Involution (neijuan): An Interdisciplinary Review and Research Agenda

In recent years, involution (neijuan) has emerged as a prominent concept in public discourse and scholarly research, particularly in the Chinese context. However, its meaning, mechanisms, and implications remain fragmented and contested across disciplines. This integrative literature review synthesizes social science research on involution spanning sociology, economics, education, psychology, management, and organizational studies to address four core questions: what involution is, why it emerges, how it operates across levels, and with what consequences. Drawing on the literature, we develop a taxonomy of involution based on contextual domains and units of analysis, encompassing socioeconomic, educational, and workplace settings across micro-, meso-, and macro-levels. We further integrate evidence on the antecedents and influences of involution. Finally, we propose a future research agenda that emphasizes cross-level mechanisms, coping and appraisal processes, sociocultural foundations, and the conditions under which involution may yield divergent outcomes. By clarifying core concepts and organizing a fragmented literature, this review positions involution as a theoretically generative lens for understanding contemporary competition and human experience under structural constraint.