Yes, but are they happy? Effects of trait self-control on affective well-being and life satisfaction

Emotion regulation and self-control: Same same but different… and even incompatible?

OBJECTIVE

We explore the idea that inhibitory self-control and prohedonic emotion regulation may be incompatible concerns.

BACKGROUND

Specifically, we propose that because some forms of self-control involve denying oneself hedonic pleasures, it may lead to negative affect. Because people may then prioritize emotion regulation over self-control, negative affect may in turn lead to emotion regulation efforts, specifically the use of emotion regulation strategies, and an increased likelihood of self-control failure.

METHOD

To explore the relationship between emotion regulation and self-control in daily life, we conducted a secondary analysis of a 6-week, 6-signal-per-day ambulatory assessment data set (N = 125 participants with a total of 22,845 completed measurement occasions).

RESULTS

Consistent with our predictions, we found that self-control efforts of resisting a pleasurable desire led to significantly increased subsequent negative affect, which, in turn, led to significantly increased emotion regulation efforts and to significantly more likely self-control failures.

CONCLUSIONS

We found evidence for the notion that inhibitory self-control and prohedonic emotion regulation are, on average, somewhat incompatible concerns. We discuss our findings in the context of other phenomena in which emotion regulation concerns may conflict with the pursuit of other goals.

Decoding privacy concerns: the role of perceived risk and benefits in personal health data disclosure

BACKGROUND

Personal health data is crucial for effective medical care, personalized treatment, and health monitoring. It enables accurate diagnosis, efficient treatment plans, and informed healthcare decisions. Personal health data should be protected to ensure patient privacy, prevent misuse or unauthorized access, and maintain trust in healthcare systems, thereby safeguarding individuals' sensitive information from potential harm or exploitation. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate whether perceived risk and perceived benefits have mediating roles in the relationships among individuals' personal health information disclosure behaviour, perceived control, and privacy concerns.

METHOD

The population of the study consisted of individuals living in the provinces of Izmir, Konya and Adana. The sample of the study consisted of individuals who were reached through a convenience sampling method. The scales for privacy concerns, perceived control, perceived risk, perceived benefits and information disclosure behaviour were used in the study. Cronbach's alpha and the AVE were calculated, and a confirmatory factor analysis was performed. A path analysis was performed using the structural equation model to test the hypotheses.

RESULTS

The analysis revealed a significant negative relationship between individuals' personal health data disclosure behaviour and their privacy concerns. However, perceived risk and perceived benefit did not mediate this relationship. Additionally, a significant positive relationship was found between individuals' behaviour of disclosing their perceived control and personal health data, with perceived risk and benefits playing a mediating role in this relationship.

CONCLUSION

The study concluded that as individuals' concerns about sharing personal health data increase, they are less likely to share these data. It was also found that perceived risk and perceived benefit mediate this relationship. Additionally, higher perceived risk intensifies privacy concerns, further discouraging data sharing, while perceived benefits can mitigate these concerns, promoting greater willingness to disclose health information.

Age matters: The effect of regret and loss aversion on cultured meat acceptance

Cultured meat shows great promise as a more sustainable alternative to conventional meat consumption. However, consumer acceptance of cultured meat remains a great challenge as studies indicate a general reluctance to adopt this product. Notably, while existing literature has provided various factors influencing consumer acceptance of cultured meat, there is a limited focus on the use of affective cues. The present research examines the impact of regret appeal on consumers' willingness to try cultured meat. In two experimental studies, the authors investigate (1) the interactive effect between regret and age on willingness to try cultured meat, and (2) the role of loss aversion as a mediating factor between regret and willingness to try cultured meat. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of regret appeal in increasing consumers' willingness to try cultured meat, particularly among older populations. This is because older populations exhibit higher levels of loss aversion. The present study is the first to shed light on the interactive effect of regret and age in influencing sustainable product acceptance. Furthermore, the study establishes the first empirical evidence to demonstrate that loss aversion is a valid self-regulating strategy adopted to cope with the feeling of regret in a consumption context.

The differential influence of Achievement Motivation on Subjective Well-being and the moderating role of Self-control

To investigate the association between achievement motivation and subjective well-being, as well as the moderating role of self-control and self-management on this relationship, 1017 Chinese college students were surveyed. The main results showed that: The interactive effect of motivation to approach success and self-control on subjective well-being was significant. Specifically, for individuals with high self-control ability, the positive effects of motivation to approach success on subjective well-being, life satisfaction and positive affect tended to be stronger, and meanwhile, the motivation to approach success negatively predicted negative affect. Furthermore, the interactive effect of motivation to avoid failure and self-control on subjective well-being was significant. Specifically, for individuals with high self-control ability, the negative effects of motivation to avoid failure on subjective well-being, life satisfaction and positive affect tended to be weaker, and meanwhile, the effect of motivation to avoid failure on negative affect was relatively weaker. Overall, our study indicated that improving self-control ability could maximize the positive effect of achievement motivation on subjective well-being. Moreover, motivating individuals with high self-control ability to pursue success and reducing motivation to avoid failure for individuals with low self-control ability could have a more positive influence on subjective well-being.

Trait emotional intelligence as a predictor of resilience among undergraduate nursing students: A structural equation modelling approach

BACKGROUND

There is a growing interest in understanding the role of trait emotional intelligence and resilience. However, few studies have examined the relationships between the various factors of trait emotional intelligence and resilience.

OBJECTIVE

To examine the factors of trait emotional intelligence and resilience using a structure equation modelling approach.

DESIGN

A quantitative exploratory design using structural equation modelling approach.

SETTING

One university in Singapore.

PARTICIPANTS

A total of 300 undergraduate nursing students were included in this study.

METHOD

A quantitative exploratory study using the structural equation modelling technique was conducted. The Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire and Brief Resilience Scale were used to examine the relationships between trait emotional intelligence and resilience. The data analyses were conducted using SPSS and AMOS software.

