Proneness for psychological flow in everyday life: Associations with personality and intelligence

Flow is an experience of enjoyment, concentration, and low self-awareness that occurs during active task performance. We investigated associations between the tendency to experience flow (flow proneness), Big Five personality traits and intelligence in two samples. We hypothesized a negative relation between flow proneness and neuroticism, since negative affect could interfere with the affective component of flow. Secondly, since sustained attention is a component of flow, we tested whether flow proneness is positively related to intelligence. Sample 1 included 137 individuals who completed tests for flow proneness, intelligence, and Big Five personality. In Sample 2 (all twins; n = 2539), flow proneness and intelligence, but not personality, were measured. As hypothesized, we found a negative correlation between flow proneness and neuroticism in Sample 1. Additional exploratory analyses revealed a positive association between flow proneness and conscientiousness. There was no correlation between flow proneness and intelligence. Although significant for some comparisons, associations between intelligence and flow proneness were also very weak in Sample 2. We conclude that flow proneness is associated with personality rather than intelligence, and discuss that flow may be a state of effortless attention that relies on different mechanisms from those involved in attention during mental effort.     

Manipulated flow reduces downstream defensiveness

Flow is a psychological state people experience when performing highly challenging tasks with a high degree of skill. It is related to happiness, creativity, and productivity. In three experiments, we developed a manipulation of flow and assessed its effects on subsequent defensive behavior. In all three experiments, participants who played a game with more features of flow (e.g. engagement, match of challenge and skill, performance feedback) reported more feelings of flow (e.g. enjoyment, concentration and interest) and less downstream defensiveness. The results suggest that we developed a flexible, reliable manipulation of flow, and that inducing people to experience flow may reduce their subsequent defensive behavior.     

内疚与亲社会行为的关系：来自元分析的证据

内疚作为一种典型的道德情绪, 被认为具有亲社会作用, 但很多研究却发现内疚并不总能促进亲社会行为。为了明确内疚对亲社会行为的作用, 分析造成结论分歧的可能原因, 本研究采用元分析方法探讨了特质内疚与亲社会行为的关系以及状态内疚对亲社会行为的影响。共有46篇文献92个独立样本纳入元分析(N = 17248)。元分析结果表明：(1)特质内疚与亲社会行为之间存在中等程度的正相关, 二者之间的关系受到亲社会行为类型的调节, 相比较捐赠、助人、环保行为等, 特质内疚与补偿之间的相关更强; (2)启动内疚状态能显著提升个体的亲社会行为, 但两者之间的关联呈较小的效应量, 亲社会行为对象在其中起到调节作用, 感到内疚的个体更愿意对受害方做出亲社会行为; (3) p曲线(p-curve)分析发现, 两个元分析研究的p曲线均呈显著右偏态, 表明特质内疚与亲社会行为的关系以及状态内疚对亲社会行为的影响均存在真实的效应, 而不是出版偏倚或者p hacking导致。     

Individual differences in flow proneness are linked to a dopamine D2 receptor gene variant

Flow is a special mental state characterized by deep concentration that occurs during the performance of optimally challenging tasks. In prior studies, proneness to experience flow has been found to be moderately heritable. In the present study, we investigated whether individual differences in flow proneness are related to a polymorphism of the dopamine D2 receptor coding gene (DRD2 C957T rs6277). This polymorphism affects striatal D2 receptor availability, a factor that has been shown to be related to flow proneness. To our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the association between this trait and a specific gene variant. In a sample of 236 healthy Hungarian adults, we found that CC homozygotes report higher flow proneness than do T allele carriers, but only during mandatory activities (i.e., studying and working), not during leisure time. We discuss implications of this result, e.g., the potential mediators of the relationship.     

A possible physiological correlate for mental flow

The relationship between mental flow and physiological coherence was investigated in three tasks. Coherence is a state defined by a particular pattern of low frequency heart rate variability (HRV), which has been related to optimal performance and positive mental states. Flow is a pleasurable performance-enhancing psychological state. In the first task, participants answered questionnaires. In the second, they played a coherence-inducing biofeedback game, and in a third, they played a flow-inducing videogame. HRV was used to measure coherence while flow was assessed using the Flow State Scales. The data revealed that coherence could be induced without flow and vice versa. More surprising, the correlations between flow and coherence were different in each of the tasks. We conclude that coherence and flow are discrete constructs despite their theoretical similarities.     

