PhD students’ well-being and its antecedents and consequences: A perspective of the Job Demands-Resources model

This study aimed to investigate aspects of the research environment as antecedents of PhD students’ well-being and their downstream consequences on students’ performance and intentions to quit from the perspective of the Job Demands-Resources model. A total of 592 PhD students from eight universities in Hong Kong participated in an online survey on research environment, well-being, and performance outcomes. Results indicated that different dimensions of the research environment, such as supervision, research culture, and skills development, showed distinct associations with positive and negative aspects of well-being. Positive aspects of well-being were positively associated with performance and negatively associated with intentions to quit. Negative aspects of well-being showed the opposite relations. Furthermore, PhD students’ well-being significantly mediated the relationship between research environment on the one hand and performance and intentions to quit on the other. This study has important theoretical implications and enriches our understanding of how the research environment influences well-being and how well-being, in turn, is associated with other crucial outcomes. This study also has important practical implications for how the research environment can be designed to optimize PhD students’ well-being and performance. Copyright © 2025 HERDSA.