The Role of Self-esteem and Fear of Negative Evaluation in Compulsive Buying

Relationship between fear of evaluation, ambivalence over emotional expression, and self-compassion among university students

BACKGROUND

This study focuses on college students as research subjects, exploring the relationship between fear of evaluation, ambivalence over emotional expression, and self-care, as well as the moderating effect of self-care on the prediction of ambivalence over emotional expression by fear of evaluation.

METHODS

This study selected physical education college students in Sichuan Province as the research participants. Convenience sampling was used to recruit participants through public recruitment information and questionnaire links on online platforms commonly used by college students. The questionnaire was distributed at two different time points to reduce the effect of common method bias. A total of 858 questionnaires were distributed, after excluding duplicate responses, a total of 743 valid questionnaires were obtained.

RESULTS

The result as following: (1) College students exhibit a moderate to high level of negative fear of evaluation, ambivalence over emotional expression, and self-care, with female students having higher negative fear of evaluation; (2) There are significant correlations between fear of evaluation, ambivalence over emotional expression, and self-care; (3) Fear of evaluation and self-care can predict ambivalence over emotional expression, but self-care does not have a moderating effect on the prediction of ambivalence over emotional expression by fear of evaluation; (4) Self-care and negative self-care both have a moderating effect on the prediction of emotion rumination by positive fear of evaluation.

CONCLUSIONS

In the past, rumination has often been considered a manifestation of excessive rumination and anxiety. However, this study found that self-compassion's modulation on fear of positive evaluation intensifies its impact on emotional rumination. Research suggests that moderate emotional rumination may not necessarily be a negative outcome and reflects a positive emotional adjustment process to some extent. Therefore, future studies can further explore the growth and decline of internal rumination processes in self-compassion or counseling, and potentially gain a better understanding of key elements of personal growth.

Exploring the associations between early maladaptive schemas and impulsive and compulsive buying tendencies

The main purpose of this preliminary study was to investigate a potential relationship between early maladaptive schemas (EMSs) and impulsive and compulsive buying tendencies in a sample of young adults (college students). This research adds to the cognitive perspective of consumer behavior that the cognitive schemas putatively associated with early experiences may have a strong impact on impulsive and compulsive buying. Data was obtained from 365 participants in a cross-sectional study design. Participants completed an online survey with the following instruments: Young Schema Questionnaire; Impulsive Buying Tendency Measurement Scale; Richmond Compulsive Buying Scale; and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Using multiple linear hierarchical regressions, we confirmed that the domain of over vigilance and inhibition schemas was positively associated with impulsive and compulsive buying tendencies, while an opposite association was found for the domain of impaired limits. Being a female was also a predictor of impulsive buying and compulsive buying. The results were discussed in terms of the coping mechanisms to deal with negative emotions, as a way to obtain rewards, or as a way to escape painful self-awareness. Other mechanisms related to the internalization of perfectionist expectations and the propensity to shame were also explored.

Exploring the Mechanism of Subjective Social Status on Compulsive Shopping Behavior: A Moderated Mediation Model of Self-compassion and Depression

The present study aimed to explore the mediating role of depression in the relationship between subjective social status (SSS) and compulsive shopping behavior (CSB) and whether self-compassion (SC) played a moderating role in this model. The study was designed based on the cross-sectional method. The final sample includes 664 Vietnamese adults (Mage = 21.95, SD = 5.681 years). Participants completed an online survey, including questionnaires about SSS, CSB, depression, SC, and basic demographic information. First, the study results showed that SSS did not directly affect CSB (p > .05, 95% CI includes zero). Second, a mediating role of depression and a moderating role of SC in the research model was discovered (p < .001, 95% CI does not contain zero). Results indicated that individuals with a higher SSS experienced lower depression. Moreover, during a depressive episode, having a higher level of SC increases CSB. The study highlighted meaningful recommendations to promote consumers' mental health and healthy shopping behaviors.

