This study examined the effect of socially prescribed perfectionism on dropout intention among university students through the mediating role of academic burnout and investigated the moderated mediation effect of grit in this relationship. A survey was conducted with university students to measure socially prescribed perfectionism, academic burnout, dropout intention, and grit. The collected data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics 23 and the PROCESS macro. Descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, and correlation analysis were conducted, and PROCESS Macro Models 4 and 7 were applied to test the mediating effect of academic burnout and the moderated mediation effect of grit.
The results showed that socially prescribed perfectionism was positively correlated with academic burnout and dropout intention, whereas grit was negatively correlated with these variables. Academic burnout mediated the relationship between socially prescribed perfectionism and dropout intention. In addition, grit moderated the relationship between socially prescribed perfectionism and academic burnout, and the indirect effect of socially prescribed perfectionism on dropout intention through academic burnout varied depending on the level of grit, indicating a significant moderated mediation effect.
These findings suggest that academic burnout plays an important mediating role in the relationship between socially prescribed perfectionism and dropout intention among university students. Furthermore, grit, typically considered a positive personal trait, may intensify psychological burden under certain conditions. This study provides implications for understanding university students’ academic adjustment and offers basic data for developing psychological interventions to prevent academic burnout and support academic persistence.