Shame Proneness,Guilt Proneness,Behavioral Self-Handicapping,and Skill Level: A Mediational Analysis

In this study, the relationship between shame proneness, guilt proneness, behavioral self-handicapping, and skill level was examined in elite youth soccer players (N = 589, M_age = 16.8, SD = 1.8). Mediation analyses showed that shame proneness had a positive direct relationship with self-handicapping and a weak negative indirect relationship with skill level. Guilt proneness was shown to have a negative direct relationship to self-handicapping and a positive weak indirect relationship to skill level. Shame proneness may, thus, stimulate behavioral self-handicapping, whereas guilt proneness may discourage behavioral self-handicapping in soccer players.     

网络游戏成瘾:沉浸的影响及其作用机制

本研究以491名男大学生为被试,考察了沉浸对网络游戏成瘾的影响、沉浸的前因变量和相关作用机制。结果发现:(1)网络游戏中的沉浸与网络游戏成瘾呈显著正相关,与控制、挑战呈显著正相关;挑战和控制与网络游戏成瘾呈显著正相关。(2)挑战通过沉浸的完全中介作用对网络游戏成瘾产生影响,挑战对网络游戏成瘾没有直接效应;控制除了通过沉浸的部分中介作用对网络游戏成瘾产生影响,还对网络游戏成瘾有直接效应。     

Being Deluded After Being Excluded? How Emotion Regulation Deficits in Paranoia-Prone Individuals Affect State Paranoia During Experimentally Induced Social Stress

Emotion regulation (ER) has become a relevant construct to understanding paranoia. While the ER strategy called expressive suppression (e.g., poker face) may foster state paranoia by increasing arousal, another strategy called reappraisal (e.g., changing the perspective on situations) may reduce negative emotions and state paranoia when adaptively used. However, if reappraisal fails, this could increase paranoia. The aim of this study was to test the proposed effects of the ER strategies on state paranoia in the socially stressful situation of being excluded in paranoia-prone individuals. We conducted an experimental online study with N=116 participants who were randomized to a social inclusion or an exclusion condition using a virtual Cyberball ball-tossing game. They completed questionnaires on paranoia proneness and habitual ER strategies. Before and after the Cyberball task, participants rated their level of state paranoia. The impact of habitual ER strategies, paranoia proneness, and social stress on changes in state paranoia was investigated using linear regression analysis. The three-way interaction of social stress, paranoia proneness, and habitual reappraisal use significantly predicted state paranoia, t(114)=2.62, p=0.010. The decomposition of the interaction term revealed that in the social stress condition, the impact of reappraisal on state paranoia was moderated by the level paranoia proneness. Specifically, in high paranoia-prone individuals the use of reappraisal predicted higher state paranoia. The findings regarding habitual use of suppression were not significant. Although reappraisal is generally considered a functional strategy, its use in distressing social situations seems to be impaired in persons with higher paranoia proneness. A working model of emotion dysregulation in delusions is presented and possible implications for cognitive therapy of psychosis are discussed.     

Fantasy proneness and counterfactual thinking

Counterfactual thinking (CFT; mentally simulating alternatives to reality) is central to learning and motivation. Two studies explored the relationship between CFT and fantasy proneness, a personality trait typified by excessive fantasies hard to distinguish from reality. In study1, participants completed a fictional diary entry which was used to measure spontaneous CFT and the Creative Experiences Questionnaire measure of fantasy proneness. Fantasy proneness was significantly correlated with the generation of counterfactual thoughts. Both CFT and fantasy proneness have been independently associated with low mood and study2 included a measure of negative emotional state (the Depression, Anxiety and Stress scale) in addition to the CEQ and CFT. Fantasy proneness and negative emotion both predicted CFT, but no interaction between them was observed. The results suggest that individuals high in fantasy proneness have a general tendency to think counterfactually.     

Challenges to the four-channel model of flow: Primary assumption of flow support the moderate challenging control channel

Flow theory postulates that the psychological state of flow emerging when one engages in activities where skill level and challenge are both high, results in ‘optimal’ subjective experiences relative to other psychological states, and is intrinsically motivated. The experience sampling method was used on a sample of college students to compare daily activities associated with flow (high skill, high challenge) to the psychological state of control (high skill, moderate challenge) in relation to the subjective experiences of enjoyment, happiness, intrinsic motivation, and cognitive involvement. Contrary to flow theory, enjoyment, happiness, and intrinsic motivation were characteristic of activities associated with being in ‘control,’ as opposed to flow. Flow activities were associated with being cognitively involved in the task at hand. We believe such theoretically important findings have been masked when using the original four-channel model of flow, but are clarified with use of the revised experience fluctuation model.     