Fear of positive evaluation differentially predicts social anxiety: a six-month longitudinal panel study

This study investigated whether (a) fear of negative evaluation (FNE) and fear of positive evaluation (FPE) prospectively predict the other, (b) FPE predicts social anxiety controlling for FNE, and (c) FPE predicts social anxiety symptoms but not general anxiety and depression. Data were collected from a student sample at two time points over six months. The cross-lagged structural equation modeling results revealed that FNE and FPE do not prospectively predict the other, FPE positively predicts social anxiety symptoms controlling for FNE, and FPE does not significantly predict general anxiety or depression. These results confirmed that FNE and FPE are distinctively related to social anxiety. Moreover, the study findings indicated that FPE may be a factor unique to social anxiety.

Fear of negative evaluation: A cross-sectional study among undergraduate nursing students

OBJECTIVE

To understand the current fear of negative evaluation among undergraduate nursing students and analyse the factors influencing it.

METHODS

A general information questionnaire, the scale of fear of negative evaluation, and the fear of positive evaluation scale were used to survey 546 undergraduate nursing students at Guizhou Medical University, China.

RESULTS

Undergraduate nursing students scored a total of (15.90 ± 7.18) negative evaluation fears, which is at an intermediate level. Gender, left-behind experience, whether in a romantic relationship, personality, and fear of positive evaluation entered the multiple regression equation and explained 29.1 % of the total variance.

CONCLUSIONS

The fear of negative evaluation among undergraduate nursing students was moderate. Nursing students' gender, left-behind experience, whether in a romantic relationship, personality, and fear of positive evaluation were important factors influencing their level of fear of negative evaluation. Nursing educators and administrators should be aware of nursing students' evaluation fears and select targeted evaluation strategies to promote the development of high-quality nursing talent.

The Roles of Anxiety and Self-Esteem in the Risk of Eating Disorders and Compulsive Buying Behavior

In contemporary society, following the sudden changes that occur, different forms of addiction are becoming popular. Of note are the new addictions and concepts of poly-dependencies that involve common behaviors and trap people who suffering from them in a vicious circle. The main goal of this study is to investigate the possible mediating role that self-esteem had between trait anxiety and two specific new addictions: compulsive buying behavior and eating disorders. Furthermore, it was verified through a multigroup analysis that trait anxiety had a greater effect on eating disorders in a group of compulsive consumers. Three-hundred and fifty-two participants (67.9% women) were enrolled to participate in this study. The results showed that there was a direct effect of trait anxiety on eating disorders and on compulsive buying behavior; self-esteem mediated the effect of trait anxiety on eating disorders and compulsive buying behavior with specific differences; multi-group analysis showed differences in anxiety's effect on eating disorders between compulsive and non-compulsive consumers; the group of compulsive consumers revealed a significant and stronger effect of trait anxiety on eating disorders in all domains identified. Further research is recommended to better understand the predictors of these disorders and to contribute to a more effective preventive intervention.

What Do We Know When We Know a Compulsive Buying Person? Looking at Now and Ahead

Over the last few decades, research has seamlessly confirmed the marked multicausal nature of compulsive buying, since variables from different realms (e.g., family, social, and contextual domains) have demonstrated their explanatory capacity. However, it has been personality variables that have, to a greater extent, aroused the interest of researchers, leading to what is now a cumbersome richness of personal constructs of different nature that seem to require some arrangement under integrative frameworks. The proposal by McAdams under the suggestive title of "What do we know when we know a person?" is, in this regard, especially attractive and thought-provoking. McAdams approaches us to the person as a whole by establishing three differentiated levels (dispositional traits, personal concerns or characteristics adaptations, life story), and it will be precisely these levels that will become the structure we will use to address the state of the art on compulsive buyers. The location of the multiple personal variables analyzed at each of the levels with a common grammar will allow us to identify what it is known, as well as what remains to be done in each space. Lastly, suggestions for the future are given, with particular emphasis on advancing our understanding of the person from each of the academic vantage points but also the suitability of designing studies that integrate and/or build bridges between dispositional traits, characteristic adaptations, and life narratives. The hope is that research in the coming years satisfactorily integrates the different visions of the person to achieve a more comprehensive, nuanced portrait of a person with compulsive buying problems.

