ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Educational Psychology
Effect of career calling on learning engagement among medical students: moderated chain mediation model
Xiaoguang Wu 1
Yafei Liu 2
Wenbin Wang 1
Siyu Di 3,1
1. Clinical College of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, China, Hefei, China
2. Xinjiang Education Institute, Urumqi, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China
3. Siyu, Shihezi, China
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Abstract
Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the effects of career calling on the learning engagement of medical students, as well as the psychological mechanisms of self-efficacy and achievement motivation in the relationship between them. Methods: The study used a convenience sampling method to select 1930 students from two undergraduate medical colleges in Anhui Province, China. The Career Calling Scale, Learning Engagement Scale, Achievement Motivation Scale, and Self-Efficacy Scale were used to conduct the survey. Results: The results of the study found that career calling significantly and positively predicted the learning engagement of medical students. In addition, achievement motivation and self-efficacy not only partially mediated the relationship between career calling and learning engagement, but also played a chain mediation role between them. Finally, there were significant gender differences in the above chain mediation model, and gender moderated the path from achievement motivation to learning engagement in the model. Conclusion: Self-efficacy and achievement motivation act as chain mediators between career calling and learning engagement of medical students, and this path is moderated by gender. This study provides theoretical guidance and empirical evidence for improving the learning engagement of medical students and promoting the development of medical education. Keywords: medical students; career calling; learning engagement; achievement motivation; self-efficacy
Summary
Keywords
achievement motivation, Career calling, Learning engagement, Medical students, self-efficacy
Received
12 August 2025
Accepted
17 February 2026
Copyright
© 2026 Wu, Liu, Wang and Di. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Siyu Di
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