High Resources don’t Always Buffer Stress: Optimal Margins in Demands-Resources fit and Student Engagement

Abstract A long-standing assumption in educational psychology is that study resources buffer the negative impact of study demands, thereby sustaining student engagement under academic pressure. Yet current approaches offer conflicting interpretations, with some suggesting that engagement peaks when resources exceed demands, others suggesting it peaks at balanced levels, and still others pointing to situations in which even well-matched demands and resources become detrimental. These inconsistencies have received limited attention in the field and appear to be tied to analytical approaches that