Problematic Shopping Behavior: An Item Response Theory Examination of the Seven-Item Bergen Shopping Addiction Scale

There has been an increasing amount of research examining problematic shopping behavior (PSB), often referred to in the psychological literature as "compulsive buying" or "shopping addiction." A popular scale for assessing the risk of PSB is the seven-item Bergen Shopping Addiction Scale (BSAS). To expand our knowledge of the psychometric properties of this instrument, the present study employed Item Response Theory (IRT) and differential item functioning analyses (DIF) while concurrently attempting to determine a preliminary cut-off point. A relatively large community sample completed the BSAS online (N = 968, M age = 29.5 years, SD age = 9.36, 32.5% women). IRT analyses showed differences regarding the BSAS items' discrimination, difficulty, and precision, with a raw score exceeding 23 (out of 28) indicating a higher risk of shopping addiction. Finally, while most BSAS items operated equally among males and females, Item 2 (mood modification) required a higher level of shopping addiction behaviors to be endorsed by males. The BSAS functions as a reliable assessment of the risk of shopping addiction, particularly between average and high levels of the trait. Clinical implications are discussed in light of these findings.

Are gender roles associated with well-being indicators? The role of femininity, fear of negative evaluation, and regret in decision-making in a spanish sample

Gender roles operate as a social schema through which people learn how they must behave and make decisions; that is, socially, what women and men are expected to do is pre-established. This gender socialization is such a deep-rooted process that people may not aware of how they have been socialized, which is thus often is difficult to analyze in people's discussions of their own decision-making. On this basis, this research examines whether endorsing gender roles could be related to women’s decisions (regret), as well as the possible consequences for their well-being. Moreover, we analyzed the content of the most important decisions that people make throughout their lives. Therefore, this research aimed to understand the meaning of gender and how its internalization seems to be related to sex differences in decision-making and well-being. In a sample of the Spanish general population (N = 203; Mage = 41.70, SD = 10.93; range from 20 to 65 years old), results showed that women (vs. men) had a greater internalization of gender roles (i.e., femininity), which was associated with higher fear of negative evaluation. This, in turn, was associated with experienced regret in decision-making, which finally seemed to lead to lower well-being. Analysis of the content of decisions showed that women’s decisions were based mainly on work and family domains, whereas men’s decisions were based on work to a greater extent.

Life Aspirations, Generativity and Compulsive Buying in University Students

The study of goal-oriented behaviour, because of its undeniable repercussions on physical and mental health, is one of the target topics of contemporary research. However, the content of life aspirations, emphasised from the self-determination theory, has received little attention from the field of compulsive buying although it plays an important role in the regulation of behaviour and well-being. Generativity, the personal construct that captures the intentions and/or the need to contribute (leave a legacy) to others, has never been analysed with respect to compulsive buying although it has been the source of interest of related fields (responsible consumption). Accordingly, this study seeks to shed light on the role of both constructs (life aspirations and generativity) in compulsive buying among university students. The sample consisted of 1093 Spanish university students classified either as non-compulsive buyers or compulsive buyers. Estimated prevalence of compulsive buying was 7.9%. The results of Student's test confirm that, besides gender (women report greater propensity to the phenomenon), compulsive buyers score higher and show statistically significant differences with respect to non-compulsive buyers in all extrinsic goals (financial success, image, popularity and conformity) and hedonism. Non-compulsive buyers show significantly higher scores for the intrinsic goals of self-acceptance, affiliation and community feeling and also report a higher generative concern. The logistic regression analysis confirms that being female and the life aspirations of image, popularity and hedonism act as risk factors in compulsive buying in university students while generativity and the importance granted to the intrinsic goals of self-acceptance and affiliation are protective factors. Potential lines of action for this worrying phenomenon are discussed in the light of the findings.