RESULTS

The structural equation model found relationships between the various factors of trait emotional intelligence. There were associations between self-control, sociability, and emotionality scores with well-being scores. In addition, there is a relationship between emotionality and well-being scores on resilience scores.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings from this study illustrate the complex relationships between the various factors of trait emotional intelligence, and specifically how these factors are related to each other and resilience. The findings of this study propose that emotional intelligence are associated with one's resilience. For this reason, these findings will be important in the development of future resilience programs.

The relationship between self-control and learning engagement among Chinese college students: the chain mediating roles of resilience and positive emotions

Background

As the main driver of talent cultivation in colleges and universities, the learning and development level of college students is a core indicator of the quality of talent cultivation. The current status of college students' learning has always been a heavily researched topic. However, there is a lack of academic research on the potential mechanisms of self-control about how it affects college students' learning engagement. This study explored the relationship between college students' self-control and learning engagement and the potential mechanisms underlying this relationship with reference to a large sample.

Methods

A total of 765 college students from Guangxi, China, completed the self-control scale, the resilience scale, the positive emotions scale, and the learning engagement scale. SPSS 26.0 was used to conduct common method bias tests, descriptive statistics, correlation tests, and regression analyses. Structural equation modeling was constructed using AMOS 26.0, and mediation effects were tested.

Results

This article mainly used questionnaires to collect data and, on this basis, examined the relationship between self-control, resilience, positive emotions, and the learning engagement of college students. The results showed that (1) self-control positively affected college students' learning engagement; (2) resilience partially mediated the relationship between self-control and college students' learning engagement; (3) positive emotions partially mediated the relationship between self-control and college students' learning engagement; and (4) resilience and positive emotions played a chain-mediating role between self-control and college students' learning engagement.

Conclusion

The present study identifies the potential mechanism underlying the association between the self-control and learning engagement of college students. The results of this study have practical implications for enhancing the learning engagement of Chinese college students by increasing their psychological resources and improving the teaching of university teachers.

Self-control fluctuates from day to day and is linked to subjective well-being within and between persons

The psychological trait of self-control has been linked to interindividual differences in subjective well-being: Individuals with higher self-control report less negative affect, more positive affect, and higher life satisfaction. However, less is known about how much self-control fluctuates from day to day and how these fluctuations are related to subjective well-being. This intensive longitudinal study describes day-to-day fluctuations in self-control and investigates whether and how they are related to subjective well-being. A sample of 64 undergraduate students at the entry phase of university (M = 22.55 years, SD = 6.51, range = 18-53, 97% female) provided 1459 reports of their self-control and subjective well-being, collected every evening across three 9-day measurement bursts over 6 months. Participants' self-control fluctuated substantially from day to day with less than 40% of the variability in daily self-control being attributable to interindividual differences in self-control. On days with higher self-control, participants reported less negative affect, more serenity, and higher life satisfaction. We found no relationship between self-control and vigor. The findings suggest that researchers need to go beyond current assessment practices and theories treating self-control as a stable trait to help develop tailored well-being interventions for everyday life.

Exercise or lie down? The impact of fitness app use on users' wellbeing

Introduction

The use of fitness apps is becoming more and more widespread, and its impact on people's well-being has received more and more attention.

Methods

The relationship between fitness app use and users' well-being and the influence mechanism was explored using structural equation modeling with upward social comparison as the mediating variable and self-control as the moderating variable.

Results

The questionnaire survey of 1,452 fitness app users over 18 years old shows that: (1) fitness app use is associated with users' well-being; (2) upward social comparison plays a mediating role in the relationship between fitness app use and users' well-being; (3) self-control has a moderating effect on the relationship between fitness app use and users' well-being.

Discussion

Self-control plays a significant moderating role between social comparison and well-being, upward social comparison can improve the well-being of high self-control users but reduce the well-being of low self-control users.

Problematic Use of the Internet and Well-Being among Youth from a Global Perspective: A Mediated-Moderated Model of Socio-Emotional Factors

Problematic Use of the Internet (PUI) is characterized as the inability to control one's internet use or as an excessive use of the internet that may result in social, psychological, and emotional difficulties (Fernandes et al., 2019). It is regarded nowadays as an increasingly worrisome public heath issue, especially among youth. This study explored the contexts in which youth PUI occurs and its associations with socio-emotional functioning that may lead to a decrease in one's sense of well-being. We conducted this exploration among 783 middle school students from the US (425 students; 54.27%) and Israel (358 students; 45.73%). The overall age of both samples ranged between 12 and 16 (M = 13.94, SD = 1.59). In the Israeli sample, 49.1% of the students were girls and 50.9% were boys, whereas in the US sample, 48.8% were girls and 51.2% were boys. The study examined the role of depressive mood, loneliness, resilience, self-control, and school engagement in mediating the relationship between PUI and well-being, and how country of origin might moderate these relationships. Results indicate PUI was related to lower well-being only for the US sample. Yet, for both samples, higher loneliness was related to lower well-being, and higher school engagement was related to higher well-being. A moderated mediation analysis revealed the socio-emotional variables were all mediators in these associations, but differently for each country sample. The study results are discussed according to key factors required for developing intervention programs for coping with youth PUI behaviors.

