focusing on publicly available data. Result: The findings confirm and extend previous research on Self-Determination Theory, showing that Dark Souls uniquely fulfills the psychological needs of competence, autonomy, and relatedness. Its design, normalizing failure and rewarding perseverance, promotes intrinsic motivation and resilience, while online community interactions strengthen belonging and emotional support. These results suggest that challenging games combining meaningful choices with social engagement can foster both intrinsic motivation and emotional well-being, offering valuable insights for academic research and game design. Conclusion: This study reaffirms the relevance of Self-Determination Theory in explaining how challenging games like Dark Souls satisfy players’ basic psychological needs. Future research should examine how these dynamics operate in other gaming genres and cultural contexts and explore their application in educational and therapeutic settings.

Previous studies have reported inconsistent findings regarding the role of organizational commitment in explaining the relationship between perceived organizational support, employee engagement, and turnover intention, particularly in public service organizations. This study examines the influence of perceived organizational support on employee engagement and turnover intention at the Yogyakarta Central Post Office, while testing organizational commitment as a mediating variable. A quantitative survey was conducted with 50 respondents, and the data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares (PLS). The results show that perceived organizational support has a significant positive effect on employee engagement and organizational commitment, and a significant negative effect on turnover intention. However, the bootstrapping results for the indirect paths indicate that organizational commitment does not significantly mediate the relationship between perceived organizational support and either employee engagement or turnover intention, so the mediation hypothesis is not supported. These findings indicate that perceived organizational support plays a direct role in enhancing employee engagement and reducing turnover intention, while suggesting that other factors such as job satisfaction, intrinsic motivation, and leadership style may also influence employees’ decisions to remain with or leave the organization.

Cognitive effort (i.e., the mobilization of mental resources for task performance) is essential to equality of opportunity and meritocracy because it epitomizes individual agency. However, sociological theories of social inequality in effort are scarce and partial, and available empirical measures of effort are unreliable and lack validity. We fill this lacuna by (1) elaborating a theoretical account of how socioeconomic status (SES) affects children’s cognitive effort, (2) developing a novel research design for measuring effort using simple-yet-demanding behavioral tasks and varying incentive conditions, and (3) presenting evidence based on this laboratory design featuring 1,360 5th-grade students. We theorize that greater material abundance and lower environmental threat reduce the subjective costs of exerting effort for higher-SES children, and that parental socialization emphasizing autonomy gives them more intrinsic motivation compared to lower-SES children. Conversely, we posit that the effort of lower-SES children is more susceptible to material and status rewards. Supporting our expectations, we find that social origin effects on effort are largest when incentives are absent, yet decrease notably when material incentives are introduced. Albeit surprisingly modest and malleable, social origin effects on effort challenge voluntaristic notions of individual agency. Crucially though, providing tangible performance rewards can significantly narrow socioeconomic disparities in effort.

This study investigates intrinsic and extrinsic motivation among university students, focusing on how these types of motivation are shaped by a complex interaction of health, lifestyle, emotional, and psychological factors. Data were collected through an online questionnaire from 406 first- and second-year students across various universities in Lithuania, assessing their physical health indicators, lifestyle habits, personality traits, and emotional intelligence. The study was conducted from October 13, 2022 to April 17, 2023. Depression was the strongest predictor of motivation outcomes. Higher depression levels were associated with increased amotivation (β = 0.241, 95% CI: 0.148-0.334, p < .001) and decreased intrinsic motivation (β = -0.203, 95% CI: -0.286 to - 0.121, p < .001). Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) was positively related to amotivation (β = 0.179, 95% CI: 0.072-0.285, p = .001), while higher math achievement predicted less amotivation (β = -0.121, 95% CI: -0.225 to - 0.018, p = .021). Intrinsic motivation was also influenced by higher self-esteem (β = 0.199, 95% CI: 0.071-0.277, p < .001). All other demographic, emotional, lifestyle, personality, sleep, and dietary factors were not significant. Depression was the strongest factor associated to academic motivation, leading to increased amotivation and decreased intrinsic motivation, while self-esteem, physical activity, and mathematics performance showed smaller but significant effects. Most demographic, lifestyle, emotional, personality, sleep, and dietary factors were unrelated to motivation. These results emphasize the importance of psychological well-being and academic support in boosting student motivation in higher education.

Introduction Sustained academic motivation is essential for the success and well-being of medical students. As students progress from pre-clinical to clinical training, the transition in learning environments is theorized to facilitate motivation internalisation, consistent with Self-Determination Theory (SDT). Unlike cross-sectional studies, a longitudinal approach allows tracking of individual changes over time, offering deeper insights into developmental trends. This study examined changes in academic motivation at the start of medical school, after pre-clinical training, and following two years of clinical training. Methods The Academic Motivation Scale (AMS) was administered to 292 students from a five-year undergraduate medical programme in Malaysia across three stages: entry, post pre-clinical, and after two years of clinical training. Three cohorts (2016–2018) were followed longitudinally over seven years (2016–2022). Analysis involved confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to validate AMS and assess reliability using composite reliability (CR), followed by repeated measures ANOVA to examine motivational changes. Results CFA confirmed the AMS as valid and reliable. At entry, students showed moderate to high extrinsic and intrinsic motivation with low amotivation. Amotivation rose from Year 1 (M = 6.64) to Year 3 (M = 8.51) and Year 5 (M = 10.27). Identified regulation remained high in Year 1 (M = 23.37) and Year 3 (M = 23.57) before declining in Year 5 (M = 22.47). External and introjected regulation peaked in Year 3 (M = 18.92, 19.42) then dropped or stabilized in Year 5. Intrinsic motivation declined steadily across all domains from Year 1 to Year 5 (all p < .05). Conclusion The decline in intrinsic motivation and rise in amotivation highlight challenges in sustaining motivation through medical training. These trends may impact academic performance, mental health, and professional growth, underscoring the need for curriculum adaptations, mentorship, and stress-reduction initiatives to better support students.

