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Savouring is the capacity to focus on pleasant experiences in order to intensify and prolong the experience of positive affect. Although the mechanisms and processes of savouring have been studied, the components of its very nature have been largely neglected. The primary objective of this project was thus to develop and validate a taxonomy of savouring comprising seven dimensions: hedonic savouring, and eudaimonic savouring of meaning of life, spirituality, self-reflection, inspiration, appreciation, and gratitude. To achieve this objective, a new measure was developed: the savouring configuration inventory (SCI). In Study 1, 190 participants completed the initial extended version of the SCI, which was reduced and revised on the basis of the results of an exploratory factor analysis. In Study 2 (N = 350), the factorial structure of the final version of the SCI, comprising 28 items (4 items/subscale), was successfully tested using a confirmatory factor analysis, and its complementary metric properties (internal consistency, construct, concurrent, and discriminant validity) were documented. Findings from this project hold important fundamental implications, as they contribute original information on the nature and configuration of savouring experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The present study examined the influence of personal standards and self-critical perfectionism on depressive and anxiety symptoms over the academic year. Methods: High-school students (N = 174) were surveyed in the late Fall and early Spring, assessing perfectionism in the Fall and mental health across the year in both the Fall and Spring. Path modelling was used to examine whether self-critical and personal standards perfectionism were related to changes in mental health across the school year. Results: Controlling for mental health at the start of the year, self-critical perfectionism predicted an increase in depressive symptoms over time, whereas personal standards perfectionism was unrelated to changes in mental health. Discussion: Results support that self-critical perfectionism is detrimental to mental health in adolescents, suggesting that future interventions should focus on reducing self-critical cognitive biases in youth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although plenty of evidence supports the link between intergroup threat and prejudice, few intrapersonal moderators of this association have been investigated. One potentially important moderator is the source of motivation underlying prejudice regulation. In Study 1, we examined whether self-determined prejudice regulation reduces the impact of intergroup threat on various outgroup attitude variables (e.g., modern racism, outgroup affect, etc.). Results suggest that being self-determined in one's motivation to regulate prejudice buffers the impact of intergroup threat on prejudice, whereas regulating prejudice primarily for non-self-determined reasons serves to exacerbate the threat-prejudice effect. In Study 2, a cross-sectional corroboration of this interaction was obtained using structural equation modeling, revealing that the threat-prejudice link differed significantly across groups of prejudice regulators. The role of self-determination in reducing the harmful effects of intergroup threat is discussed, and implications for prejudice reduction and diversity education are identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent evidence suggests that self-determined prejudice regulation is negatively related to both self-reported prejudice and automatic racial bias. However, the social-cognitive processes involved in this association have not yet been examined. Thus, the current project sought to test the ‘internalization-automatization hypothesis’, that is, to assess the extent to which prejudice regulation is automatic for those high and low in self-determined motivation to regulate prejudice. To this end, two different experimental paradigms were used. In Experiment 1 ( N = 84), differences in the automatic activation and application of stereotypes were assessed for those high and low in self-determined prejudice regulation. As expected, both types of prejudice regulators showed similar stereotype activation. However, only self-determined individuals inhibited the application of stereotypes following a prime. Experiment 2 ( N = 134), assessed the impact of self-regulatory depletion on the regulation of implicit prejudice. As anticipated, for the self-determined regulators, prejudice regulation did not vary between depleted and non-depleted individuals. However, when non-self-determined prejudice regulators were depleted, prejudice increased, relative to non-depleted controls. Results are discussed in terms of an increased understanding of prejudice regulation through self-determination. Evidence of the automatization of self-determined prejudice regulation offers promising implications for the reduction of prejudice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivation deficits are common in high school and constitute a significant problem for both students and teachers. The Academic Amotivation Inventory (AAI) was developed to measure the multidimensional nature of the academic amotivation construct (Legault, Green-Demers, & Pelletier, 2006). The present project further examined the consistency of the metric properties of AAI scores by testing their factorial structure for invariance across gender and grade (2 [genders] × 5 [grades]=10 [groups]) in a sample of 3,417 high school students. Factorial invariance of latent means was also examined as a complementary substantive objective. Configural, metric, and scalar invariance were successfully substantiated across all 10 groups. Results revealed well-fitting models for each group. Moreover, constraining factor loadings and intercepts had no meaningful impact on model fit. Findings are discussed in terms of an increased conceptual and psychometric understanding of scholastic motivational problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Boring activities are not always avoidable. Yet, one can ask: Is boredom inevitable? Studies in the field of interest self-regulation suggest that it might be possible to transcend boredom and enhance motivation throughthe use of interest-enhancing strategies (IESs). The goal of this project is to build a model of interest and motivation self-regulation in the context of individual sports. Four IESs are examined: creating challenges for oneself, adding variety to the task, providing oneself with self-relevant rationales for performing the task, and exploiting stimulation from other sources than the task itself. The proposed model comprises the following hypotheses: (a) IESs predict higher levels of interest, in bothinteresting and less interesting tasks; (b) Interest in ''less interesting'' tasks predicts higher levels of self-determined extrinsic motivation; and (c) Interest in ''interesting'' tasks and self-determined extrinsic motivation predict higher levels of intrinsic motivation. Although exploiting stimulation displayed an unexpected direct negative relation with extrinsic motivation, the remainder of the results supports the proposed hypotheses. The discussion offers suggestions for future research on the role played by self-influence in the regulation of interest and motivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents 4 studies which were conducted for the purpose of constructing and validating a new measure of people's motivation for environmental behaviors, namely the Motivation Toward the Environment Scale (MTES). The MTES consists of subscales that measure an individual's level of intrinsic, extrinsic, and a motivation for environmental behaviors. These subscales correspond to the different forms of motivation identified by Deci and Ryan in their self-determination theory (SDT, 1985, 1991). Results from the first study supported the factor structure of the scale and revealed a satisfactory level of internal consistency. Consistent with the SDT, the more self-determined forms of motivation were associated with more positive responses on the related variables. Implications for the manner in which the public could be 'encouraged to do environmental behaviors are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we combined the results of two controlled trials and examined the relationships between working alliance, telepresence, cognitive change and treatment outcome. Sixty‐five participants with a primary diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) or panic disorder with agoraphobia (PDA) received cognitive behaviour therapy delivered via videoconference. Participants completed measures of working alliance and telepresence after three psychotherapy sessions. They also completed measures of treatment outcome and dysfunctional beliefs (cognitive change) specific to PDA and GAD at pretreatment and posttreatment. Results revealed that telepresence at the fifth session moderated the relationship between the working alliance at the first and fifth sessions. As telepresence increased, its impact on the working alliance diminished. Cognitive change mediated the relationship between the working alliance at the fifth session and treatment outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: During adolescence, changes in the circadian and homeostatic systems, combined with psychosocial factors, create a phase delay in the sleep of adolescents. These changes in sleep are associated with increased sleep difficulties and a shortened sleep duration, which has a negative impact on daytime functioning of adolescents. Some studies showed that teenage girls report worse sleep quality and shorter sleep duration than boys during adolescence. The objective of this study was to investigate gender differences in the impact of sleep difficulties and sleepiness on daytime functioning in adolescents and to measure which aspect of sleep may interfere with daytime functioning in boys and girls.Method: A total of 731 adolescents (311 boys, 420 girls; age 13 to 17,5 years) completed questionnaires on sleep and daytime functioning.Results: Compared to boys, teenage girls reported a significantly greater impact of short sleep duration and sleep difficulties on their school and social activities. Furthermore, our results suggest that the factors predicting the negative interference on daytime functioning seem to be more complex and multifactorial for girls than for boys.Conclusions: This study further emphasizes the importance of monitoring insufficient and poor sleep quality in adolescents, as these sleep variables seem to have a significant impact on their daytime functioning. Clinicians should also take into account gender when considering sleep issues in adolescents, as teenage girls and boys have different vulnerabilities and needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present series of studies sought to develop and conceptually validate a taxonomy of reasons that give rise to academic amotivation and to investigate its social antecedents and academic consequences. In Study 1 (N = 351), an exploratory factor analysis offered preliminary support for an academic amotivation taxonomy comprising four dimensions: ability beliefs, effort beliefs, characteristics of the task, and value placed on the task. In Study 2 (N = 349), the proposed taxonomy was further corroborated through 1st- and 2nd-order confirmatory factor analyses, and its discriminant validity and construct validity were documented. Study 3 (N = 741) offered evidence for a model of the relationships among social support (from parents, teachers, and friends), amotivation, and academic outcomes (e.g., achievement, academic self-esteem, intention to drop out). Results are considered in terms of an increased conceptual understanding of academic amotivation, and implications for curricula and interventions are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives This study examined how autonomy support from parents and autonomy support from coaches are associated with sport-related outcomes of adolescent-athletes. Two alternative hypotheses were proposed: (a) a synergistic socialization interaction in which high levels of autonomy support provided by parents and coaches are both needed to obtain the most positive sport-related outcomes, (b) a compensatory-protective interaction in which coaching autonomy support is more important for sport-related outcomes in athletes perceiving lower levels of parental autonomy support. Design Two studies using prospective designs. Method Study 1 was conducted with adolescent soccer players ( N = 46) and Study 2 was conducted with gymnasts ( N = 85). In both studies, athletes reported the extent to which they perceived their parents and coaches provided autonomy support. Athletes also completed scales assessing their motivation toward sport (Studies 1 and 2), situational motivation prior to and following a competition (Study 2), and need satisfaction (Study 1). Sport achievement and performance were also assessed in the form of goal attainment (Study 1), self-reported achievement following the competition (Study 2), and flow states (Study 2). Hierarchical moderated regressions were conducted in order to test our competing hypotheses. Results Analyses provided support for the compensatory-protective interaction hypothesis. Coaching autonomy support was more strongly related to sport motivation, need satisfaction, sport achievement, and flow in athletes who perceived lower level of parental autonomy support. Conclusions This research program provided support for the study of the interactive effect of perceived autonomy support from distinct socialization agents (i.e., parents and coaches) and its impact on adolescent-athletes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Individuals' reasons for their lack of motivation toward environmental protective behaviors were proposed: amotivation because of strategy, capacity, effort, and helplessness beliefs. Confirmatory factor analyses and correlations between the four types of amotivation and constructs related to the environment supported the validity of the constructs. A structural model in which helplessness beliefs could be predicted by the other sets of beliefs, and wherein strategy and ability beliefs resulted from effort beliefs, was tested. All estimated parameters were significant, with the exception of one link: amotivation because of effort beliefs did not display a significant relationship with helplessness beliefs. The importance of understanding why individuals may be amotivated and the strategies liable to help reduce their lack of motivation are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]