Exploring the Roles of Daily Spiritual Experiences, Self-Efficacy, and Gender in Shopping Addiction: A Moderated Mediation Model

Although spirituality has been considered a protective factor against shopping addiction, the mechanisms involved in this relationship are still poorly recognized. The present study aims to test the association of daily spiritual experiences, self-efficacy, and gender with shopping addiction. The sample consisted of 430 young adults (275 women and 155 men), with a mean age of 20.44 (SD = 1.70). The Daily Spiritual Experiences Scale, the General Self-Efficacy Scale, and the Bergen Shopping Addiction Scale were used to measure the study variables. The results showed that: (1) Daily spiritual experiences had a direct negative effect on shopping addiction; (2) daily spiritual experiences were positively related to self-efficacy, thought the effect was moderated by gender; (3) self-efficacy negatively correlated with a shopping addiction; and (4) the indirect effect of daily spiritual experiences on shopping addiction through self-efficacy was significant for women but insignificant for men. The findings confirm that spirituality protects young adults against developing a shopping addiction. They also suggest that when introducing spiritual issues into shopping addiction prevention or treatment programs, the gender-specific effects of spirituality on shopping addiction via self-efficacy should be considered to adequately utilize young women’s and men’s spiritual resources.

Spanish Women Making Risky Decisions in the Social Domain: The Mediating Role of Femininity and Fear of Negative Evaluation

Authors have empirically evidenced that cultural stereotypes influence gender-typed behavior. With the present work, we have added to this literature by demonstrating that gender roles can explain sex differences in risk-taking, a stereotypically masculine domain. Our aim was to replicate previous findings and to analyze what variables affect women making risky decisions in the social domain. A sample composed of 417 Spanish participants (281 women and 136 men), between 17 and 30 years old (M = 22.34, SD = 3.01), answered a set of self-report measures referring to femininity, fear of negative evaluation, and social risk-taking. According to the main results, sex indirectly linked to risk-taking in the social domain, through femininity and fear of negative evaluation. Specifically, women (vs. men) self-reported higher feminine traits, which were associated with increased fear of negative evaluation, which in turn was associated with less risky decisions in the social domain. Thus, we have showed the relationship between gender roles and women's behaviors in a stereotypically masculine domain (risk-taking). Our findings highlight the necessity of considering a gender-based perspective in the field of risk-taking, showing that not all women make more risky decisions in the social domain.

Buying-Shopping Disorder among Women: The Role of Vulnerability to Marketing, Buying Motives, Impulsivity, and Self-Esteem

INTRODUCTION

The influence of marketing on addictive behaviours has been studied among tobacco and alcohol users. Although the fashion industry is highly influenced by marketing, research has poorly studied vulnerability to fashion marketing as a factor related to buying-shopping disorder (BSD) while considering psychological characteristics (buying motives, impulsivity, and self-esteem).

OBJECTIVE

The objective of the present work is to investigate the relationship between vulnerability to marketing and BSD.

METHODS

Women (n = 242) were exclusively recruited through social networking. They completed an online survey exploring the severity of BSD using the Compulsive Buying Scale (CBS) and the psychological factors associated with BSD (impulsivity, self-esteem, and buying motives) and an experimental task designed to investigate the intention to purchase in several situations, where marketing modalities such as price, brand, and packaging fluctuate.

RESULTS

Among the 242 participants in the study, 34 were identified as compulsive buyers (14%). Income level was considered, and compulsive buyers displayed a higher level of vulnerability to marketing, except for the packaging modality. High levels of positive urgency, lack of premeditation, and coping motivation were found to be significant predictors of the CBS score, but vulnerability to marketing was not.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

Compulsive buyers seem to be more sensitive to marketing strategies, although vulnerability to marketing was not identified as a predictor of the severity of BSD. Given the enormous literature on the role of marketing in other addictive behaviours, further studies are needed to better understand the role of marketing in BSD to develop appropriate public health policies.

