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The present research examines whether and how lay intuitive theory regarding the interconnectedness of the mind and body, which we term mind–body correspondence (MBC), predicts engagement in health behaviors. Specifically, we hypothesised that MBC would strengthen mind influences the body (MIB) and body influences the mind (BIM) beliefs, which would in turn increase mental and physical health behaviors, respectively. We tested associations among MBC (independent variable), MIB and BIM beliefs (proposed mediators), and mental and physical health behaviors (dependent variables) using correlational designs in Studies 1a to 1c. Results revealed positive associations between MBC and (1) MIB and BIM and (2) mental and physical health behaviors, as well as between MIB and mental health behaviors and between BIM and physical health behaviors. We then tested the full model in Study 2 with an experimental manipulation of MBC and in Study 3 with a two‐wave longitudinal design. Both studies revealed significant indirect effects of MBC on mental health behaviors via MIB and on physical health behaviors via BIM. Together, our findings suggest that one can encourage mental health behaviors by emphasizing the mind‐to‐body connection and physical health behaviors by highlighting the body‐to‐mind connection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The commitment of soldiers to the military is essential because it could lead to increased morale, motivation and retention. Despite the accumulation of knowledge about predictors of organizational commitment (OC), efforts to investigate environmental factors influencing OC are in their infancy. We note that individuals shape their attitudes toward the environment based on information obtained from their surroundings, and we investigate peer effects on OC using data from a natural experiment of randomly-assigned military academy roommates. A total of 400 cadets (Sex ratio: 93.5% male, Age: 21.13 $ \pm $ ± 1.43 years) from 136 living quarters participated in this quantitative study. In both self- and roommate-reports, we found that the average affective commitment (AC), continuance commitment (CC), and normative commitment (NC) of roommates in a living quarter can still predict AC, CC, and NC of the remaining individual in that same living quarter, respectively, even after controlling for the personal predictors of that remaining individual. Additionally, in self-report, we discovered that when there is a high heterogeneity in AC among roommates within a living quarter, the AC of the remaining individual in that living quarter tends to be higher, even after controlling for the personal predictors of that remaining individual. These findings provide initial evidence that attempting to assign soldiers with low OC to the same living quarters as those with high OC may be worthwhile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although growth writing has been verified to be effective in addressing psychological maladjustment through sequential shifts in emotion-processing strategies, there have been no further findings extending these preliminary observations to applications in the military field. This study aimed to investigate whether growth writing can serve as a novel intervention in enhancing the mental health of cadets. A total of 103 cadets (Sex ratio: 68.9% male, Age: 20.60 $ \pm $ ± 2.16 years) participated in an 8-week writing program and were randomly assigned to either the growth writing group or the unstructured writing group. The growth writing group wrote structured narratives on the themes of exposure, devaluation, and benefit-finding for 30 minutes per week, focusing on the most stressful event in cadet lives. The unstructured writing group freely wrote about their feelings and thoughts regarding the most stressful event in cadet lives for 30 minutes every week. We found that growth writing resulted in greater benefits compared to unstructured writing, as indicated by a more significant reduction in stress, depression, anxiety, and anger, as well as a stronger increase in life satisfaction at the five-week follow-up. Moreover, significant changes were observed in stress, depression, anxiety, anger, and life satisfaction over the three assessment points among cadets in the growth writing group. Overall, the current findings highlight that the growth writing process can serve as a valuable form of self-psychotherapy for cadets who will face challenging battlefields in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the outbreak of COVID‐19, copious studies have explored whether and how COVID‐19 has changed individuals' well‐being. However, research has revealed mixed and inconsistent findings on this topic, with some suggesting that the pandemic hampered well‐being, and others showing non‐significant or even opposite patterns. Yet, little is known about what psychological factors could explain such discrepancies. The present study aims to fill this gap by proposing meaning in life (MIL) as a key moderator of the changes in well‐being following the pandemic. Two studies reported here (total N = 19,828), which took within‐person longitudinal approaches comparing subjective well‐being (SWB; hedonic well‐being) and psychological well‐being (PWB; eudaimonic well‐being) before and during COVID‐19 (Study 1: 2018, 2019 vs. 2020, 2021; Study 2: 2019 vs. 2021), provided empirical evidence supporting our theoretical claims. Specifically, we found significant moderative effects of MIL in both studies, such that individuals who held a higher MIL amidst COVID‐19 experienced an increase in SWB as well as PWB. In stark contrast, the two indicators of well‐being declined over time among those who possessed a lower MIL during the pandemic. Overall, our results suggest that MIL serves as one of the significant moderators of the changes in well‐being following COVID‐19, which may address the previous conflicting findings in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the well-established relationship between state anxiety and marksmanship performance, few efforts