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Previous research revealed that meaning in life is related positively to psychological engagement with art (i.e., aesthetic engagement), such as interest in art, knowledge about art, awe around art, and supernatural attributions for art experiences. We extended this work by considering the relevance of dispositions toward aesthetics (i.e., aesthetic dispositions), such as openness to experience, creativity in general and in art, and religious belief salience. Specifically, we proposed a conceptual model relating aesthetic dispositions, aesthetic engagement, and meaning in life. We tested hypotheses derived from the model with an online sample of N = 696 artists. Correlational results supported our hypotheses and replicated previous findings. Path analytic results showed that interest in art mediated associations between aesthetic dispositions and meaning in life. The results contribute to empirical work on aesthetic cognitivism, the philosophical stance that art can lead to understanding, by shedding light on factors associated with meaningful interactions with art. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why do people make supernatural attributions (SA) for events? This article focused on five possible predictors: stressfulness, unusual events, religiousness, seeing a supernatural explanation as meaningful, and seeing supernatural entities as powerful. We also predicted that people would be more likely to adopt supernatural explanations seen as highly accessible, motivating, and plausible. We focused primarily on SA in general and secondarily on specific entities. We tested preregistered hypotheses using survey data in two samples of undergraduates: one reporting life‐changing events (N = 594) and another reporting on an event with a supernatural air, or supernaturally perceived events (N = 475). Results supported all proposed predictors except for stressfulness. Path analyses revealed that, in both samples, predictors were linked with seeing supernatural explanations as accessible, plausible, and motivating; these ratings, in turn, had positive associations with SA. These results begin to integrate previous theory and research on individual predictors of SA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Psychedelic substances, which can occasion mystical experiences, are sometimes used for religious and spiritual reasons. Despite strong links between psychedelics and spirituality, no previous systematic review has investigated connections between psychedelics and indicators of long-term spiritual growth. Thus, 34 empirical studies were analyzed with 19,724 total participants from 32 independent samples. A variety of methodologies were used among the reviewed studies, and some studies included international samples. Results showed that psychedelics—especially classic psychedelics (e.g., psilocybin, LSD, and DMT)—have been studied more often in this context than other substances. Findings indicate that psychedelic use is linked with a variety of subjective indicators of spiritual growth, including stronger perceived connections with the divine, a greater sense of meaning, increased spiritual faith, increased engagement in religious and spiritual practices, an increase in feelings of unity and self-transcendence, positive changes in worldview, increased connectedness with others, and reduced fear of death. Many studies that reported on one of these indicators also reported on others, implying a co-occurrence of these facets during and after psychedelic experiences. Spiritual growth was often related to mystical experiences, with higher mystical experience ratings associating positively with perceived spiritual growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: What types of moral improvements do people wish to make? Do they hope to become more good, or less bad? Do they wish to be more caring? More honest? More loyal? And why exactly do they want to become more moral? Presumably, most people want to improve their morality because this would benefit others, but is this in fact their primary motivation? Here, we begin to investigate these questions. Method: Across two large, preregistered studies (N = 1818), participants provided open‐ended descriptions of one change they could make in order to become more moral; they then reported their beliefs about and motives for this change. Results: In both studies, people most frequently expressed desires to improve their compassion and more often framed their moral improvement goals in terms of amplifying good behaviors than curbing bad ones. The strongest predictor of moral motivation was the extent to which people believed that making the change would have positive consequences for their own well‐being. Conclusions: Together, these studies provide rich descriptive insights into how ordinary people want to be more moral, and show that they are particularly motivated to do so for their own sake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Do supernatural attributions to God and the devil relate to a sense of meaning in life? We investigated this question by conducting a three-week experience sampling study (N = 75), in which we measured daily causal attributions for both positive and negative events and assessed daily meaning (n = 1,425 total daily reports). Correlational and multilevel path analyses revealed several reliable between-person associations. People who made more attributions to God (particularly for positive events) had higher meaning, and people with stronger religious worldviews who made more attributions to the devil/demons (particularly for negative events) had higher meaning. These findings were largely robust when controlling for relevant meaning and religious/spiritual covariates. We did not find evidence for within-person associations; daily changes in attributions and meaning were not related. Consistent and enduring attributions to God and the devil/demons may be particularly meaningful ways of understanding the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To examine the interplay among Gratitude to God (GTG) and daily life experiences and affect, we conducted a 14-day diary study in a national US sample of 184 adults. GTG minimally fluctuated across days. People who experienced more daily uplifts had more daily GTG relative to both their own baseline and to others in the study, while those who experienced more daily hassles had less GTG relative to their own baseline. Trait GTG (but not religiousness) buffered these associations. Specifically, trait GTG attenuated the positive association between uplifts and PA as well as the negative association between hassles and NA. However, daily GTG was unrelated to daily affect, effects not moderated by religiousness or trait GTG. GTG may be influenced by daily experiences and may have consequences for well-being, but associations are not straightforward. In some ways, GTG may lead to lower reactivity to both positive and adverse event. