Do research incentives promote researchers’ mental health?

Researchers have a higher risk of anxiety and depression than the general population, so it is important to promote researchers’ mental health. Method: Based on the data from 3210 global researchers surveyed by the journal Nature in 2021, confirmatory factor analysis, OLS regression and other regressions were used to explore the research incentive dimensions and their effects on researchers’ mental health. Results: (1) Material incentive factors, work-family life balance factors, good organizational environment and spiritual motivation had significant positive effects on researchers’ mental health. (2) The spiritual motivation could better promote researchers’ mental health than the other factors. (3) Heterogeneity analysis showed that material incentive factors and spiritual motivation created more significant stimulating effects on the mental health of humanities and social sciences researchers. Work-family life balance factors were more effective in promoting the mental health of the mid-career group and the overtime group. Conclusion: Application of the four research incentives resulted in lower likelihood of anxiety or depression among researchers, and special attention should be paid to the role of the spiritual motivation. In order to promote researchers’ mental health, different incentives should be applied to different researcher groups to better improve researchers’ mental health.