Research on the relationships among teachers’ paternalistic leadership style, learning motivation and learning burnout of medical students on a standardized residency training

Paternalistic leadership refers to strict discipline and supreme authority in the environment of human governance and a style of leadership derived from both paternalistic love and incorruptible law. Paternalistic leadership has received less attention from researchers than other potential causes of student burnout in education field. Few studies have reported the perspectives of students, treated paternalistic leadership style as an independent variable, or conducted in-depth research on the relationships between this factor and students’ learning motivation and learning burnout. This study explores the relationships among paternalistic leadership style and medical students’ learning motivation and learning burnout as well as the mediating role of learning motivation. Methods: A total of 403 valid questionnaires were completed by Chinese medical students on a standardized residency training (SRT) with the paternalistic leadership style scale, the learning motivation scale and the learning burnout scale. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS 28.0 and AMOS 28.0 software. Results: Both teachers’ paternalistic leadership and learning motivation were significantly negatively correlated with learning burnout among medical students on the SRT; Learning motivation plays a mediated the relationship between paternalistic leadership and learning burnout; Specifically, moral and benevolent leadership have significant negative effects on learning burnout, whereas authoritarian leadership has a significant positive effect on learning burnout. Conclusions: Enhancing the teachers’ paternalistic leadership of medical college teachers and promoting students’ learning motivation through certain training and activities can effectively alleviate learning burnout among medical students on the SRT and promote a positive academic atmosphere in medical colleges. The results provide reference suggestions and intervention guidance for reducing learning burnout and improving the quality of training for medical students.