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What types of attributions and appraisals predict gratitude to God (GTG)? After preregistering key hypotheses, we did an Internet survey of 1078 U.S. adults focused on a recent positive event. Even when controlling religiousness and God belief, GTG was strongly related to divine attributions for the event, which seemed more plausible when God was seen as powerful and loving and when divine attribution made the event seem more meaningful. In addition to these cognitive judgments, divine attributions and GTG were linked with desire: wanting to see God as a cause. Relationally, GTG was associated with seeing God's intentions as positive (trying to help, love, comfort, encourage, or protect), with actually feeling loved, cherished, valued, or appreciated by God in response, and with seeing the event as a divine gift – a perception more likely when people saw God as a gift-giver: giving gifts often to many people, including themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many people who see themselves as having a relationship with God think of this bond in terms of love and safety. Yet some might also see this relationship in energetic terms: as exciting, lively, passionate, or fun. An online survey asked 871 U.S. adults who believed in God to reflect on a recent positive life event. Three measures assessed relational energy or excitement: a slider item, a Likert item, and a set of eight adjectives. Regressions consistently showed that even when controlling for perceived love and safety in the relationship, this energy/excitement dimension predicted more gratitude to God, more divine attributions and gift appraisals for the event, feeling more loved by God, and greater desires to pass on kindness to others. The predictive role of energy/excitement was not reducible to religiousness, God belief, state or trait gratitude, trait gratitude to God, feeling energized, subjective vitality, or social desirability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People commonly report positive changes following stressful experiences (perceived posttraumatic growth; PPTG), yet whether PPTG validly reflects positive changes remains unestablished. We tested the extent to which COVID-19 pandemic-related PPTG relates to positive changes in corresponding psychosocial resources in a national US sample participating in a five wave study (T1-T5), focusing here on T2-T5: ns = 712 –860. We examined correlations between resource change (both latent and observed difference scores) and PPTG at each occasion and conducted structural equation models to separate occasion-specific and stable (traitlike) PPTG variance. We related changes in resources to occasion-specific and stable PPTG components. Associations between change scores and occasion-specific PPTG were sparse, providing limited evidence of PPTG validity. Associations between change scores and stable PPTG tended to be positive and stronger than associations for occasion-specific PPTG. Perceptions of growth were largely unrelated to experienced positive changes and thus appear to be largely illusory. However, a personality-like tendency to believe one grows from stressful experiences relates more strongly to actual resource growth. These results suggest that people are not accurate reporters of positive changes they experience and that interventions aimed at promoting post-traumatic growth may be premature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Could psychedelic use open the door to messages from supernatural entities, including God, the devil, or human or nature spirits? Might psychedelics allow a glimpse of some transcendent domain, consciousness, or self that exists beyond the material world? We were interested in how people's answers to these questions would relate to their attitudes about psychedelic use, legalization, and desire to use psychedelics if given a safe opportunity. After preregistering key hypotheses on the Open Science Framework, we recruited U. S. adults (final N = 800) to complete an online survey. Participants expected psychedelics to prompt psychological messages (from the brain or subconscious) more than spiritual messages, which were typically endorsed more than explicitly supernatural messages; however, even supernatural messages received moderate endorsement. As predicted, seeing psychedelics as a doorway to positive spiritual or supernatural messages (from a transcendent spiritual domain, God, human spirits, nature spirits) was linked with more positive attitudes about psychedelics, more favoring of their legalization, and more past use and interest in personal use. As expected, attitudes about psychedelics were less favorable among those who saw them as doorways to negative messages, either from supernatural evil (devil, demons, evil spirits) or from one's own mind (dark side, shadow self, "inner demons"). Beliefs in supernatural messages via psychedelics were linked with stronger supernatural beliefs, more prior psychedelic use, younger age, self-identifying as spiritual, more past experiences seen as supernatural (in general and involving psychedelics), and greater approval of psychedelics by one's religious community (where applicable). In summary, many people see psychedelics as potential sources of supernatural messages. These supernatural attributions, in turn, are closely linked with attitudes, behaviors, and past experiences related to psychedelic use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Religious and spiritual (R/S) struggles are defined as the occurrence of tension, conflict, or strain that focus on matters of ultimate significance perceived by people as sacred. The widespread prevalence of R/S struggles and the growing demand for research in this area created the need for a brief tool. Recently, the 14-item form of the Religious and Spiritual Struggles Scale was developed and validated (Exline et al. in Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 2022a). Given the significance of the empirical research on R/S struggles, we implemented the project of structure verification, internal consistency confirmation, reliability, and nomological validation of the Polish variant of the RSS-14 through three separate studies. With respect to the internal structure of the RSS-14, the CFA from three studies confirmed the good fit of the six-factor model, very similar to the one obtained in the original version of the tool. Moreover, both the total score and the subscales had high reliability and acceptable stability over the three studies. With respect to the nomological analyses, R/S struggles were related negatively to life satisfaction, presence of meaning in life, self-esteem, social desirability, religious centrality, and positively with search for meaning, God's disengagement, poorer health indicators, sleep problems, stress, and cognitive schemas (this category was the new element of our research). Polish 14-item version of the Religious and Spiritual Struggles Scale seems a valuable tool to assess religious strains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extraversion is linked to higher levels of authenticity. Why? Across four studies, we examined positive affect as a potential mediator. In Study 1 (N = 205), we tested our mediation model at the trait level. Then, focusing on the within-person state level: Study 2 (N = 97) involved a 10-week lab-based experience sampling protocol; Study 3 (N = 147) involved a preregistered week-long daily-life experience