Political participation, perceived stress, and academic performance of university students in Hong Kong under Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill Movement

In 2019-2020, Hong Kong was in the limelight of the world due to the Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill (Anti-ELAB) Movement. Along with the accelerated tensions between the Hong Kong Government and protesters, several universities were seized by the radical protesters and later turned into battlefields. Under such unfavourable socio-political context, universities in Hong Kong abruptly suspended all on-campus activities and moved lectures into online space, which seriously disrupted the normal social ecology of university students. This study aimed to investigate the perceived stress, political participation, and academic performance of university students under the socio-political turmoil. Through conducting a mixed-methods study at a public university in Hong Kong, it was found that students had a moderate level of perceived stress and their political participation was relatively high. A negative correlation between students’ academic performance and their perceived stress was also found. Students who experienced lower stress levels achieved higher GPA under the social movement. However, students’ political participation was not correlated with their academic performance, and there was no correlation between the students’ perceived stress and their political participation. It is hoped that this study can give a wake-up call for educators and counsellors to pay attention to the mental well-being of students who are politically active and to provide appropriate assistance to reduce their stressors.