Aesthetic education is a crucial component of the integrated development of moral, intellectual, physical, aesthetic, and labour education. It holds a significant position in Chinese higher education in the new era. Drawing on constructivist learning theory, cognitive psychology, positive psychology, and self-determination theory, this study developed an integrated cognition–emotion–motivation model to examine how aesthetic education is associated with graduate students’ research innovation ability. Survey data were collected from 1208 graduate students, and the proposed model was tested using structural equation modelling and mediation analysis. The results showed that aesthetic education was positively associated with research innovation ability. Three mediating pathways were supported: analogical transfer ability served as a cognitive pathway; art immersive experience and research resilience formed an emotional pathway; and aesthetic value recognition and exploratory research motivation constituted a motivational pathway. In addition, an aesthetic education environment strengthened the relationship between aesthetic education and analogical transfer ability, while supervisor support strengthened the relationship between art immersive experience and research resilience. These findings clarify the mechanisms through which aesthetic education is related to graduate students’ innovation-related capacities and highlight the importance of integrating aesthetic education, supportive environments, and supervisory guidance into research-oriented graduate training.
Deng et al. (Fri,) studied this question.
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