Epistemic Proximity and Learning Engagement in Chinese Higher Education: A Construal-Level Analysis of Question vs. Answer Ownership

Data Description

The dataset used in this study consists of anonymized survey responses collected from 685 participants in Henan Province, China, between March and July 2023. The data include both university students (54%) and working professionals (46%) across multiple sectors, enabling cross-context analysis of epistemic proximity in academic and organizational learning environments.

Each response contains quantitative measures of psychological proximity—operationalized as Q-proximity (closeness to question formulation) and A-proximity (closeness to answer acquisition)—alongside learning arousal, uncertainty, and a range of demographic and contextual variables (gender, age, education level, student/professional status, and industry). The survey used 6- and 10-point Likert-type scales to capture intensity of responses while minimizing cultural central tendency bias.

The final dataset comprises 25 variables and 685 valid observations after data cleaning. Missing values (<2%) were handled through mean substitution, and normality checks confirmed acceptable skewness and kurtosis levels for parametric analysis. Reliability and validity assessments (Cronbach’s α = 0.73 for Q-proximity, 0.81 for A-proximity) confirmed internal consistency. The anonymized dataset, variable definitions, and coding scheme are available upon request or through an open-access repository upon acceptance of the article.

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