How Trait Gratitude Influences Adolescent Subjective Well-Being? Parallel-Serial Mediating Effects of Meaning in Life and Self-Control

The relationship between trait gratitude and subjective well-being is well documented in the literature. Recently, growing attention has been given to examining which factors are determinants in the relationship. However, there are no studies to present a comprehensive model of how meaning in life and self-control jointly play a role in this relationship. This study investigated parallel and serial mediation of the presence of meaning, the search for meaning, and self-control in the relationship between trait gratitude and subjective well-being. A total of 764 adolescents (Mage = 14.10, SD = 1.43, 48.43% males) from three middle schools in China completed a six-item measures of gratitude questionnaire form, a meaning in life questionnaire, a middle school students' self-control ability questionnaire, and a satisfaction with life scale. The study revealed that trait gratitude affected the presence of meaning and subsequently affected subjective well-being. In addition, trait gratitude affected self-control through the presence of meaning and the search for meaning, and it subsequently affected subjective well-being. Therefore, the presence of meaning, the search for meaning, and self-control played an important role in the positive effects of trait gratitude on adolescent subjective well-being. The findings were in line with the intrinsic and extrinsic goal theory of gratitude and provided new insight to inform the improvement of adolescent subjective well-being in the future.

The influence of Tai Chi exercise on the subjective well-being in the aged: the mediating role of physical fitness and cognitive function

This study investigated the effects of Tai Chi exercise on subjective well-being in the aged. The participants were randomly assigned to an experimental group or a control group. The experimental group received 12-week Tai Chi exercise while the control group maintain their original living habits. The participants' subjective well-being, physical fitness, self-control, and executive function were measured at baseline and after 12 weeks of Tai Chi exercise. Results: (1) Tai Chi exercise can positively affect the subjective well-being of the aged (F(1,78) = 37.699, p < 0.001); (2) Tai Chi exercise could affect the subjective well-being in the aged through the independent intermediary of physical fitness (95% CI=[0.115, 0.485]) and self-control (95% CI=[0.109, 0.433]); (3) Tai Chi exercise could indirectly affect the subjective well-being in the aged through the chain mediation of executive function and self-control (95% CI=[0.009, 0.104]). This study provides valuable insights into the potential benefits of Tai Chi exercise for subjective well-being in the aged.

Flourishing and Self-Control in Adolescence: The Role of Perceived Parenting

Self-control is the ability to control thoughts, emotions, and impulses to pursuit of long-term goals. Adolescents with high self-control experience higher flourishing levels. The latter refers to the fulfillment of needs for competence, relationship, and self-acceptance, as well as the possession of psychological capital such as flow and commitment. High levels of self-control also seem to be linked to a positive relationship with parents, which is crucial in adolescent flourishing. However, few studies investigated the association between flourishing, self-control, and perceived parenting in adolescence. The aim of this study was to investigate how the ability to exert self-control and the need to perceive and preserve a responsive relationship with parents would facilitate adolescents' experience of higher flourishing levels. The relationships among self-control, adolescents' perception of some paternal and maternal dimensions (closeness, communication, and parents' peer approval), and flourishing were analyzed in a sample of 335 Italian adolescents. Self-control was positively correlated with flourishing and the adolescent's perception of maternal and paternal dimensions. The PROCESS model showed that perceived maternal and paternal dimensions mediate the relationship between self-control and flourishing. These findings show the importance of self-control and parenting dimensions in promoting flourishing during adolescence.

Assessment of the Level of Life Satisfaction and Health Behaviors Among Patients with Chronic Hepatitis C

Objectives: An important aspect of complex care of patients with chronic hepatitis C is improvement of their quality of life. In Poland, a low level of life satisfaction is observed among patients with hepatitis C. Some patients experience concerns and anxiety that they will be identified by their employers, family, acquaintances. They are afraid of losing their job or breaking up with their loved ones. This study provides an analysis of the level of life satisfaction among patients with chronic hepatitis C. Methods: Overall, 220 patients with hepatitis C completed the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) along with an author-constructed questionnaire. Results: The mean level of satisfaction with life score was 16.3±4.9. More than a half of the patients presented a low level of satisfaction (1-4 stens)-62,7%, approximately one-third of the respondents showed a mediocre level (5-6 stens), and 8,7% indicated a high level (7-10 stens). Patients who evaluated their state of health as "poor" had the lowest life satisfaction scores-mean=13.9. Conclusions: Patients with hepatitis C assessed their satisfaction with life negatively and those aged 51-60 expressed significantly lower evaluations. Women showed a slightly lower level of life satisfaction than men, which was associated with low health self-esteem.

A network analysis of subjective well-being in Chinese high school students

BACKGROUND

The psychological situation of high school students during adolescence is not promising, and the most obvious manifestation is the lack of subjective well-being (SWB). This network analysis presents a model of the interaction and correlation between different items of SWB, identifying the most central items for high school students.

METHODS

Through offline and online surveys, 4,378 questionnaires were sent out and finally 4,282 Chinese high school students were available. The response rate was 97.807%. The study used the eLASSO method to estimate the network structure and centrality measures. This algorithm used the EBIC to select the best neighbor factor for each node.

RESULTS

The average age for high school students was 16.320 years old and the average SWB score was 76.680. The distribution of SWB between male and female students was significant different (P < 0.001). S8 (Have you been anxious, worried, or upset) was the node with the highest strength and expected influence. The network structure and centrality remained stable after discarding 75% of the sample at random. Except for S15 (How concerned or worried about your health have you been), all nodes were positively correlated with each other (P < 0.01). The network structure of SWB was similar for female and male students (network strength: 8.482 for male participants; 8.323 for female participants; P = 0.159), as well as for rural and urban students (network strength: 8.500 for rural students; 8.315 for urban students; P = 0.140).

CONCLUSION

Targeting S8 (Have you been anxious, worried, or upset) as a potential intervention target may increase high school students' SWB effectively.

Self-control and unhealthy body weight: The role of impulsivity and restraint

We examine the relationship between trait self-control and body weight. Data from a population representative household survey reveal that limited self-control is strongly associated with both unhealthy body weight and poorer subjective weight-related well-being. Those with limited self-control are characterized by reduced exercising, repeated dieting, unhealthier eating habits, and poorer nutrition. We propose an empirical method to isolate two facets of self-control limitations-high impulsivity and low restraint. Each has differential predictive power. Physical activity, dieting, and overall body weight are more strongly associated with restraint; impulsivity is relatively more predictive of when, where, and what people eat.