have examined the individual differences that affect the extent to which individuals experience state anxiety in combat situations. Thus, further studies are needed to increase the probability of mission accomplishment, which could ultimately serve to safely bring soldiers home. The present study examined how death anxiety, a trait-based difference affects state anxiety, which in turn affects shooting performance on a battlefield. In particular, we used a virtual reality simulator to create a realistic engagement setting in which simulated death anxiety is salient. On a sample of 99 active-duty enlisted men in the Republic of Korea Army, we found that death anxiety, and not trait anxiety, increased state anxiety, which in turn decreased marksmanship performance. Overall, the current findings highlight the role of death anxiety in combat situations. The practical implications and avenues for future research are also discussed. Soldiers encounter anxiety in threatening circumstances in which mortality is salient. We examined the role of trait death anxiety in combat situations using a virtual reality simulator. The results indicate that death anxiety increases state anxiety while decreasing marksmanship performance, which has important implications for the military. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the relationship between grandiose and vulnerable narcissism and psychological health is widely accepted, little is known about whether and how coping strategies explain this relationship. We examined the mediating role of proactive coping in this relationship, with a sample of 280 participants from five colleges in Korea. We used four parallel multiple mediation models, and controlled for the indirect effects of coping flexibility, self-esteem, and covariates (age and gender). Results show that grandiose narcissism predicted higher life satisfaction and lower perceived stress, whereas vulnerable narcissism exhibited the opposite pattern, and all of these relationships were mediated by proactive coping. Overall, our results highlight the critical role of proactive coping in the prediction of psychological health among narcissists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Prick of conscience" is a phrase to express feelings of guilt in both English and Korean. Particularly in South Korea, guilt is metaphorically associated with a sense of touch by pricking. Koreans commonly express feelings of guilt by using the metaphor, "It pricks my conscience." Across three studies, we examined whether prick of conscience (i.e., feelings of guilt) is grounded in bodily experiences of physical prick (e.g., a needle prick), using a sample of Koreans. Participants who recalled past unethical acts were less likely to choose a needle prick rather than medication as a treatment for indigestion, whereas those who recalled ethical acts presented no significant difference in their willingness to receive either treatment (Study 1). Participants who decided to lie sensed the finger prick deeper and felt more pain as compared to those in the truth group or the control group (Study 2). Lastly, participants who had the finger prick rendered harsher moral judgments than participants in the control condition (Study 3). In line with an embodied cognition framework, these findings suggest that prick of conscience is not just a linguistic metaphor but can be embodied as physical sensations in forms of pricking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research suggests that sense of power is associated with happiness and mental illness. However, the mechanisms underlying this relationship is relatively unexplored. This study aimed to examine whether proactive coping mediated the relationship between power and mental illness and between power and happiness. Specifically, we predicted that power—which is associated with goal-oriented tendencies, high-level construals, and positive characteristics—activates the use of proactive coping strategies, which in turn leads to greater happiness and less mental illness. By carrying out a survey (Study 1, N = 150) and an experiment (Study 2, N = 143), we found results that were consistent with our predictions. Overall, this study demonstrates the psychological mechanisms behind the influence of power on happiness and mental illness from the perspective of coping. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People hold different beliefs about the changeability of happiness. Some believe that happiness is biologically predetermined and thus unchangeable (essentialist beliefs), while others believe that it is malleable and can be changed (non-essentialist beliefs). Do these beliefs have a tangible impact on how individuals actually experience well-being? Here, we predict and empirically demonstrate that endorsing essentialist beliefs about happiness (EBH) can result in a self-fulfilling prophecy that buffers the changes in subjective well-being (SWB) following life events. Through a series of four studies utilizing diverse methodologies (total N = 7,364), we provide converging evidence that happiness essentialists, compared to non-essentialists, experience relatively stable levels of SWB following life events, particularly negative ones. We find that this pattern also emerges when people recall past events or anticipate hypothetical or impending future events. Together, happiness essentialism extends beyond mere belief and has real-world implications for how individuals experience fluctuations in SWB., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Objective: While a significant link between emotional well-being (EWB) and the gut microbiome has been reported recently, their temporal relationships remain elusive. This study aims to fill this gap by examining the longitudinal associations between EWB and the Shannon Index (SI), an indicator of gut microbiome diversity., Method: The analysis focused on a dataset that collected participants' current EWB and fecal samples in both 2019 and 2022 ( N = 57, 56.1% female, M age = 52.47 years, SD = 12.65). Gut microbiome profiles were generated by sequencing the 16S rRNA gene, from which SI was subsequently calculated., Results: The cross-lagged panel analysis revealed significant positive cross-sectional associations between EWB and SI in both 2019 (β = .296, SE = 0.121, p = .014) and 2022 (β = .324, SE = 0.119, p = .006). However, no significant longitudinal associations were found between 2019 EWB and 2022 SI (β = .068, SE = 0.138, p = .623), nor between 2019 SI and 2022 EWB (β = -.016, SE = 0.13, p = .899)., Conclusions: Our findings indicate that emotional happiness may be associated with gut microbiome profiles at a particular time point, but they may not serve as predictive factors for each other over time. Future research is needed to establish causal relationships between them. