Liu Kaihua, Teresita Lasam
ABSTRACT
With the implementation of China’s national strategy to build an education and sports powerhouse, the cultivation of sports professionals has become increasingly important. College students majoring in physical education, martial arts, and traditional ethnic sports play a crucial role as future physical education teachers and professional guides in promoting public health and the development of a healthy China. However, these students often face challenges related to limited social support, insufficient psychological capital, and learning burnout, which may hinder their academic development and professional preparation. Guided by resource conservation theory, this study examined the levels of social support, psychological capital, and learning burnout, as well as their relationships and demographic differences, among sports major college students. Using a quantitative, descriptive–correlational design, data were collected from 406 undergraduate students at Jishou University through standardized questionnaires. The results showed that participants reported a high level of social support, relatively high psychological capital, and a moderate level of learning burnout. Significant gender differences were found in overall social support and its dimensions, as well as in self-efficacy, low mood, and low sense of achievement. Grade-level differences were observed in overall psychological capital, self-efficacy, optimism, overall learning burnout, and improper behavior, while no significant differences were found across professional categories. Moreover, social support was significantly and positively correlated with psychological capital and significantly and negatively correlated with learning burnout. These findings underscore the importance of social support as a key external resource linked to enhanced psychological capital and reduced learning burnout among sports major college students. The results provide empirical evidence to support targeted educational, psychological, and institutional interventions aimed at improving students’ psychological well-being and academic engagement in the context of sports talent cultivation.
Keywords: Social support, psychological capital, learning burnout, physical education students
https://doi.org/10.57180/dlie9473