Conflict in a word-based approach-avoidance task is stronger with positive words

BACKGROUND

Valence and motivational direction are linked. We approach good things and avoid bad things, and experience overriding these links as conflicting. Positive valence is more consistently linked with approach than negative valence is linked with avoidance. Therefore, avoiding positive stimuli should produce greater behavioral and neural signs of conflict than approaching negative stimuli.

METHODS

In the present event-related potential study, we tested this assumption by contrasting positive and negative conflict. We used the manikin task, in which we read positive and negative words that they needed to approach and avoid.

RESULTS

Consistent with our prediction, positive conflict prolonged reaction times more than negative conflict did. A late (500-1000 ms following word onset) event-related potential that we identified as the Conflict slow potential, was only sensitive to positive conflict.

CONCLUSION

The results of this study support the notion that avoiding positive stimuli is more conflicting than approaching negative stimuli. The fact that the conflict slow potential is typically sensitive to response conflict rather than stimulus conflict suggests that the manikin task primarily requires people to override prepotent responses rather than to identify conflicting stimuli. Thus, the present findings also shed light on the psychological processes subserving conflict resolution in the manikin task.

Godless owls, devout larks: Religiosity and conscientiousness are associated with morning preference and (partly) explain its effects on life satisfaction

The associations between morningness-eveningness, conscientiousness, and religiosity have not been investigated to date. The aim of the present research was to provide evidence for the relationships between these dimensions. Moreover, we tested whether the well-established link between morningness and life satisfaction could be explained by elevated religiosity of morning-oriented individuals and whether this relationship may be mediated by conscientiousness. The investigation was conducted on two independent samples of Polish adults (N = 500 and N = 728). Our results corroborated earlier findings that morningness was positively associated with both conscientiousness and satisfaction with life. We also found evidence for a significant positive association between morningness and religiosity. Moreover, controlling for age and gender, we obtained significant mediation effects showing that the association between morningness-eveningness and satisfaction with life might stem, at least in part, from the higher religiosity among morning-oriented individuals, also when conscientiousness was included in the model. It means that more morning-oriented individuals may benefit from higher psychological well-being thanks to both personality characteristics and attitudes towards religion.

If the party is good, you can stay longer-effects of trait hedonic capacity on hedonic quantity and performance

Research suggests that people's capacity to successfully pursue hedonic goals is at least as important for well-being as trait self-control. Extending this research, we tested whether trait hedonic capacity is related to more time spent with hedonic goal pursuit (i.e., hedonic quantity) and whether this explains its positive relationship with well-being. Second, we explored whether this may come at a cost for people's performance. Results show that people with higher trait hedonic capacity do spend more time with hedonic goal pursuit (Study 1 and 2). However, hedonic quality not hedonic quantity accounts for its positive relationship with well-being. Further, people higher vs. lower in trait hedonic capacity perform equally well in their studies (Study 2) and their jobs (Study 3 and 4). Thus, trait hedonic capacity seems to allow people to invest more time into their hedonic goals in a way that does not jeopardize their academic and job performance.

Investigating the serial psychological processes of workplace COVID-19 infection risk and employees' performance

Drawing on concepts from conservation of resources theory, this study examines the effects of perceived workplace COVID-19 infection risk on employees' in-role (i.e., task), extra-role (i.e., OCBs: organizational citizenship behaviors), and creative performance via three mediators, namely, uncertainty, self-control, and psychological capital (i.e., PsyCap), and the moderation of leaders' safety commitment. Three sets of surveys were collected from 445 employees and 115 supervisors working in various industries during the 2021 COVID-19 (Alpha and Delta variants) outbreak in Taiwan, when vaccinations were not yet readily available. The Bayesian multilevel results reveal that COVID-19 infection risk (Time 1) is negatively associated with creativity (Time 3) as well as supervisor-rated task performance and OCBs (Time 3) via PsyCap. Additionally, the relationship between COVID-19 infection risk and creativity is mediated by the serial psychological processes of uncertainty (Time 2), self-control (Time 2), and PsyCap (Time 3). Furthermore, supervisors' safety commitment marginally moderates the relationships between uncertainty and self-control and between self-control and PsyCap. Conditional indirect results show that the effect of uncertainty on PsyCap via self-control is significant for supervisors with high-level safety commitment, and the effect of self-control on creative performance via PsyCap is significant for supervisors with both high- and low-level safety commitment. In summary, workplace COVID-19 infection risk stimulates a tandem psychological process and impairs employees' work-related performance; PsyCap plays a dominant role in this context. Leaders may prevent similar negative impacts by committing to ensuring workplace security to compensate for employees' resource loss when facing future crises or threats.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12144-023-04583-4.

"What does not kill you… mutates and tries again." A study on personality determinants of post-traumatic growth during the COVID-19 pandemic

Introduction. The COVID-19 pandemic was recognized as a collective trauma and as a major threat to mental health. Recent literature focused on the stress symptomatology or post-traumatic stress disorder associated to the COVID-19 exposure. The concept that people have a natural inclination toward growth, even under stressful and threatening events, gathered less attention. Previous research has analyzed antecedents of post-traumatic growth (PTG) with non-conclusive results. Methods. The present research aimed at including findings on PTG from personality traits, i.e., sense of control and self-mastery, and distal condition of nurturance and support received by others, i.e., cognitive and affective well-being. Analyses were based on 4934 interviews with adults (Mage = 57.81 years, 55.5% women) from the Swiss Household Panel study. Results. Relationships over time emerged between sense of control and self-mastery on PTG and worries, measured after two years, via the mediation of cognitive and affective well-being. Conclusion. Results come from a large study in a design seldom employed in this type of research and can inform both research and interventions.

