Perceptions of Neijuan Questionnaire – Chinese Version

Description

The term “内卷” (involution) was first introduced by anthropologist Geertz (1963) while explaining changes in the agricultural structure of Indonesia. It refers to an extensive economic growth model that relies solely on increasing inputs of production factors and expanding production scale, rather than seeking a transformation in production methods. This manifests as a retention of the original agricultural production model, shifting towards increasingly rigorous cultivation practices, while per capita production efficiency remains unchanged. As research areas have expanded, sociologists have further extended the concept of involution, defining similar social phenomena as “growth without development” (Huang, 2000; Huang, 2002). In summary, involution is closely related to the urgent survival pressures and development needs faced by humanity. Due to certain resource endowments (such as land and technology) having development limitations, continually increasing labor inputs lead to a refined and complicated production process, yet fail to change the effort-to-return ratio, resulting in losses without returns for individuals, demonstrated by diminishing marginal utility. From a sociological perspective, the involution of Chinese society reflects the impact of structural social changes on cultural development, such as the highly integrated evaluation system. This has triggered a shift in the social mindset of modern youth, leading to the emergence of the involution phenomenon (Qin & Dai, 2022). Furthermore, according to the Shared Reality Theory, individuals perceive common experiences within a group through interpersonal communication (Hardin & Higgins, 1996). The group’s shared perception of being “involved in involution” gradually evolves into a social atmosphere, causing individuals to feel strong pressure from involution and engage in involutionary behaviors (Wang, 2021).

Authors and Contact Email

Zhang Wen, Pan Chao, Yao Shiming et al.
Email: information not available

Purpose

The study aims to explore the individual psychological implications and characteristic dimensions of the “involution” phenomenon in Chinese society.

Test Year

2024

Administration Method and Scoring

A 7-point scale was used for the student sample, while a 5-point scale was applied for the employed sample. The total reliability of the questionnaire and the internal consistency reliability of its various factors (psychological pressure, social norms, competitive behavior, and resource scarcity) were measured.

Reliability and Validity

For the student sample, the total reliability and factor internal consistency were 0.75, 0.83, 0.85, 0.83, and 0.78, respectively. For the employed sample, the total reliability and factor reliability were 0.85, 0.73, 0.80, 0.89, and 0.86. All reliability scores exceeded 0.7, indicating a high internal consistency of the involution perception measurement questionnaire.

Factors and Subscales

– 心理压力 (Psychological Pressure)
– 社会规范 (Social Norms)
– 竞争行为 (Competitive Behavior)
– 资源稀缺 (Resource Scarcity)

Keywords

Involution, psychological implications, social structure, competition, resource scarcity

Items in Chinese

1. 在学习/工作中我感到充满精力。
2. 在学习/工作中我认为我在做自己真正喜欢的事情。
3. 学习/工作使我情绪低落。
4. 在学习/工作中我感到挫败。
5. 在学习/工作中我感觉到神经紧张或“快被压垮”。
6. 周围大多数人即使完成了最低任务要求, 还是会继续做出更多的工作量。
7. 周围大多数人已经习惯超额完成工作/学习任务。
8. 学习和工作中仅完成最低标准任务量是不够的, 大多数人会继续努力做得更多。
9. 周围大多数人通过付出比别人更多且过度的努力来表现自己对工作/学习的态度。
10. 我周围的人通过竞争变得杰出。
11. 我周围的人通过竞争可以获得良好的社会地位。
12. 我周围的人通过竞争得到了他人的认可。
13. 我周围的人通过竞争得到了多方面的锻炼。
14. 我周围的人都会努力争取每次竞争的胜利。
15. 我所处环境中的有限资源给我的人际关系带来了不利影响。
16. 我所处环境中的资源太少以至于我无法获得我应得到的回报。
17. 由于环境中可利用的资源不够, 我无法妥善处理重要的事情。
18. 与我所做的努力和付出相比, 我的生活本应该比现在更好。

Items in English

1. I feel energized in my studies/work.
2. In my studies/work, I think I am doing what I truly enjoy.
3. Studying/working makes me feel down.
4. I feel frustrated in my studies/work.
5. I feel nervous or “on the verge of being overwhelmed” at work/study.
6. Most people around me continue to do more work even after completing the minimum task requirements.
7. Most people around me have become accustomed to exceeding their work/study tasks.
8. Simply meeting the minimum standard for tasks in study and work is not enough; most people will continue to strive to do more.
9. Most people around me express their attitudes towards work/study by putting in more and excessive effort than others.
10. The people around me excel through competition.
11. The people around me can attain good social status through competition.
12. The people around me gain recognition from others through competition.
13. The people around me gain multifaceted exercise through competition.
14. People around me strive to win every competition.
15. The limited resources in my environment adversely affect my interpersonal relationships.
16. The resources in my environment are so scarce that I cannot obtain the rewards I’m entitled to.
17. Due to insufficient available resources, I cannot properly handle important matters.
18. My life should be better than it currently is compared to the efforts and contributions I’ve made.

References

Zhang Wen, Pan Chao, Yao Shiming et al. 中国社会中“内卷”现象的个体心理内涵及其特征维度[J]. 心理学报, 2024, 56(01): 107-123.