Predictive Relationships among Reward Addiction - Punishment Sensitivity and Reward Addiction - School Burnout in Middle School

Abstract

Sensitivity to punishment and reward addiction in the academic context are considerably new areas of study. In recent years, the importance of school burnout has also increased. This study was conducted to identify the relationships between middle school students' reward addiction, sensitivity to punishment in the academic context and school burnout. Firstly, a scale of reward addiction in the academic context for middle school students was developed, and then, the relationships among reward addiction, sensitivity to punishment and school burnout were examined. The participants of the study were 741 students studying at five state middle schools in Eskisehir. The Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) analyses of the scale developed in the study showed that it had construct validity for two factors, and CFA analyses results indicated that they had reliable coefficients. To test the relationship between reward addiction and sensitivity to punishment, CFA and Path Analysis were conducted. According to the results, as the students' levels of reward addiction increased, their sensitivity to punishment also increased. The variable of reward addiction explained 60% of the variance in sensitivity to punishment. The Multiple Regression Analysis conducted to determine whether middle school students' reward addiction in the academic context predicts their levels of school burnout showed that reward addiction was a significant predictor of school burnout.