Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine whether achievement goal orientation, defined as performance approach and avoidance goals, and academic helplessness have a dual mediating effect on the effect of Chinese international students’ fear of failure on academic delay behaviors. To this end, data was collected from 275 Chinese international students enrolled in domestic universities, a structural equation model was established using Mplus 7.0 and SPSS 21.0, and the significance of the indirect effects was analyzed using bootstrapping. The results of this study are as follows. First, the relationships between all variables except for the relationship between performance approach goals and academic helplessness were statistically significant. Second, the dual mediating effect of achievement goal orientation and academic helplessness had a statistically significant effect on the relationship between Chinese international students’ fear of failure and academic delay behaviors. Third, performance approach and avoidance goals both had discriminatory effects on academic helplessness and academic delay behaviors and all indirect paths that did not go through the academic helplessness variable did not have a statistically significant effect on the effect of Chinese international students’ fear of failure on academic delay behaviors. This result confirms that academic helplessness mediated the relationship between Chinese international students’ fear of failure and academic delay behaviors. Based on these results, counseling interventions should be provided in consideration of achievement goal orientation and academic lethargy when Chinese international students experience maladjustment due to academic delay behaviors.