The Influence of Harmonious and Obsessive Academic Passion on Student Well Being and Academic Performance The Meditating Role of Academic Engagement

Abstract

The present study examined the influence of harmonious and obsessive academic passion on student well-being and academic performance, with particular emphasis on the mediating role of academic engagement. A quantitative cross-sectional research design was employed, involving 405 university students from eight higher education institutions across Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Balochistan, Pakistan. Data were collected through a structured, self-administered online questionnaire distributed using Google Forms. Participation was voluntary, and informed consent was obtained from all respondents before data collection. The questionnaire measured harmonious academic passion, obsessive academic passion, academic engagement, student well-being, and academic performance using established measurement instruments. The collected responses were organized, screened, and analyzed using descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, Pearson correlation, multiple linear regression, and mediation analysis with bootstrapping. The findings demonstrated that harmonious academic passion (r = 0.51, p < 0.01) and obsessive academic passion (r = 0.28, p < 0.01) were positively and significantly associated with student well-being. Furthermore, harmonious academic passion (β = 0.41, p = 0.001) and obsessive academic passion (β = 0.18, p = 0.002) significantly predicted academic performance, with the regression model explaining 29% of its variance. Academic engagement also emerged as a significant predictor of student well-being (β = 0.49, p < 0.001) and academic performance (β = 0.37, p < 0.001). Mediation analysis further established that academic engagement significantly mediated the relationships of both forms of academic passion with student well-being and academic performance, as all bootstrapped confidence intervals excluded zero. Overall, the findings highlight the importance of academic passion and engagement in promoting students' psychological well-being and educational outcomes. The study contributes to the understanding of motivational mechanisms in higher education and suggests that universities should foster balanced academic motivation and meaningful student engagement to support both psychological and academic development.