The Role of Existential Psychological Challenges in Chinese Adolescents’ School Aversion and Dropout and School Refusal Behavior

In order to explore how existential psychological crises impact school rejection and dropout rates among Chinese teenagers, a mixed-methods approach is employed. Surveys on existential crises, purpose in life, and motivation to study are distributed, with 295 valid responses collected for analysis. In-depth interviews are conducted to gather qualitative data, allowing the individual experiences and emotions of the students to be explored. Based on quantitative research results, it was found that in the regression analysis results, the existence of meaning and the meaning of life had an apparent positive effect on intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation. However, the sense of existence and the meaning of life had an obvious negative impact on motivation. Qualitative research findings suggested that the main reasons for teenagers to refuse school were academic pressure, family socioeconomic status, and school management policies, which led to certain doubts about their existence, significance, and value. This doubt led to a lack of intrinsic motivation and school refusal. Teenagers’ refusal to study or feeling life is meaningless is caused by both internal and external factors, like pressure from parents and society’s ignorance. The parents and education system should draw more attention to teenagers’ mental health and support adolescents comprehensively instead of overly focusing on academic performance.