sampling protocol; and Study 4 (N = 129) involved a two-week naturalistic experience sampling protocol. In all four studies, positive affect explained moderate to high proportions of the effects of extraversion on authenticity (Study 1 = 29%, Study 2 = 38%, Study 3 = 87%, Study 4 = 86%). We discuss several theoretical interpretations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People with elevated materialistic values often report reduced life satisfaction. To understand this, our study investigated if gratitude and the spiritual jihad mindset, denoting the aspiration to bond with God through spiritual challenges, mediate this relationship. We surveyed 404 Muslim young adults (191 men; 213 women; aged 19-32) from Pakistan. Findings revealed a negative correlation between materialism and gratitude, spirituality, and life satisfaction. Conversely, gratitude, spirituality, and life satisfaction positively correlated with each other. Importantly, spiritual jihad was a negative mediator between materialism and life satisfaction, while gratitude was not significant in this role. Thus, for Muslim Pakistani university students, chasing materialistic ambitions may adversely impact well-being by neglecting spiritual closeness to Allah. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People change over time. These changes are thought to represent some self‐regulatory, dynamic processes. However, dynamic processes need to be distinguished from mere stochastic variation. Just as the Brownian motion of a dust mote does not help us understand the basic principles of classical physics, neither does random variation within an individual describe the complexity of self‐regulatory processes. This regulation implies solving the problem of competing goals and desires within the constraints of situational presses. And what people feel, think, and do at one moment affects what they feel, think and do in the next moment. Thus, describing and explaining change over time must focus on dynamics in response to environmental cues and competing internal states. That is, we must include time and change over time in our models. We will outline the constructs needed to examine time explicitly in models of personality regulation, distinguishing between those that are not inherently temporal from those that are. We will discuss how computational modeling approaches may be used to study temporal dynamics and explain personality consistency and change. We will consider different time scales and discuss how an information processing perspective may inform choices regarding time scale and corresponding contexts for empirical studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a sample of undergraduates who reported divine struggles (N= 290), we coded imagined conversations with God about the struggle for salient themes. We examined how these themes related to global views of God and struggle-specific responses to God. As hypothesized, participants with more positive global God concepts included more communal themes in their imagined expressions to God (e.g., gratitude) and responses from God (e.g., unconditional love), and they were also less likely to envision themselves complaining to God. More communal expressions and fewer complaint expressions, in turn, predicted more positive emotions, behaviors, and coping responses focused on God. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many people believe in supernatural entities, which might be personal (deities, devils, ghosts) or impersonal (fate/destiny, karma, luck). Some people see such entities as causing events in the world, including experiences in their own lives. Our study draws on social, motivational, and cognitive frameworks to predict beliefs and experiences involving supernatural entities. We hypothesized that positive predictors of beliefs in specific entities (God, the devil, ghosts/spirits, impersonal forces of fate/destiny, luck and karma) would include being taught about the entities early in life, anticipating positive reactions from peers about one's beliefs, and wanting to believe in such entities. We also proposed that beliefs in specific entities, along with beliefs that such entities can affect the natural world, would predict more perceived experiences with these entities. We preregistered and tested these hypotheses in two samples (Ns = 475 and 290) of undergraduates. Path analytic results were largely consistent across entities. Being taught to believe in a specific entity early in life predicted current desire to believe in the entity but anticipated reactions from peers did not. Current desire to believe, in turn, strongly predicted belief in the entity, belief that the entity can affect the natural world, and perceived experiences with the entity. Belief in supernatural entities strongly predicted perceived experiences with them. These results map the structure of relations between relatively stable predictors of supernatural attributions, with an emphasis on social, cognitive, and motivational factors, and they suggest some plausible pathways by which such beliefs and experiences might develop. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In two national samples in the United States, we aimed to determine the extent to which GTG is distinct from both general gratitude and general religiousness, using statistical methods to determine (1) if GTG shows patterns of association with other variables distinct from general gratitude and religiousness, and (2) whether GTG predicts wellbeing above and beyond both general gratitude and religiousness. Online studies were conducted with 267 (Study 1) and 184 (Study 2) adults. Results across the two studies were consistent in demonstrating that GTG shows associations with relevant constructs that are distinct from both general religiousness and general gratitude. Further, GTG independently predicted aspects of psychological wellbeing, although findings were not consistent across all aspects. These findings indicate GTG is a unique construct warranting future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research relating personality variables to gratitude to God (GTG) is in its nascent stages, as only a few descriptive, correlational studies have been conducted on this topic. We investigated whether two kinds of personality variables—positive emotional traits and adaptive relational styles—predicted higher GTG. Hypotheses linking these variables to GTG were based on a novel, preregistered conceptual framework. We also explored whether general gratitude statistically mediated these links. In a cross-sectional study of N = 698 undergraduates from the United States, participants completed self-report measures of personality predictors, situational GTG and situational general gratitude in response to a positive event, as well as trait GTG. Correlations showed strong support for hypotheses connecting GTG (situational and trait) with positive emotional traits (extraversion, optimism, vitality, self-esteem). Correlations also supported hypotheses for one adaptive relational style (agreeableness) but not others (honesty–humility, lack of entitlement, secure attachment). General gratitude was a mediator of associations between positive emotional traits and both trait and situational GTG, and general gratitude mediated associations between adaptive relational styles and trait GTG. These results provide initial evidence suggesting that positive emotional traits have consistent, direct (and indirect via gratitude) links to GTG, whereas the evidence for adaptive relational styles was more inconsistent and indirectly mediated via general gratitude. