This study was conducted to investigate the mediating role of setting life goals in the relationship between emotional autonomy and school burnout. The study was carried out in accordance with the correlational survey model, which is used to determine the existence of covariance between two or more variables. The mediation model was tested on 304 high school students [156 (51.3%) females, 148 (48.7%) males; Mage = 16.12, SD = 1.20]. The School Burnout Inventory, the Scale of Setting Life Goals, the Emotional Autonomy Scale, and a Personal Information Form were used in the research. According to the results, school burnout had negative significant correlations with emotional autonomy and setting life goals. On the other hand, there was a significant positive correlation between emotional autonomy and setting life goals. The mediation analysis results indicated that setting life goals had a fully mediating role between emotional autonomy and school burnout. Accordingly, emotional autonomy promoted setting life goals and contributed to mitigating school burnout. In this respect, this study points out that some positive emotional factors have a protective function against school burnout.