Born or not: A moderated mediation model of the relationship between work-family conflict and female employees' wellbeing based on fertility intention during the COVID-19 pandemic

The previous academic research on work-family conflict mainly focused on the relevant elements in the work field. This study concludes that elements of the family domain have a significant impact on the relationship between work-family conflict and employee wellbeing. Female employees' perceptions of wellbeing largely depend on their willingness to have children when they take on family roles. During COVID-19, employees had more time to fulfill both work and family roles in the family sphere due to the epidemic blockade, the contribution of the female employee's significant other (husband) in family matters had a significant impact on Fertility intention. This study using SPSS 24.0 AMOS 20.0 and M plus 7.4 statistical analysis tools to test the proposed hypotheses. In the paired data of 412 working female employees and husbands of Chinese dual-earner families with different occupational backgrounds, hypothesis testing results support that female employees' work → family conflict is negatively related to female employees' fertility intentions, and female employees' fertility intentions are positively related to wellbeing; female employees' family → work conflict is negatively related to female employees' wellbeing; husband's flexible work stress is negatively related to husband's share of housework; husband's share of housework moderated the front, rear and overall mediating effects by the fertility intention. When formulating policies, the managers should consider not only the direct effects of policies, but also the indirect effects that policies may have on other family members of employees. Managers should develop management policies during an epidemic that are more responsive to the actual needs of employees during an epidemic. The management of female employees should give due consideration to the family status of female employees and the enterprises should recognize the importance of childcare for female employees.

Self-Regulatory Strategy Use, Efficacy, and Strategy-Situation-Fit in Self-Control Conflicts of Initiation, Persistence, and Inhibition

Self-control is the ability to (1) initiate, and (2) persist in boring, difficult or disliked activity, and to (3) inhibit impulses to act. We explored the self-regulatory strategies that people use for these three types of self-control conflicts and their subjective efficacy as a function of conflict type. In addition, we hypothesized that people who more frequently create strategy-situation fit by tying strategies to the conflict types they are effective for, are more successful at self-control. A pilot study identified 22 different self-regulatory strategies that could be used for more than one type of self-control conflict. We then used a large data set from two pooled experience sampling datasets ( n = 14,067 reported self-control conflicts) to quantify these strategies’ popularity and subjective efficacy in daily life. Eight strategies were positively and three negatively associated with subjective self-regulatory success but subjective efficacy often depended on type of conflict: Some strategies were effective and some maladaptive only for some types of self-control conflicts. Individuals who created strategy-situation fit for some strategies also reported greater self-regulatory success, as hypothesized. We discuss regulatory flexibility as a crucial component of good self-control.

Individual differences in environmental wellbeing and pro-environmental behaviors explained by self-control

Climate change is an increasing problem, with more extreme weather conditions and rising temperatures. To fulfill the temperature goals of the Paris agreement a societal change is needed, a change that requires a shift of lifestyle from all of us. If we want to change our behaviors to more sustainable ones, we need to sacrifice substantial things today to improve a future, which often seems distant and abstract. People with high level of self-control have been shown to have a better ability to visualize future events, which makes self-control an interesting trait to look at in relation to pro-environmental behavior. The aim of this study was to examine how self-control correlates with environmental well-being and environmental behavior. An internet-based survey was sent to a representative Swedish sample (n = 602). The respondents were asked to fill out a newly developed scale measuring their anxiety and security regarding environmental matters (environmental wellbeing), as well as indicate how often they engage in six different pro-environmental behaviors (e.g., turning lights off when leaving the room). Additionally, data on the respondents' gender, age, political orientation, and self-control was collected. Our results suggest a positive correlation between self-control and environmental wellbeing and a weaker, but still positive, correlation between self-control and some pro-environmental behaviors. Additionally, respondents who identified themselves as politically left had lower environmental wellbeing, while men had higher environmental wellbeing, but behaved less environmentally friendly. Thus, our results suggest that political orientation was a better predictor of sound environmental behavior than subjective self-control was.

Good Personality and Subjective Well-Being During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Three-Wave Longitudinal Study in Chinese Contexts

Numerous studies have emphasized the importance of examining psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is important to identify the factors that affect the influence of COVID-19 on people's mental health. The present research was a three-wave longitudinal study (N = 1495) examining the concurrent and prospective relations of good personality with subjective well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results showed that good personality positively predicted the subsequent well-being after controlling for the respective autoregressive effects and Big Five personality traits. Specifically, individuals who scored higher on measures of good personality tended to maintain higher well-being in the face of COVID-19. However, subjective well-being could positively predict subsequent personality only at the first time point. In addition, the prospective effect of good personality on subjective well-being was greater than the reverse effect. These findings support the opinion that as a positive value orientation in personality, good personality has a significant positive impact on the response to the pandemic situation.

The role of fear of negative evaluation on the effects of self-control on affective states and life satisfaction: a moderated mediation analysis

Previous studies have found a robust positive relationship between trait self-control and life satisfaction mediated by both positive and negative affect, but the simultaneous inclusion of the effect of apprehension of being evaluated by others is less commonly investigated. The present study aimed to examine (1) whether the relationship between self-control and life satisfaction was mediated by positive affect and negative affect in parallel, and (2) whether fear of negative evaluation would moderate the strengths of the mediational pathways. With a sample of two hundred fifty university students in Hong Kong, mediational analysis (ME) revealed that both positive affect and negative affect were the mediators between self-control and life satisfaction. Subsequent moderated mediation analysis (moME) supported the moderating role of fear of negative evaluation on the mediational pathway through positive affect, but not on the pathway through negative affect. In particular, higher scores on fear of negative evaluation would attenuate the strength of association between self-control and positive affect. Therefore, to optimize university students' well-being and mental health functioning, treatment modalities should target both behavioral (i.e., self-control) and socio-emotional (i.e., apprehension of being evaluated critically from others) aspects.