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Objectives: The health psychology literature has paid little attention to individuals' intention to vaccinate earlier . Building on regulatory focus theory, which proposes two distinct self-regulatory foci: promotion and prevention focus (Higgins, 1997), the present study tests whether, how, and why regulatory focus contributes to the intention to vaccinate earlier (IVE) and whether IVE predicts actual behavior., Method: This study used a longitudinal design with data collected at two-time points (3.5 months apart). At Time 1, 487 unvaccinated participants completed a survey assessing regulatory focus, ideal and ought reason for IVE (i.e., hopes/wishes and felt obligation/pressure regarding earlier vaccination, respectively), and IVE through leftover vaccines-vaccines that become available due to last-minute vaccination appointment cancellations. At Time 2, 364 participants reported on the attempts they made to get a leftover vaccine, whether they were vaccinated, and if so, the vaccination type (general vs. leftover vaccine), along with the date of vaccination., Results: A promotion focus was associated with IVE via ideal reason (β = .141, 95% confidence interval, CI [.085, .198]), whereas a prevention focus was associated with IVE via ought reason (β = .031, 95% CI [.012, .057]). Furthermore, both the promotion focus (β = .029, 95% CI [.016, .050]) and prevention focus paths (β = .006, 95% CI [.001, .015]) extended to vaccinating via leftover vaccines., Conclusions: The present study illuminates how regulatory focus, especially promotion focus, can be a predictor of earlier vaccination. Our findings suggest that promotion-focused messages highlighting desirable outcomes of vaccination may help encourage earlier vaccination. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

With the emerging post-COVID era, wearing face masks has become a domain of personal choice. Then, who wants to continue wearing a mask when it is no longer mandatory? In this article, we expect and examine the role of self-perceived facial attractiveness in predicting mask-wearing intention and its mechanism across three studies (total N  = 1,030). Studies 1 and 2 demonstrated that individuals with high (vs. low) self-perceived attractiveness were less willing to wear a mask, due to a weaker endorsement of the belief that mask-wearing enhances their perceived attractiveness (i.e., mask attractiveness belief). Study 3 further revealed that this mediational association was stronger in situations where the need to deliver a favorable impression was high (job interview context) versus low (walking a dog context). Overall, we provide a novel finding that self-perceived attractiveness has significant effects on mask-wearing intention via mask attractiveness belief in the post-pandemic of COVID-19. Our findings suggest that mask-wearing can shift from being a self-protection measure during the COVID-19 pandemic to a self-presentation tactic in the post-pandemic era., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Cha, Ku and Choi.)

The present study examines the impact of fear of COVID-19 on attitudes and intentions towards online and face-to-face counseling. A total of 526 adults participated in this study. The path analysis results indicated that attitude towards online and face-to-face counseling differentially mediated the relationship between COVID-19 fear and both counseling intentions, even when controlling for other covariates. Specifically, fear of COVID-19 predicted positive attitudes towards online counseling (value of counseling), which in turn, predicted online counseling intention. On the other hand, COVID-19 fear affected negative attitudes towards face-to-face counseling (discomfort with counseling), resulting in a decrease in face-to-face counseling intention.

Relatively little is known about South Korean Vietnam War veterans, despite their being the second largest contingent of troops during the Vietnam War. Earlier research found elevated levels (39%) of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in this older population, due to high exposure to combat and malevolent environments (Lee et al., 2020). The present study investigated classes of vulnerability and resilience among older South Korean Vietnam War veterans, using a latent profile analysis (LPA) on PTSD symptoms, late onset stress symptomology (LOSS), and mental well-being (MWB). The sample consisted of 367 older male veterans from South Korea ( M age = 72, SD = 2.66) who completed surveys. The LPA yielded five classes. The largest (38%) was Average (average PTSD, LOSS, and MWB levels), and the second largest (31%) was characterized by Moderate Distress (moderately high PTSD and LOSS, average MWB). A small group (13%) reported Low Affect (low PTSD, LOSS, and MWB levels), and 7% expressed Severe Distress (high LOSS and PTSD levels, average MWB). Only a small percentage (12%) were characterized by Resilience (low PTSD, average LOSS, high MWB). Optimism, positive appraisals of military service, and social support from family, significant others, friends, and military peers were highest among veterans in the Resilience class. To our knowledge, this is the first study of resilience among East Asian military veterans, and more research is needed on how resilience can be improved. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).