The chain mediating effect of learning goal distress and excessive learning motivation from unknown locus of control on migrant middle school students' learning anxiety

The prevalence of learning anxiety among Chinese migrant middle school students is a notable concern in academia. There is a wealth of research on the effects of internal and external locus of control on learning anxiety, but there is still a lack of research on unknown locus of control. To grasp the situation of migrant middle school students in terms of learning anxiety, to understand the relationship between migrant middle school students' unknown locus of control and learning anxiety, this study surveyed 351 migrant middle school students, using Mental Health Test, Multidimensional Measure of Children's Perceptions of Control, Middle School Students Learning Motivation Scale to do the questionnaire survey. The data analysis conducted through SPSS software revealed the following findings: (1) There is a positive prediction of learning anxiety from an unknown locus of control (β = 0.139, p < 0.05). (2) Unknown locus of control indirectly influences learning anxiety through both learning goal distress and excessive learning motivation. Learning goal distress and excessive learning motivation partially mediate the relationship between unknown locus of control and learning anxiety. The total magnitude of the indirect effects is 0.15 (p<0.05). The effect is significant, but the size of the effect is small and the issue of generalizability should be considered. The research findings suggest that the unknown locus of control indirectly affects learning anxiety through difficulties with learning goals and excessive learning motivation. It is suggested that increasing opportunities for students to make independent choices and to develop their sense of self-control in daily lessons; guiding students to set appropriate learning goals, avoiding too high or too low, emphasizing refinement of goals and the combination of long-term and short-term goals.