Since 2015, Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) surveys have revealed significant associations of students’ learning anxiety, learning motivation, bullying behavior, and well-being with their perceived sense of school belonging. In 2022, a PISA survey revealed a declining trend in the sense of school belonging among Taiwanese students in international schools; the school belonging index (standardized index) was found to be 0.01, which is close to the average of −0.02 outlined by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Taiwan still lags behind other East Asian countries

with resilient educational systems, such as the Republic of Korea and Japan, which have a school belonging index of 0.26 and

0.25, respectively (OECD, 2023). According to the 2019 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS 2019)

report, Taiwanese students in fourth grade rank second to last among corresponding students of 57 countries in terms of their

sense of school belonging, with the percentage of students having a weak sense of school belonging being approximately 1.75

times higher than the international average. The same report indicates that the sense of school belonging of Taiwanese students

in eighth grade ranks fourth to last among 39 countries (Chang, 2021). In summary, sense of school belonging is a highly

valued factor at all educational levels. According to recent survey data from TIMSS 2019 and PISA 2022, Taiwanese students in

elementary and secondary schools subjectively perceive their sense of school belonging as weak, raising major concerns among

educators.

University is a critical period for career exploration and self-integration during which students face challenges

that differ from those they encounter in elementary and secondary school, and these challenges mean an increase likelihood

of burnout (Lin & Huang, 2014; Robins et al., 2018). As a result of the current knowledge-based economy, university student

dropout rates and students’ insufficient inner resources typically have negative effects on career development and international

competitiveness (Sosu & Pheunpha, 2019). Various Taiwanese media outlets have reported a trend of record-high dropout rates

among university students, and societal criticism is being levelled at higher education because of deteriorating quality. To solve

this problem, the Ministry of Education has started encouraging universities to implement dropout prevention and counseling

programs (Fan et al., 2022).

To the best of our knowledge, no longitudinal studies have yet drawn causal inferences between academic burnout

and dropout or withdrawal in Taiwan. According to Western studies, academic burnout is an essential factor in the path toward

dropout or withdrawal intention. When university students experience academic burnout, their focus and academic performance

are poor (May et al., 2015), and they become more likely to experience learning-related fatigue, which includes psychological detachment, exhaustion, cognitive impairment, and emotional depletion (Schaufeli et al., 2020). This fatigue negatively affects

their psychological well-being (Rehman et al., 2020) and makes it more likely they will drop out of their studies (Marôco et al.,

2020), which would negatively affect their learning process and quality of life. Many Western studies have indicated that sense

of belonging positively correlates with academic achievement (Pittman & Richmond, 2007), psychological health (Moeller et

al., 2020), and life satisfaction (Civitci, 2015; Suhlmann et al., 2018) in university students.

According to the perfectionism social disconnection model (Hewitt et al., 2006), perfectionists strive to achieve a perfect

image by avoiding the negative effects of social evaluation and establishing social connections. However, because of their

sensitivity in interpersonal interactions, perfectionists are usually reluctant to present their true selves or struggle to develop a

sense of belonging because of their excessive pursuit of achievement. The resulting alienation can easily lead to psychological

distress (Magson et al., 2019). Lim et al. (2021) argued that loneliness originates from the universal human need for belonging

and that loneliness and belonging are not binary opposites but rather a spectrum that reflects varying degrees of social

connectedness. Pillow et al. (2015) conducted a study with 869 American university students and discovered that, after the

shared variance between control and belonging was controlled for, the need for belonging moderately correlated with loneliness.

Therefore, fostering a sense of school belonging may significantly contribute to alleviation of the psychological detachment

associated with academic burnout (Allen et al., 2018). Dopmeijer et al. (2022) argued that fostering a sense of belonging in

university students can prevent their academic burnout and enhance their ability to adapt.

Multiple studies have reported a negative correlation between social support and academic burnout (Rehman et al.,

2020; Zhang et al., 2021). Recent studies have also revealed a relationship between sense of school belonging and academic

burnout (Dopmeijer et al., 2022). Slaten et al. (2018) reported a strong correlation between social support and sense of

belonging. Social support refers to an individual’s perception or receipt of care or assistance from significant others (family,

school, or peers). As a concept, sense of school belonging was first defined by Goodenow and Grady (1993) as “the extent to

which students feel cared for, accepted, included, respected, and supported in the school environment.” This definition includes

the key aspects of school support. According to Hoffman et al. (2002) and Slaten et al. (2018), unlike social support, sense of

school belonging refers to the broader environmental characteristics of the school microsystem and is influenced by various

school environmental factors. Of these factors, peer, teacher, or school support is often regarded an essential component of

students’ sense of school belonging. In addition to social relationships, this concept has complex and diverse components,

such as classroom comfort, positive teacher–student relationships, a sense of university belonging, trust in the university,

psychological safety, harmonious communication between faculty and staff, respect for diversity, and an emphasis on cultural

inclusivity (Riley, 2017). In ecological contexts, the connotations of sense of school belonging are richer than those of social

support at school and closely related to students’ well-being, academic performance, and physical health (Allen et al., 2018;

Arslan et al., 2020). In university settings, which emphasize independence and autonomy while valuing social connections,

sense of belonging should be prioritized in school governance (Allen et al., 2021). Aker and Şahin (2022) reported that fostering

a sense of school belonging effectively mitigates school burnout in medical students. In their meta-analysis, Allen et al. (2018)

discovered that sense of school belonging affected students’ academic achievement and moderated their academic burnout.

Heider (2021) indicated that remote learning resulted in a weak sense of belonging among students, which subsequently led to

feelings of loneliness and burnout. In the present study, we expanded the findings of Dopmeijer et al. (2022) by exploring the

relationships between sense of school belonging, perfectionism (perfectionistic strivings and concerns), life satisfaction, and

academic burnout. We also examined the role played by the sense of school belonging of Taiwanese university students in this

association.

A total of 554 Taiwanese university students were included in the study. Evaluations were conducted using the

Perfectionism Scale, School Belonging Scale, Academic Burnout Scale, and Satisfaction with Life Scale as research

instruments. Descriptive statistics, Pearson’s correlation analysis, and structural equation modeling were used for data analysis.

Bootstrapping was performed to test the significance of the mediating effects. The results indicated that perfectionistic striving

was significantly negatively correlated with exhaustion, mental distance, and cognitive impairment but significantly positively

correlated with school belonging and life satisfaction. By contrast, perfectionistic concern was significantly positively correlated

with exhaustion, mental distance, cognitive impairment, and emotional impairment but significantly negatively correlated with

life satisfaction and school belonging. School belonging mediated the relationship of perfectionistic striving with exhaustion and 

emotional impairment and the relationship of perfectionistic striving with life satisfaction. Similarly, school belonging played a mediating role in the relationships of perfectionistic concerns with exhaustion, emotional impairment, and life satisfaction.Overall, school belonging predicted a low level of academic burnout and a high level of life satisfaction. Given the aforementioned findings, this study offers suggestions for future research. First, the negative effects of perfectionistic concerns on the lives of university students and the positive effects of sense of belonging must be recognized. Second, the importance of perfectionistic striving with a sense of belonging for university students should be acknowledged to achieve positive results. Third, a sense of school belonging should be fostered to effectively mitigate academic burnout and enhance ongoing educational engagement. Fourth, the role of sense of school belonging in the lives of university students should be emphasized. University educators should develop a deeper understanding of the key functions of school belonging and actively collaborate to nurture it. This approach can enable university students to fully appreciate supportive campus environments, which can in turn promote positive evaluations and outlooks on their educational journey, ultimately leading to rewarding and dynamic university experiences.