A Typology of Buyers Grounded in Psychological Risk Factors for Compulsive Buying (Impulsivity, Self-Esteem, and Buying Motives): Latent Class Analysis Approach ina Community Sample

Our objective was to identify meaningful subgroups of buyers based on psychological risk factors for compulsive buying. A community sample of 242 adult women fulfilled an online survey exploring buying habits and motives, impulsivity, self-esteem, and severity of compulsive buying. A latent class cluster analysis was performed. A nonproblematic cluster (28%) was characterized by low levels of impulsivity and buying motives. An intermediary cluster (51%) was characterized by higher levels of positive and negative reinforcement-related buying motives. Both clusters were characterized by a low frequency of compulsive buying (2 and 8%, respectively), but the severity of compulsive buying was higher for the intermediary cluster. A third cluster (21%) was characterized by a higher frequency of compulsive buying (43%), a higher severity of compulsive buying, a stronger feeling of losing control, and higher levels of negative urgency and coping motive. These results present similarities with the Interaction of Person-Affect-Cognition-Execution (I-PACE) model of addiction and the negative reinforcement model of drug addiction, which both postulate that negative feelings play a central role in motivating and maintaining addiction. These results also echo other typologies performed in problem gamblers and problematic videogame users. These similarities of psychological profiles with other addictive behaviors, and with common symptoms and clinical expressions, are supplementary arguments to consider conceptualizing compulsive buying as an addictive disorder.

Sexual Desire, Mood, Attachment Style, Impulsivity, and Self-Esteem as Predictive Factors for Addictive Cybersex

BACKGROUND

An increasing number of studies are concerned with various aspects of cybersex addiction, the difficulty some persons have in limiting cybersex use despite a negative impact on everyday life.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to assess potential links between the outcome variable cybersex addiction, assessed with the Compulsive Internet Use Scale (CIUS) adapted for cybersex use, and several psychological and psychopathological factors, including sexual desire, mood, attachment style, impulsivity, and self-esteem, by taking into account the age, sex, and sexual orientation of cybersex users.

METHODS

A Web-based survey was conducted in which participants were assessed for sociodemographic variables and with the following instruments: CIUS adapted for cybersex use, Sexual Desire Inventory, and Short Depression-Happiness Scale. Moreover, attachment style was assessed with the Experiences in Close Relationships-Revised questionnaire (Anxiety and Avoidance subscales). Impulsivity was measured by using the Urgency, Premeditation (lack of), Perseverance (lack of), Sensation Seeking, Positive Urgency Impulsive Behavior Scale. Global self-esteem was assessed with the 1-item Self-Esteem Scale.

RESULTS

A sample of 145 subjects completed the study. Addictive cybersex use was associated with higher levels of sexual desire, depressive mood, avoidant attachment style, and male gender but not with impulsivity.

CONCLUSIONS

Addictive cybersex use is a function of sexual desire, depressive mood, and avoidant attachment.

Dual diagnosis of obsessive compulsive and compulsive buying disorders: Demographic, clinical, and psychiatric correlates

AIM

The present research assessed the rates as well as the demographic, clinical, and psychiatric correlates associated with comorbid obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and compulsive buying disorder (CBD).

METHOD

Participants were drawn from a large (N = 993) multi-center study of people seeking treatment for their OCD. The diagnoses of psychiatric disorders were made using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM by registered psychologists and psychiatrists. The clinical correlates, including the severity and presence of OCD symptoms and dimensions were assessed using psychometrically sound measures.

RESULTS

75 (7.5%) participants met criteria for comorbid CBD. The results of binary logistic regression found that women were more likely to present with comorbid CBD, whereas being a student was a protective factor. The presence of hoarding dimension, poorer insight, social phobia, binge eating disorder, internet use disorder and kleptomania were significantly associated with comorbid CBD.

CONCLUSION

The results suggest that individuals with a dual diagnosis of OCD and CBD may represent a unique clinical population that warrants tailored interventions. Specifically, they were more likely to present with other psychiatric disorders characterized by high levels of impulsivity and compulsivity. Targeting psychological mechanisms common to impulsivity-compulsivity disorders may enhance treatment utility in this dual-diagnosis population.