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When good things happen, what thoughts elicit gratitude to God (GTG)? Building on work highlighting divine attributions and appraisals, we examined whether consciously priming people to think about God would increase subsequent reports of GTG. U.S. adult participants (N = 553) completed an online survey asking them to describe a positive event from the past month. They were then randomly assigned to one of six conditions, five of which brought up beliefs about God or the idea that God might work indirectly through natural events. Contrary to preregistered predictions, there were no statistically significant differences between conditions on an open-ended or a Likert measure of GTG. Yet GTG reports differed dramatically between the open-ended question (only 20% of participants reported GTG) and a Likert item (81% of participants, and 93% of those who believed in God, endorsed some GTG). The most endorsed response on the 5-point Likert scale was 5, indicating that most people reported feeling extremely grateful to God. These results suggest that the methods used to assess GTG could have a major impact on conclusions about GTG prevalence. Yet, regardless of assessment method, and directly replicating earlier finding, several factors emerged as consistent GTG predictors: religiousness, belief in a loving, powerful, and generous God with positive intentions, attributing the positive event to God, feeling loved in response, and framing the event as a gift from God. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Little is known about how individual differences play out in the process of authentic self-development (ASD) through workplace coaching. This article explores whether the Big Five personality traits and affective, behavioral, cognitive and desire (ABCDs) components of the Big Five personality traits were relevant to ASD, specifically examining the role of affect as a potential mediator. Design/methodology/approach: In total, 176 clients' personality was assessed pre-coaching. Aspects of ASD (perceived competence, goal commitment, self-concordance and goal stability) were assessed post-coaching. Clients' affect balance (AB) scores were obtained post-session. Findings: Multilevel path models showed that higher levels of mean AB (but not the slope) mediated the associations between personality and perceived competence and goal commitment. Personality predicted goal self-concordance, but these effects were not mediated by AB, neither personality nor AB predicted goal stability. Research limitations/implications: The authors encourage randomized controlled trials to further test findings of this study. Ruling out method variance is not possible completely. However, the authors put forth considerations to support the authors' claim that method variance did not overly influence our results. Practical implications: These results suggest the necessity of an optimal experience of affect for ASD in workplace coaching and the understanding of how ABCDs, AB and ASD are related beyond coaching psychology. Social implications: A deeper understanding of personality processes is important for fostering ASD to meet the challenges of management development in the authors' volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity (VUCA) world. Originality/value: This is the first study to test personality as a process in workplace coaching linking personality to one of the most valued leadership skills: authenticity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the prevalence of supernatural beliefs in the United States, some people may believe that God or the devil influenced people to create or receive COVID-19 vaccines. In an Internet sample of 3196 U.S. adults (with many preregistered hypotheses), divine vaccine attributions were more common than demonic attributions. Demonic vaccine attributions were linked with more anti-vaccination attitudes and lower odds of vaccination, whereas divine attributions showed the opposite pattern. Demonic (but not divine) attributions showed consistent positive connections with conspiracy beliefs (including QAnon), anger toward people and organizations seen as pro-vaccine, and seeing one's political opponents as enemies and as evil. Demonic attributions were also linked with more anxiety, depression, and spiritual struggle, and lower agreeableness and social desirability. Both demonic and divine attributions related positively to political conservatism, religious fundamentalism, Christian nationalism, authoritarian aggression, and traditional masculinity beliefs. Demonic (but not divine) attributions were also associated with being younger and having less education. Both demonic and divine vaccine attributions correlated positively with religiousness, belief in God and the devil, and seeing these entities as powerful, able to work through natural events, and intervening often in the world. Demonic and divine attributions also related positively to belief in heaven and hell, seeing many people as destined for hell, seeing life as a cosmic battle between good and evil, and apocalyptic or "end times" beliefs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated how gratitude to God (GTG) functions within the context of negative events. Specifically, we sought to locate the position of GTG within the affective circumplex and to test whether GTG relates to higher levels of perceived closeness to God (PCTG). In a cross-sectional study, participants (N = 142 U.S. undergraduate believers in God) completed self-report measures pertaining to a negative event (and positive event, for comparison purposes). Supporting preregistered hypotheses, (a) GTG was located in the pleasant half of the affective circumplex (in the activated quadrant for the negative event and the deactivated quadrant for the positive event), and (b) GTG associated with higher levels of PCTG uniquely from affect, general gratitude, and the tendency to draw close to God when stressed (for both events). These results contribute to nascent knowledge about GTG and underscore the potential importance of GTG in the process of growing spiritually through adversity.. