Search Results (6)

Meaning-centered coping is regarded as an effective strategy for managing stress and preventing mental disorders. However, it remains unclear how it influences mental health by affecting both the self and social connection dimensions. This study investigated 856 college students through a questionnaire, examining how meaning-centered coping affects their mental health (depression and anxiety). Additionally, this study explored the roles of interdependent self-construal and school connectedness as mediators in this process. The results indicate that meaning-centered coping influences mental health either via the mediation of school connectedness alone (indirect effect for depression: β = −0.08, 95% CI [−0.11, −0.04]; for anxiety: β = −0.06, 95% CI [−0.10, −0.03]) or via the sequential mediation of interdependent self-construal and school connectedness (indirect effect for depression: β = −0.08, 95% CI [−0.11, −0.05]; for anxiety: β = −0.06, 95% CI [−0.10, −0.04]). This study reveals that college students who are skilled at seeking and reconstructing their sense of meaning can effectively cope with stress and alleviate related depression and anxiety. This coping mechanism operates through perceived school connectedness or through activated interdependent self-construal followed by perceived school connectedness, subsequently reducing anxiety and depression induced by chronic stress. This study theoretically deepens the comprehension of the mechanism on meaning-centered coping, while practically, the findings provide valuable insights for educating training college students to leverage the wisdom of meaning theory to sustain their mental health in future challenges. Full article

Limited research has explored the connection between stress and value conflicts, particularly the influence of self-construal and self-concept clarity. This study surveyed a sample of 752 Chinese college students using the Depression–Anxiety-Stress Scale, Self-Construal Scale, Self-Concept Clarity Scale, and Portrait Values Questionnaire. The findings demonstrated that stress levels among participants were significantly associated with conflicts between self-transcendence and self-enhancement values, but no significant relationship was observed with openness vs. conservation conflicts. Mediation analysis revealed that self-concept clarity partially mediated this relationship. Additionally, moderated mediation analysis showed that the association between value conflict and self-concept clarity was stronger in students with high levels of independent self-construal. These results offer a deeper understanding of how value conflicts contribute to stress, highlighting potential pathways for targeted mental health interventions. Future studies should address the limitations of the current research and explore these relationships in more diverse contexts. Full article

This study explores the role of self-transcendence values in reducing anxiety among Chinese undergraduates, with a particular focus on how self-enhancement values and self-construal styles moderate this relationship. A total of 567 undergraduate students were assessed using the Portrait Values Questionnaire (PVQ-21), the Trait Anxiety Inventory (T-AI), and the Self-Construal Scale (SCS). Hierarchical regression and moderated moderation analyses were conducted to test the interactions between the variables. The findings suggest that self-enhancement moderated the association between self-transcendence and anxiety, particularly in individuals with low self-enhancement. Furthermore, the moderating effect of self-enhancement was influenced by dominant self-construal. These findings have practical implications for integrating value-based interventions in educational and public health strategies aimed at improving mental well-being among university students. Full article

As globalisation increases, more teachers are teaching abroad. New teaching contexts present challenges to international teachers’ mental health. According to appraisal theory, the elicitation of an emotion is an interplay between situational (context) and dispositional (beliefs) antecedents, and people’s built-in dispositions are socially constructed and culturally shaped. Based on this premise, it can be assumed that, compared with local teachers, international teachers may experience different types or intensities of emotions due to their different beliefs and goals when they confront the same disruptive behaviours by students in the classroom. The aim of this research is to investigate Chinese teachers’ and British teachers’ emotional experiences while working in universities in the UK through a mixed methods study. The methodology that is employed in the present research is a pragmatic approach. A sequential mixed-methods design was used to examine the assumptions and discover possible explanations for the phenomenon. Study One investigated 99 participants (47 Chinese teachers and 52 British teachers) through a novel video-based survey and found that university teachers who were originally from China experienced a significantly higher level of anxiety and shame than teachers who were originally from Britain. The results show that in a new cultural context, international teachers can experience higher-level negative emotions in comparison with indigenous teachers. Study Two used semi-structured interviews to examine what factors could result in the differences discovered by Study One. The results indicated that the appraisal dimension of accountability and self-construals, shaped by cultural values, were the key factors influencing teachers’ emotional experiences. Overall, the research findings have implications for supporting international teachers’ emotional acculturation and the sustainable development of both policymakers and practitioners in foreign teaching contexts. Full article

The modern-day corporate sector implements various forms of socially responsible programs, perhaps with different motives. Nevertheless, harnessing potential support towards such initiatives from stakeholders is vital. In this regard, researchers previously uncovered that the processes of psychological reaction to the request of time and money donations are different, yet the influence of psychological distance on time and money donation behavior has not been explicitly explored. Hence, this research investigates how temporal distance and value accessibility lead to different types and sizes of donation. The findings reveal that when individuals jointly evaluate donation options, temporal distance evokes dissimilar mental processes, subsequently leading them to provide time donations (near future) or money donations (distance future). With respect to the size of the donation, temporal distance has an impact on donating money, but not on time. Notably, the self-construal level interacted with temporal distance more so than that of personality traits to bring about strong donation behavior. This interaction is more pronounced and visible in relation to money donation than to time donation. In addition, implications of this research are also considered and discussed. Full article

Independent of the left-right model of ideological structure, genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in food and agriculture are resented across the political spectrum in Switzerland. In the absence of any real experience with genetically modified (GM) food but faced with continuous exposure to warning messages in the media, conditioned feelings related to such a politically sensitive product may have a significant influence on revealed consumer choice. In our large-scale field study, we examined this assumption by selling three types of bread labeled as ‘made with organic corn’, ‘made with genetically modified corn’ and ‘made with conventional corn’ respectively in five locations across Switzerland using different price scenarios and selling groups. Customers who decided to buy bread also received an envelope containing a questionnaire about their prior political attitude expressed through their voting decision in a national referendum on a five-year ban on GMOs in 2005. The results demonstrate that consumer purchase decisions are determined by contextual factors not captured by general political attitudes. Surprisingly, the mere presence of GM food did have a positive impact on overall sales. The assumption that consumers would feel turned off by the mere presence of GM food for political reasons can therefore be safely discarded. Full article