Mindfulness for mediating the relationship between self-control and alexithymia among Chinese medical students: A structural equation modeling analysis

Backgrounds

Medical students are prone to experience alexithymia due to academic work overload, which could increase the prevalence of mental illness such as anxiety and depression. The purpose of our study was to estimate the levels of alexithymia and to explore the relationships between alexithymia, self-control, and mindfulness among medical students.

Materials and methods

From March 18th, 2021 to April 9th, 2021, a cross-sectional study with stratified sampling was carried out in China Medical University, Liaoning Province, China. A total of 1,013 medical students participated in this study. The questionnaires pertaining to the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-26), the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), and the Self-control Scale (SCS) were used to assess the levels of alexithymia, mindfulness and self-control. We used Hierarchical Multiple Regression (HMR) and structural equation modeling to explore the mediating role of mindfulness between self-control and alexithymia.

Results

The mean score of alexithymia in medical students was 69.39 ± 9.9. After controlling for confounders, males were more likely to experience alexithymia. Self-control, acting with awareness, describing, and observing in mindfulness were negatively associated with alexithymia (P < 0.01). Mindfulness mediated the relationship between self-control and alexithymia (a*b = -0.06, BCa 95% CI: -0.09 to -0.031, Percentile 95% CI: -0.089 to -0.031).

Conclusion

Chinese medical students experienced high levels of alexithymia. Self-control could directly attenuate alexithymia for medical students and indirectly affect alexithymia through the mediating path of mindfulness. Initiatives for self-control ability enhancement should be provided to medical students to combat alexithymia. And interventions on mindfulness training should be developed to prevent from alexithymia and promote their mental health.

Compliance with COVID-19 public health guidelines: an attitude-behaviour gap bridged by personal concern and distance to conspiracy ideation

OBJECTIVE

This study examined predictors of compliance with public health guidelines to curb transmission of COVID-19.

DESIGN

Applying an exploratory longitudinal design, participants (N = 431) from Germany and Austria completed surveys in April/May 2020 (T1) and July/August 2020 (T2).

MEASURES

Three outcome measures operationalised compliance with public health guidelines at T2: self-reported adherence (behavioural), agreement and opposition (attitudinal). At T1, demographics, perceived distress (PHQ-4, crisis of meaning), resources (self-control, meaningfulness), locus of control, conspiracy mentality and social media use were assessed. At T2, situational variables were added (person at risk, infection of close person, fear of infection, COVID-19 stress). Temporal shifts from T1 to T2 were examined as complementary information.

RESULTS

An attitude-behaviour gap at T2 was identified, as agreement with and opposition to the guidelines were only modestly correlated with adherence to them. Measures of personal concern (fear of infection, person at risk) were associated with both adherence and positive attitudes towards the measures. COVID-19 stress and conspiracy mentality predicted negative attitudes, but not adherence. Age predicted adherence positively, social media use negatively.

CONCLUSION

The findings support the significance of personal concern for compliance with public health guidelines and suggest a critical impact of social media use and conspiracy mentality.

Mediation effects of post-series depression on the relationship between life satisfaction and positive mental health of Vietnamese: A cross-sectional study in COVID-19 pandemic context

Vietnam, a middle-income country, has been suffering four waves of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and a massive lockdown to suppress the spread of this infectious disease. Consequently, COVID-19 has caused psychological ramifications and affected humankind’s life satisfaction. Because of the lockdown period, numerous people had plentiful time. Hence, they found solace in excessive watching of television and movies, which could lead to post-series depression. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between life satisfaction (LS), post-series depression (PSD), and positive mental health (PMH) and inquire about the mediation effect of satisfaction of life and PSD. A total of 2,572 participants who were voluntarily recruited from various media platforms completed self-report questionnaires, including the Satisfaction with life scale, Post-series depression scale, and Positive Mental Health Scale. This study was assessed using the PLS-SEM approach. The findings of this research discovered (i) a significantly positive effect of LS on PMH; (ii) a significantly negative effect of PSD on PMH; (iii) a significantly negative effect of LS on PSD, and (iv) a significant indirect effect of LS on PMH through PSD. The study provided additional evidence to the relationship between life satisfaction and PMH of individuals. Besides, the negative effects of PSD, which is a non-clinical term for feeling down that frequently appears after individuals finish their much-loved film and TV series, on individuals’ PMH is proved, especially in the COVID-19 pandemic context in which Vietnamese people must remain in their current location.

Developments in early adolescents' self-regulation: The importance of teachers' supportive vs. undermining behavior

Research has established that the ability to self-regulate is an important factor in adolescents' learning, and cognitive and social functioning. Several theories on self-regulation and classroom studies suggest effects of the social learning environment on students' self-regulation. However, most studies investigating these relations have a cross-sectional correlational design and do not relate to adolescents, resulting in little knowledge about causal directions and adolescents. This study extends existing research by examining effects of a selection of supportive and undermining teacher behavior dimensions on early adolescents' development of self-regulation (self-regulated learning). The teacher behavior dimensions are based on ideas of the self-determination theory in which a distinction is made between dimensions that support vs. thwart three basic psychological needs (need for autonomy, competence, and relatedness) which are assumed to be important for human growth and (psychological) well-functioning. Supporting autonomy, delivering structure, and being involved with the students are assumed to be important for the fulfillment of students' basic psychological needs, while exhibiting controlling instructional behavior, having chaos, uncertainty and inconsistency in the classroom, and rejection and neglect of students, are supposed to be a treat. Questionnaires were used for measuring students' perceptions of their teachers' behavior and their own self-regulation at several points in time during their first year of secondary education. Participants in the study were 566 students belonging to 20 Mathematics/English grade-7 secondary education classes in The Netherlands. Multilevel analyses point to the importance of all three teacher need-supportive dimensions (with highest effects of structure and involvement) and indicated that teachers' need-thwarting behavior negatively affected students' self-regulation. However, when corresponding supportive and thwarting teacher behavior dimensions were included together in the same multilevel model, only the effect of the undermining dimension of controlling teacher behavior remained significant in addition to the corresponding autonomy-support dimension. Findings are in line with existing research and highlight the importance of both teachers' need-supportive and teachers' need-thwarting behavior in daily secondary-education classrooms and contribute to deepen our insight in and understanding of factors (related to external regulation by teachers) leading to positive and negative developments of early adolescents' self-regulation, and, in particular, their self-regulated learning.