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gilbert and colleagues (2018) point out the discrepancy between the limited empirical data illustrating changes in personality (and related concepts of identity, agency, authenticity, autonomy, and self, i.e., PIAAAS) following implantation of deep brain stimulating (DBS) electrodes and the vast number of conceptual neuroethics papers implying that these changes are widespread, deleterious, and clinically significant. Their findings are reminiscent of C. P. Snow's essay on the divide between the two cultures of the humanities (representing the conceptual publications) and the sciences (representing the empirical work). This division in the literature raises significant ethical concerns surrounding unjustified fear of personality changes in the context of DBS and negative perceptions of clinician-scientists engaged in DBS. These concerns have real world implications for funding future innovative, DBS trials aimed to reduce suffering as well as hampering true interdisciplinary scholarship. We argue that the philosophical tradition of pragmatism and the value it places on empirical inquiry, experiential knowledge, and inter-disciplinary scholarship – reflecting diverse ways of knowing – provides a framework to start to address the important questions Gilbert and colleagues raise. In particular, we highlight the importance of expert clinician knowledge in contributing to the neuroethical questions raised by Gilbert and colleagues. Finally, we provide illustrative examples of some of our interdisciplinary empirical research that demonstrate the iterative cycle of inquiry characteristic of pragmatism in which conceptual neuroethics questions have led to empirical studies whose results then raise additional conceptual questions that give rise to new empirical studies in a way that highlights the contributions of the humanities and the sciences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) has emerged as a safe, effective, and appealing treatment for Parkinson's Disease (PD), particularly for improving motor symptoms (e. g., tremor, bradykinesia, and rigidity). However, concerns have been raised about whether DBS causes psychological changes, including changes to personality: characteristic and relatively stable patterns of affect, behavior, cognition, and desire. In this article, after first presenting some background information about PD and DBS, we examined evidence obtained from various empirical research methods (quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods for evaluating patient valued characteristics) pertaining to whether DBS causes personality change. General limitations across research methods include a lack of randomized clinical trials and small sample sizes. We organized our review of findings according to different layers of personality variables: dispositional traits (including personality pathology), characteristic adaptations, and narrative identity. Though most work has been done on dispositional traits, there is not much evidence that dispositional traits change following DBS. Little work has been done on characteristic adaptations, but there is somewhat consistent evidence for positive perceived progress toward goals across a number of domains: routine activities, work, social/relational, and leisure. Nascent work on narrative identity holds promise for revealing issues around self-image that may be common following DBS. We listed a number of strategies for advancing research, highlighting opportunities related to personality conceptualization, personality assessment, and interdisciplinary scholarship. Finally, we offer practical applications of our findings for the informed consent process and for ongoing treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Moral struggles involve internal conflict regarding inconsistencies between one's higher values and the actions of the self and may include guilt, shame, contempt, disgust, and anger. Previous research in civilian populations revealed several factors that might predispose people to moral struggles. The current study sought to replicate and extend this research in a sample of 178 U.S. veterans (83% male) receiving care at a Veterans Affairs hospital and affiliated outpatient clinics. Regression analyses identified several concurrent predictors of moral struggles: higher religiousness, lower self-esteem, and attributing one's religious/spiritual struggles to oneself and the military. Moral struggles also showed a modest, positive association with a scale assessing morally injurious events and inner conflicts that arose from such events. Exploratory, longitudinal path analyses showed that, at a 6-month follow-up, lower self-esteem predicted increased moral struggles. Path analyses also showed that increases in religiousness, increases in attribution of one's religious/spiritual struggles to oneself, and increases in scores on a measure of potentially morally injurious experiences were related to increases in moral struggles. Taken together, these results point to a constellation of religious/spiritual, psychosocial, and military factors that play unique roles in the development and maintenance of moral struggles in a veteran sample. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pornography use is a common activity in the developed world. This work consolidates research about pornography use into an organizational structure that is relevant to sexual motivation more broadly. To accomplish this, a comprehensive review of research is conducted, examining personality, emotional, and attitudinal associates and predictors of pornography use, as well as behaviours, attitudes, and motivations that are associated with or predicted by pornography use. Reviewing over 130 studies, the present work demonstrates that pornography is most often consumed for pleasure-seeking purposes, that it associated with increases in casual or impersonal approaches to sexuality, and that it predicts more pleasure-oriented approaches to sexual behaviour. The implications of these findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors respond to comments on their article published within the issue which presented a model of pornography problems due to moral incongruence (PPMI) arguing that pornography users experience psychological distress because their behaviors do not align with their personal values. Topics covered include the role of religiousness to moral disapproval of pornography use, and moral incongruence as a key component of self-reported problematic pornography use.

The notion of problematic pornography use remains contentious in both academic and popular literature. Although the mental health community at large is divided as to the addictive versus non-addictive nature of Internet pornography, substantial numbers of individuals report "feeling" as if their use of Internet pornography is problematic. The present work seeks to construct a model related to problematic pornography use that is clearly derived from empirical literature and that provides directions to be tested in future research. The focus of the present work is on those perceptions as they relate to the overarching experience of moral incongruence in pornography use, which is generally thought of as the experience of having one's behaviors be inconsistent with one's beliefs. To this end, we put forth a model of pornography problems due to moral incongruence. Within this model, we describe how pornography-related problems-particularly feelings of addiction to pornography-may be, in many cases, better construed as functions of discrepancies-moral incongruence-between pornography-related beliefs and pornography-related behaviors. A systematic review of literature and meta-analysis is conducted in order to evaluate support for this model, and the implications of this model for research and clinical practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Struggle with ultimate meaning reflects