ABSTRACT This study investigates the associations between green human resource management (GHRM) practices and employees' eco‐friendly behavior (EEFB) within hospitality organizations. Drawing on social exchange theory (SET) and self‐determination theory (SDT), the research empirically tests a framework that incorporates organizational identification and environmental consciousness as parallel mediators and supervisory green support (SGS) as a contextual moderator. Data were collected from 385 hotel employees using a two‐wave time‐lagged survey design, and the model was analyzed with partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS‐SEM). The findings indicate that GHRM practices are positively associated with organizational identification and environmental consciousness. Among the mediating mechanisms, organizational identification significantly mediates the association between GHRM practices and eco‐friendly behavior, whereas environmental consciousness does not significantly mediate behavioral outcomes, consistent with the well‐documented gap between environmental attitudes and enacted behaviors in organizational settings. Furthermore, SGS exhibits a statistically significant moderation effect that attenuates the GHRM–EEFB association, indicating that higher levels of SGS are associated with a weaker positive link between formal GHRM practices and employees' discretionary eco‐friendly actions. Interpreted through SDT, this pattern is consistent with contexts in which supervisory “support” may be enacted or perceived as controlling rather than autonomy‐supportive, thereby dampening intrinsic motivation and weakening the behavioral impact of GHRM. Overall, the results highlight the greater behavioral salience of identity‐based mechanisms over awareness‐based mechanisms and underscore the importance of the perceived quality of supervisory enactment in shaping how organizational green signals translate into EEFB in service contexts.

Students’ learning problems are a complex phenomenon encompassing cognitive, affective, and spiritual dimensions, whereas conventional educational psychology approaches tend to emphasize cognitive and behavioral aspects, resulting in suboptimal integration of value-based and spiritual dimensions. This article aims to analyze the role of the Islamic Educational Psychology approach in addressing students’ learning problems through the integration of psychological, pedagogical, and Islamic value dimensions. The study employed a qualitative method with a systematic literature review approach of primary sources, including reputable journal articles, academic books, and scholarly works relevant to Islamic Educational Psychology. Data analysis techniques involved data reduction, thematic categorization, and conceptual synthesis. The findings indicate that the Islamic Educational Psychology approach can provide comprehensive solutions to students’ learning problems by strengthening intrinsic motivation, developing spiritual intelligence, cultivating moral character, and fostering humanistic educational relationships between educators and students. The study concludes that the Islamic Educational Psychology approach makes a significant contribution to creating a holistic and meaningful learning process, with implications for the importance of integrating Islamic Educational Psychology into instructional practices and educational policies to sustainably improve students’ learning quality.

BackgroundWhile Tai Chi Chuan (TCC) is widely recognized for its physical and mental health benefits, its mindful components are often overlooked in traditional training. Mindfulness-enhanced Tai Chi Chuan (MTCC) has been proposed to address this limitation, yet little research has explored its long-term impact on exercise motivation and physical fitness. This study extends previous findings by investigating the sustained effects of a 24-week MTCC intervention in improving physical and mental health outcomes among college students, with a focus on long-term sustainability and motivation maintenance that distinguishes it from our prior short-term research.MethodsA randomized controlled trial was conducted with 80 college students assigned to either an MTCC group or a traditional TCC group. Seventy-one participants completed the allocated intervention, while nine participants dropped out for personal reasons. No serious adverse events (SAEs) were reported. The MTCC program was delivered in two stages over 24 weekly sessions. The first stage introduced participants to mindfulness-enhanced Taiyi Mirrored-heart Chuan, emphasizing foundational postures and mindfulness principles. The second stage involved traditional TCC training to consolidate the skills and motivation gained during the first stage. Outcome measures, including exercise motivation, physical fitness, mindfulness and subjective well-being, were assessed pre- and post-intervention.ResultsRepeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated that participants in the MTCC group demonstrated significantly greater improvements in all measured outcomes compared to the traditional TCC group. Specifically, the 24-week intervention showed larger effect sizes in physical fitness (η2p = 0.224) compared to our prior study (η2p = 0.033–0.210), highlighting the value of long-term intervention.ConclusionThese findings highlight the long-term benefits of integrating mindfulness into TCC practice, particularly in fostering intrinsic motivation for physical activity and enhancing overall well-being. The study underscores the potential of MTCC as a sustainable intervention for promoting holistic health in college students and its applicability in educational and wellness settings.Clinical review registrationhttps://www.chictr.org.cn/, identifier ChiCTR2200058449.