Large studies reveal how reference bias limits policy applications of self-report measures

There is growing policy interest in identifying contexts that cultivate self-regulation. Doing so often entails comparing groups of individuals (e.g., from different schools). We show that self-report questionnaires-the most prevalent modality for assessing self-regulation-are prone to reference bias, defined as systematic error arising from differences in the implicit standards by which individuals evaluate behavior. In three studies, adolescents (N = 229,685) whose peers performed better academically rated themselves lower in self-regulation and held higher standards for self-regulation. This effect was not observed for task measures of self-regulation and led to paradoxical predictions of college persistence 6 years later. These findings suggest that standards for self-regulation vary by social group, limiting the policy applications of self-report questionnaires.

Factors influencing tourists' shared bicycle loyalty in Hangzhou, China

Focusing on Hangzhou, a famous tourist city in China, in this study, four regression models were constructed through four items of tourist loyalty to investigate the influence of tourist perceptions and characteristics on male and female tourist loyalty to shared bicycles. A questionnaire survey and ordered logistic regression model techniques were used. Survey data from 467 tourists indicated that there were significant differences between male and female tourists. For male tourists, their willingness to reuse shared bicycles (Models 1 and 2) was positively correlated with ease of access to cycles, environmental awareness, psychological benefit, and management provision; however, their willingness to recommend shared bicycles (Models 3 and 4) was only affected by environmental awareness, psychological benefit, and management provision. Among female tourists, willingness to reuse shared bicycles (Models 1 and 2) was affected by ease of access to cycles, environmental awareness, and rule adherence, while their willingness to recommend shared bicycles (Models 3 and 4) was affected by ease of access to cycles, environmental awareness, psychological benefit, and managerial provision. In addition, female tourists' socio-demographic and behavioral characteristics had a significant impact on their loyalty, among which length of stay in Hangzhou and education were significant in the four regression models, and number of visits to Hangzhou had a positive impact on female tourists' willingness to reuse (Models 1 and 2). In addition, female tourists who used Hellobike had higher willingness to reuse and recommend than those who used Mobike. For male tourists, only length of stay in Hangzhou had a significant impact on their reuse intention (Model 2). The current study extends the theory of attribution to explore the factors which may affect tourist's loyalty to bicycle-sharing from the perspectives of tourists' perceptions. It will provide further support to decision makers in the development of new shared-bicycle systems at Chinese tourist destinations, with the aim of strengthening tourist loyalty to shared-bicycle programs.

The Mediating Role of Work Engagement in the Relationship between Executive Functioning Deficits and Employee Well-Being

Executive functioning and its related components have been found to promote well-being. However, there is a limited understanding of the underlying mechanism. Drawing from the job demands-resources and PERMA models, the present study examined the hypothetical mediating role of work engagement in the relationship between executive functioning deficit and well-being among 314 working adults in Malaysia. Participants answered a survey consisting of the Executive Skills Questionnaire-Revised (ESQ-R; a new measure of executive functioning deficits for working adults), Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, Employee Well-Being Scale, and Self-Rated Creativity Scale. Pearson correlation analysis showed that the ESQ-R score was negatively associated with all other target variables, while the latter was positively related to each other. Moreover, supporting the hypotheses, the results of mediation analysis using PROCESS macro found that work engagement mediated the negative relationship between executive functioning deficits and well-being after statistically controlling for the creativity score. The findings not only replicate the beneficial role of executive functioning in employees' well-being but also shed light on the underlying process of the relationship. Implications and directions for future studies are discussed.

Problematic Internet use in Adults: The Role of Happiness, Psychological Resilience, Dispositional Hope, and Self-control and Self-management

There is increasing literature examining the use of problematic internet in the context of psychological factors. Most of these studies are focused on the young population. On the other hand, the prolongation of human life and the increasing rate of adult individuals in society's population cannot be ignored. It is seen that the number of research examining the use of problematic internet in the context of psychological factors is quite limited. In this current study, the problematic internet usage of primary and secondary school students' parents was examined in happiness, psychological resilience, dispositional hope, self-control and self-management. The research was conducted on 1123 parents. Path analysis was performed to discover the relations between the structures. As a result of the path analysis, it was determined that there is a significant negative relationship between problematic internet use and happiness, problematic internet use and psychological resilience, problematic internet use, and dispositional hope. According to these findings, adults' high happiness levels, psychological resilience, and hope levels will reduce their problematic internet use. It has been determined that there is a significant indirect relationship between self-control and self-management and problematic internet use. Happiness, psychological resilience, and dispositional hope mediating role in this relationship. Increasing parents' happiness levels, developing psychological resilience, increasing dispositional hope levels, and developing self-control and self-management skills will reduce problematic internet use. In line with the findings, what can be done to reduce the use of problematic internet has been discussed.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10942-022-00482-y.