concerns about whether one’s life has a deeper meaning or purpose. We examined whether this construct could be distinguished from presence of meaning in life and search for meaning. In two US samples – a web-based sample (N = 1047) and an undergraduate sample (N = 3978) – confirmatory factor analyses showed that struggle with ultimate meaning loaded on a factor that was distinct from but related to presence (negatively) and search (positively). Moderated regression analyses showed that people with low levels of presence combined with high levels of search for meaning were particularly likely to struggle with ultimate meaning. Additionally, when compared to presence and search, struggle with ultimate meaning related more strongly to depressive symptoms than presence or search. These results suggest that struggle with ultimate meaning represents a distinct component of how people grapple with meaning that has implications for mental health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Background and Aims: Internet pornography use is an increasingly common, yet controversial, behavior. Whereas mental health communities are divided about potentially problematic use patterns, many lay people identify as feeling dysregulated or compulsive in their use. Prior work has labeled this tendency perceived addiction to internet pornography (PA). This study's aims were to (1) assess the association between PA at baseline and other factors, including actual levels of average daily pornography use and personality factors and (2) assess the associations between baseline variables and PA 1 year later. Design: Two large‐scale community samples were assessed using online survey methods, with subsets of each sample being recruited for follow‐up surveys 1 year later. Setting: United States. Participants: Participants were adults who had used pornography within the past 6 months recruited in two samples. Sample 1 (n = 1507) involved undergraduate students from three US universities and sample 2 (n = 782) involved web‐using adults. Subsets of each sample (sample 1, n = 146; sample 2, n = 211) were surveyed again 1 year later. Measurements: At baseline, we assessed average daily pornography use, PA and relevant predictors (e.g. trait neuroticism, trait self‐control, trait entitlement, religiousness, moral disapproval of pornography use). One year later, we assessed PA. Findings: Cross‐sectionally, PA was correlated strongly with moral disapproval of pornography use [sample 1, Pearson's correlation: r = 0.68 (0.65, 0.70); sample 2, r = 0.58 (0.53, 0.63)]. Baseline moral disapproval [sample 1, r = 0.46 (0.33, 0.56); sample 2, r = 0.61 (0.51, 0.69)] and perceived addiction demonstrated relationships with perceived addiction 1 year later. We found inconclusive evidence of a substantial or significant association between pornography use and perceived addiction over time [sample 1, r = 0.13 (−0.02, 0.28); sample 2, r = 0.11 (−0.04, 0.25)]. Conclusions: Perceived addiction to internet pornography appears to be related strongly to moral scruples around pornography use, both concurrently and over time, rather than with the amount of daily pornography use itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Religious and spiritual struggles involve tensions, conflicts, and strains pertaining to religious and spiritual life. This research examined whether broad measures of religiousness predicted differences in the development and resolution of struggles over 1 year in a sample of undergraduates (N = 451) from three U.S. universities: secular public (n = 146), secular private (n = 126), and faith-based Christian (n = 179). Latent class growth analyses indicated 4 distinct trajectories of change in struggles. One group reported consistently low levels of struggles (n = 298, 66% of total sample); another developed struggles over a 1-year period (n = 100, 22%); a third reported high levels of struggles during both years (n = 19, 4%); and the final group reported resolving their struggles over 1 year (n = 34, 8%). Penalized multinomial logistic regressions indicated that religious belief salience predicted the development of struggles longitudinally. We discuss the implications of these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Studies find a strong positive relationship between the affective components of anxiety and depression. However, most research thus far has examined the between-person correlations among these constructs, while ignoring how changes in these two types of affect covary over time within a person. Within-person correlations could differ meaningfully from how anxiety- and depression-related affect relate across individuals. Further, individuals may differ in terms of how highly these constructs covary over time. The current study aimed to (1) compare between- and within-person correlations between anxious and depressive affect, (2) examine lagged effects between anxious and depressive affect over time, (3) test whether individuals differ in their within-person correlations between these two types of affect, and (4) examine whether the mean level of affective intensity moderated these individual differences. These questions were explored using college undergraduates (N = 50) who rated their depression- and anxiety- related affect six times a day for two weeks. A higher average correlation was observed between anxious and depressive affect in between-person compared to within-person analyses. Significant bidirectional lagged effects were observed between these constructs. Individuals with higher average levels of anxious affect experienced stronger within-person correlations between anxious and depressive affect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present research examined the relations between the Big Five factors of personality, religious/spiritual (r/s) struggles (tensions, conflicts, and strains pertaining to r/s life), and well-being. Participants comprised U.S. adults from an online sample (N= 1,047) and an undergraduate sample (N= 3,083). Regressions showed that people who reported higher Neuroticism and Openness, as well as lower Agreeableness and Conscientiousness, reported higher lifetime frequency of r/s struggles and a higher degree of current r/s struggles. In turn, both lifetime history of r/s struggles and current r/s struggles explained a modest amount of variance in different domains of well-being (psychological, hedonic, and social) above and beyond the Big Five. These results held when controlling for religiousness. Thus, lifetime history of r/s struggles and current r/s struggles may represent unique aspects of psychological experience with implications for well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Struggles with religious/spiritual (r/s) doubt occur when uncertainty, questions, and hesitancy about aspects of r/s beliefs and experiences become a source of conflict. Cross-sectional research suggests that doubt-related struggles correlate with anxiety, yet no studies have investigated the temporal patterning of the associations between these constructs. We employed three large samples (Ns = 268, 527, 292) to examine concurrent and prospective associations between struggles with r/s doubt and anxiety over three time frames: 2 weeks, 1 month, and 1 year. Analyses revealed that (a) each construct exhibited high cross-temporal stability; (b) there were moderate, positive concurrent associations between anxiety and doubt-related struggles; (c) anxiety predicted increases in doubt-related struggles over each time frame; and (d) there was mixed evidence regarding whether doubt-related struggles predicted changes in anxiety over time. The discussion focuses on how anxiety may begin to undermine confidence in one’s r/s worldview, thus destabilizing one’s r/s beliefs. