The Relationship between Self-esteem and School Burnout in College Students: Mediator Role of Intolerance of Uncertainty

Objective: In order to explore the relationships among explicit self-esteem, implicit self-esteem, intolerance of uncertainty and school burnout for college students in China. Methods: 165 college students are investigated with Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale, Self-esteem IAT, Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale and School Burnout Inventory. Results: (1) Correlation analysis show that, explicit self-esteem are negatively related to intolerance of uncertainty (r=-0.349, p<0.001) and school burnout (r=-0.383, p<0.001), intolerance of uncertainty is positively related to school burnout (r=0.449, p<0.001), implicit self-esteem is not related to explicit self-esteem, intolerance of uncertainty, and school burnout (p>0.05). (2) Hierarchical multiple regression analyses show that, intolerance of uncertainty partially mediates the effects of explicit self-esteem on school burnout (beta drops from -0.383 to -0.258). (3) The moderated mediator model analysis show that, the mediating effects of intolerance of uncertainty on the relationship between explicit self-esteem and school burnout is moderated by implicit self-esteem. Conclusion: Intolerance of uncertainty plays the mediating effect between explicit self-esteem and school burnout, but the mediating effect is moderated by implicit self-esteem.