Longitudinal evidence that Event Related Potential measures of self-regulation do not predict everyday goal pursuit

Self-regulation has been studied across levels of analysis; however, little attention has been paid to the extent to which self-report, neural, and behavioral indices predict goal pursuit in real-life. We use a mixed-method approach (N = 201) to triangulate evidence among established measures of different aspects of self-regulation to predict both the process of goal pursuit using experience sampling, as well as longer-term goal progress at 1, 3, and 6-month follow-ups. While self-reported trait self-control predicts goal attainment months later, we observe a null relationship between longitudinal goal attainment and ERPs associated with performance-monitoring and reactivity to positive/rewarding stimuli. Despite evidence that these ERPs are reliable and trait-like, and despite theorizing that suggests otherwise, our findings suggest that these ERPs are not meaningfully associated with everyday goal attainment. These findings challenge the ecological validity of brain measures thought to assess aspects of self-regulation.

Self-regulation helps people to achieve their goals, and has been studied across modalities. Here, the authors present longitudinal evidence suggesting that common neural and behavioral measures of self-regulation derived from laboratory tasks do not predict everyday goal pursuit.

Does Self-Control Promote Prosocial Behavior? Evidence from a Longitudinal Tracking Study

Although numerous researches have shown that self-control is a significant promoter of prosocial behavior, the mechanism behind this relationship is still unclear. According to the organism–environment interaction model and self-control model, this study researched whether life satisfaction played a mediating role between self-control and adolescents’ prosocial behavior and if friendship quality played a moderating role between self-control and prosocial behavior. This study used a longitudinal tracking research (T1&T2; and the interval between T1&T2 is 6 months). A total of 1182 Chinese middle school students participated the survey. They were between 12 and 15 years old (average age: 14.16 years old, SD = 1.29). Results indicated that life satisfaction played a mediating role between self-control and adolescents’ prosocial behavior. Furthermore, this direct relationship in the link between self-control and prosocial behavior was significant when adolescents had a good-quality friendship. These results highlight that life satisfaction plays an important role in the relationship between self-control and prosocial behavior. The present study further determined that a high-quality friendship was an important factor that amplified this direct effect.

Religiosity, impulsivity, and compulsivity in university students

OBJECTIVES

Prior research suggests that religiosity may be associated with healthier levels of mental health in certain domains (eg, higher self-esteem and lower rates of substance use problems). However, very little is known about religiosity and impulsive plus compulsive tendencies. This study examined associations between religiosity and impulsive and compulsive behaviors and traits among university students.

METHODS

Nine thousand, four hundred and forty-nine students received a 156-item anonymous online survey which assessed religiosity, alcohol and drug use, mental health issues, and impulsive and compulsive traits. Two groups of interest were defined: those with high religiosity, and those with low religiosity, based on z-scores. The two groups were compared on the measures of interest.

RESULTS

Three thousand, five hundred and seventy-two university students (57.1% female) responded to the survey. Those with high levels of organizational religious activity, as well as those with high levels of intrinsic or subjective religiosity, differed from their fellow students in having better self-esteem, being less likely to have alcohol or drug problems, and generally being less impulsive in terms of attention and planning. Compulsivity did not differ between groups. Associations were of small effect size except for the link between religiosity and lower impulsivity, which was of medium effect size.

CONCLUSION

This study shows a link between higher religiosity and lower impulsivity, as well as higher levels of mental health across several domains. Whether these associations are causal-and if so, the direction of such causality-requires rigorous longitudinal research.

Social Support and Drug Abstention Motivation among Chinese Male Drug Addicts: A Moderated Mediation Model of Self-Control and Sensation-Seeking

The goal of this study is to examine how social support affects Chinese male drug addicts’ abstention motivation. To elucidate the mechanism as well as the boundary condition of the aforesaid influence, self-control and sensation-seeking were induced. Using the questionnaire method, the cross-sectional data were collected from 498 male drug addicts from one hospital and four compulsory isolation drug abstention centers in Central China region. The results indicated that social support has a positive direct and indirect effect on abstention motivation. The indirect influence is that the impact of social support on abstention motivation is mediated by self-control. The direct effect was moderated by sensation-seeking. Specifically, for individuals with low sensation-seeking, social support can significantly increase drug abstinence motivation, but this effect was not significant for those with high sensation-seeking. Theoretical and practical implications of the results were discussed.

Person × domain interactions in resisting desires in daily life

Self-control has predominantly been characterized as a domain-general individual difference, assuming that highly self-controlled individuals are generally, that is, irrespective of domain, better at resisting their desires. However, qualitative differences in the domains in which these desires emerge and how individuals interact with these domains have rarely been examined. We re-analyzed three experience sampling datasets ( N participants = 431, N observations = 15,962) and found that person × domain interactions predicted significant additional variance in momentary self-control above and beyond person differences, ranging from additional 6.2% of variance in desire strength to 17.0% of variance in conflict strength. Moreover, person × domain interactions in resistance strength predicted significantly more variance in resistance success than person or domain differences. Nevertheless, the number of individual resistance profiles was too diverse to be meaningfully reduced to a core set of latent resistance profiles. Thus, our results demonstrate the importance of considering person × domain interactions in future investigations of self-control and show that there is great diversity in how and how successfully different people interact with their self-control conflicts in different domains.

Appraisal self-respect: Scale validation and construct implications

Despite the widely accepted recognition of the notion of self-respect and its importance for emotional well-being, it has received scant attention in the psychological literature. We report on the development and validation of a scale to measure trait (character-based) appraisal self-respect (ASR), conceptualised as a disposition to perceive or appraise oneself as being a respectworthy honourable person. We tested the factor structure, reliability, convergent, discriminant and criterion validity of the ASR scale in samples of adult individuals (combined N = 1910 across samples). The resulting ASR scale was found to be essentially unidimensional and showed good internal and acceptable test-retest reliability. Trait ASR was correlated with (yet distinct from) theoretically related measures of global self-esteem, moral self and principledness, and was distinct from other self-esteem facets not based on honourable character traits. Importantly, it related to well-being and prosocial behaviour over-and-above self-esteem. The validation work served to consolidate the theoretical boundaries and utility of this important concept.