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Prior work has shown that religious individuals tend to be critical of Internet pornography (IP). Additionally, people who harbor negative views about their own IP use are more likely to experience psychological distress and religious/spiritual (r/s) struggles. The present research attempted to bring these bodies of research together by examining the relations between engaging with IP (perceived addiction to IP, actual IP use, and moral evaluations of IP), indicators of psychosocial adaptation (self-esteem and state anger), and r/s functioning (religiousness, anger toward God). A study was conducted using a large sample of undergraduate students (N = 1,070) who reported using IP and at least some belief in God. Correlational and network analyses revealed that religiousness was associated with moral disapproval of IP and perceived addiction to IP. Perceived addiction to IP (rather than actual IP use) was related to lower self-esteem, more anger, and more anger directed toward God. This study provides a partial psychological and r/s profile of college students varying in the degree to which they perceive themselves as addicted to IP. Potential clinical implications of these findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nesselroade and Molenaar suggest that it is the relationships between latent variables within subjects that are invariant across subjects and thus the appropriate unit of analysis. We disagree and take the view that between-factor correlations may differ systematically across subjects. Further, individual differences in these correlations may be an important source of information about each unique individual. Following from this premise, analyses of consistencies and differences between subjects of the within-subject pattern of interfactor correlations is a step toward an integrative science of behavior. We give several examples demonstrating how this approach has the potential to yield novel insights into personality functioning. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Graduation from college is an important milestone for young adults, marked by mixed emotions and poignancy, and therefore is an especially salient context for studying meaning in life. The present research used experience-sampling methodology to examine the antecedents and consequences of students' experience of meaning in life over the course of graduation. Participants were 74 graduating students who provided a total of 538 reports over the span of 3 days, including commencement day. Increased levels of state meaning in life during the days around commencement were linked to spending time with people in general and with family in particular, and thinking about one's years in college. Thinking about one's years in college mediated the effects of present company on state meaning in life. Graduates who experienced higher levels of state meaning in life during the days around their commencement ceremony had higher trait levels of meaning in life 1 week following commencement. We discuss how making meaning of a poignant experience has implications for healthy psychological development. Copyright © 2016 European Association of Personality Psychology [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aim Pain catastrophizing is linked to heightened pain and poorer coping among individuals with chronic pain, yet little is known about how pain catastrophizing associates with sleep and pain over the course of treatment for chronic pain. Previous research employing a cross-sectional design suggests that sleep mediates the association between pain catstrophizing and pain, but there have been no longitudinal studies examining the directionality of these associations. Thus, the aim of this study was to test two competing theoretical models. The first model specified that pain catastrophizing leads to increased pain via poor sleep. The second model specified that poor sleep leads to increased pain catastrophizing via increased pain. Methods This study examined the relations between pain catastrophizing, sleep, and pain among 50 consecutive patients (36 female, 14 male) ages 20–80 (M = 45.96, SD = 13.94) with chronic, non-malignant pain who were admitted to the Cleveland Clinic, Chronic Pain Rehabilitation Programme (CPRP). The CPRP, within the Neurological Centre for Restoration, Neurologic Institute at the Cleveland Clinic, is a comprehensive, interdisciplinary programme designed to treat patients with disabling chronic pain. As part of their daily, morning update with their case manager, patients completed self-report ratings of their previous night's sleep time (TST), and their current pain, anxiety, and depression. Pain catastrophizing was assessed at admission and discharge. Results Over the course of treatment, daily TST increased from approximately 5 h and 20 min per night to nearly 6 h and 30 min per night, and average daily pain, daily depression, and daily anxiety decreased over the course of treatment. As the data in this study has a multilevel structure, with daily reports nested with in patients, we conducted multilevel path models to examine the longitudinal relations between pain catastrophizing, sleep, and pain. Multilevel path analysis permits the analysis of interdependent data without violating the assumptions of standard multiple regression. Models were conducted for pain catastrophizing and each of its subscales: rumination, magnification and helplessness. The findings were uniform across the composite pain catastrophizing scale and its subscales. There was an indirect path from sleep to pain catastrophizing (post-treatment) via pain, but not from pain catastrophizing (pre-treatment) to pain via sleep. There were also direct effects of sleep on pain and from pain to pain catastrophizing (post-treatment). Additionally, decreases in pain over the course of treatment were related to lower pain catastrophizing post-treatment. Conclusion and implications These results call into question previous evidence that pain catastrophizing indirectly affects pain by way of its impact on sleep. Rather, our findings suggest that pain mediates the relationship between sleep and levels of pain catastrophizing. These results therefore underscore importance and value in collecting longitudinal data and potential influence on the conclusions gained with regards to sleep, pain and psychological variables. These findings may be of clinical importance when tailoring interventions for individuals with chronic pain and perhaps even more so for those with comorbid pain and sleep disturbance; prioritizing the treatment of sleep difficulties could result in improvements to pain-related outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Personality psychology is concerned with affect (A), behaviour (B), cognition (C) and desire (D), and personality traits have been defined conceptually as abstractions used to either explain or summarise coherent ABC (and sometimes D) patterns over time and space. However, this conceptual definition of traits has not been reflected in their operationalisation, possibly resulting in theoretical and practical limitations to current trait inventories. Thus, the goal of this project was to determine the affective, behavioural, cognitive and desire (ABCD) components of Big-Five personality traits. The first study assessed the ABCD content of items measuring Big-Five traits in order to determine the ABCD composition of traits and identify items measuring relatively high amounts of only one ABCD content. The second study examined the correlational structure of scales constructed from items assessing ABCD content via a large, web-based study. An assessment of Big-Five traits that delineates ABCD components of each trait is presented, and the discussion focuses on how this assessment builds upon current approaches of assessing personality. Copyright © 2015 European Association of Personality Psychology [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Depression, which is characterized by low positive affect (PA) and high negative affect (NA), is relatively common during late adolescence and young adulthood. During this period, interaction with an increasing social sphere gains importance, and interest in romantic companions assumes a central role. However, little is known about how PA and NA manifest in the daily lives of depressed youth, particularly in romantic settings. Current companionship, location, and affect were assessed 4 to 6 times per day over 2 weeks in 51 adolescents and young adults (mean age = 18 years) with clinically-significant depressive symptoms. Multilevel modeling was used to examine the associations of companionship and location with changes in the between-person mean effects as well as the within-person covariation effects of PA and NA. Generally, when alone versus with people, PA decreased, NA increased, and changes in the levels of PA and NA were relatively independent of each other. In the context of romantic companionship, in general, PA increased and NA decreased, but these changes were more strongly inversely linked. The implications for understanding the emotional experiences of depressed youth, as well as informing the development of treatments for this population, are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most noteworthy and robust findings in personality psychology is the relationship between extraversion and positive affect. Existing theories have debated the origins and nature of this relationship, offering both structural/fixed and environmental/dynamic explanations. We tested the novel and straightforward dynamic hypothesis that part of the reason trait extraversion predicts trait positive affect is through an increased propensity to enact extraverted states, which in turn leads to experiencing more positive affect states. We report 5 experience sampling studies (and a meta-analysis of primary studies) conducted in natural environments and laboratory settings in which undergraduate participants ( N = 241) provided ratings of trait extraversion, trait positive affect, extraversion states, and positive affect states. Results of primary studies and the meta-analysis showed that relationships between trait extraversion and trait positive affect were partially mediated by aggregated extraversion states and aggregated positive affect states. The results supported our dynamic hypothesis and suggested that dynamic explanations of the relationship between trait extraversion and trait positive affect are compatible with structural explanations. An important implication of these findings is that individuals might be able to increase their happiness by self-regulating their extraverted states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An individual’s life story may be conceptualized as a developmental script comprising the psychological reconstruction of one’s remembered past, experienced present, and anticipated future. The current study of 128 mid-life adults tested the hypothesis that individuals whose developmental scripts more closely reflected Erikson’s (Childhood and society, 2nd ed. Oxford, England, Norton & Co, 1963) theory of psychosocial development would have higher levels of psychosocial adaptation. Adhering to an Eriksonian developmental script in which early life scenes conveyed a concern with interpersonal trust and adulthood scenes conveyed caring for the future of society (generativity) was related to higher levels of social connectedness above and beyond age, family income, gender, and the Big-Five traits. Examining the extent to which one’s life story approximates a theoretically informed developmental script has the potential to enrich the study of narrative identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study examines the extent to which 2 sets of personality variables—(1) dispositional traits (and their facets) within the Big Five taxonomy and (2) the adult developmental construct of generativity—are associated with psychosocial adaptation in midlife adults ( N=128), conceived as the combination of individual well-being and positive societal involvements. Generativity is conceived as an adult's concern for and commitment to promoting the well-being of future generations. Multiple regression analyses showed that dispositional traits were more strongly associated with individual well-being than was generativity, but generativity was much more strongly associated with positive societal engagement than were the traits. Correlations between dispositional traits and generativity revealed that highly generative adults were elevated on most of the facets of Extraversion and Openness. For the other 3 traits, generativity was positively related to facets of competence, achievement striving, dutifulness, altruism, and trust and negatively related to vulnerability, anxiety, depressiveness, and modesty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Individuals vary their behavior from moment to moment a great deal, often acting “out of character” for their traits. This article investigates the consequences for authenticity. We compared 2 hypotheses— trait consistency, that individuals feel most authentic when acting in a way consistent with their traits; and state-content significance, that some ways of acting feel more authentic because of their content and consequences, regardless of the actor's corresponding traits. Three studies using experience-sampling methodology in laboratory and natural settings, with participants ages 18–51, strongly supported the state-content significance hypothesis and did not support the trait-consistency hypothesis. Authenticity was consistently associated with acting highly extraverted, agreeable, conscientious, emotionally stable, and intellectual, regardless of the actor's traits. Discussion focuses on possible implications for within-person variability in behavior and for the nature of the self-concept. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]