Shame proneness and intimate relations in Mainland China

Using dyadic data from 200 young adult couples (aged 18–31 years) in Mainland China, this study evaluated associations between shame proneness, intimate partner attachment, adaptive interactions, and relationship satisfaction. Results demonstrated that shame proneness was directly associated with more insecure attachment to the partner (anxious and avoidant dimensions) and less adaptive interactions (operationalized by variables assessing constructive problem solving and negative interactions) and indirectly with lower relationship satisfaction for male and female partners. While shame is a highly valued emotion in Confucian cultures, shame proneness may be a liability for modern‐day intimate relations.     

Looking for happiness in all the wrong places: The moderating role of gratitude and affect in the materialism–life satisfaction relationship

We propose a model that explains the negative relationship between materialism and life satisfaction. We test negative affect as a mediator of the relationship between materialism and dissatisfaction with life, and gratitude and positive affect as moderators of this effect. Self-report data collected from 246 (129 female) undergraduate students generally supported our predictions. The negative relationship between materialism and life satisfaction was mediated in part by an increase in negative affect. Additionally, gratitude – and to a lesser extent, positive affect – functioned as moderators of the effect of materialism on life satisfaction. Individuals high in gratitude showed less of a relationship between materialism and negative affect. Additionally, individuals high in materialism showed decreased life satisfaction when either gratitude or positive affect was low. Thus, negative affect, positive affect, and gratitude seem to be important variables in the relationship between materialism and dissatisfaction with life.     

Parent Proneness to Shame and the Use of Psychological Control

We examined the link between parent proneness to shame and two forms of psychological control, overprotection and critical/rejecting behavior, in parents of preschoolers. Because shame is self-condemning, proneness to shame affects intrapersonal and interpersonal functioning. We hypothesized that parents’ emotion-regulatory responses to shame would increase the likelihood of psychological control: anxiety by leading to overprotection mediated by a worrisome approach to the child, and anger/hostility by leading to critical/rejecting parenting mediated by negative reactivity to the child. Participants were 198 mother-father pairs with a child 3.6 to 4.5 years of age. Overprotective and critical/rejecting parenting were assessed using both self and spouse reports of parenting practices. In addition, parents completed measures of proneness to shame, worrisome overconcern about the child, and negative reactivity to the child. Structural equation modeling yielded results that supported mediation by negative approach to the child for mothers’ and fathers’ critical/rejecting behavior. For fathers but not mothers, shame was indirectly associated with overprotective parenting through worrisome approach to the child. Parents’ proneness to shame may be an important factor leading to the use of psychological control.     

Hardiness and sense of coherence and their relation to negative affect

This study attempted to determine the degree to which measures of health proneness and measures of negative affect represent two distinct, although related, constructs. In addition, it examined the relation between Antonovsky's salutogenic construct of sense of coherence (SOC) and Kobasa's health proneness construct of hardiness. Five health proneness and three negative affect measures were filled out by 164 male patients with coronary heart disease. The pattern of correlations between these measures and confirmatory factor analysis indicated that although the measures of health proneness are negatively related to measures of negative affect, these two sets of measures and the constructs to which they are related can be differentiated from each other. However, SOC was found to be less independent of negative affect than was hardiness.     

Childhood memories of threatening experiences and submissiveness and its relationship to hallucination proneness and ideas of reference: The mediating role of dissociation

Recent studies have emphasized the importance of childhood memories of threatening experiences and submissiveness in a diversity of psychological disorders. The purpose of this work was to study their specific relationship with hallucination proneness and ideas of reference in healthy subjects. The ELES scale for measuring memory of adverse childhood experiences, the DES ‐II scale for measuring dissociation, the LSHS ‐R scale for measuring hallucination proneness, and the REF for ideas of reference were applied to a sample of 472 subjects. A positive association was found between childhood memories of adverse experiences and hallucination proneness and ideas of reference, on one hand, and dissociation on the other. A mediation analysis showed that dissociation was a mediator between the memory of adverse childhood experiences and hallucination proneness on one hand, and ideas of reference on the other. When the role of mediator of the types of dissociative experiences was studied, it was found that absorption and depersonalization mediated between adverse experiences and hallucination proneness. However, this mediating effect was not found between adverse experiences and ideas of reference. The relationship between these last two variables was direct. The results suggest that childhood memories of adverse experiences are a relevant factor in understanding hallucination proneness and ideas of reference. Similarly, dissociation is a specific mediator between adverse childhood experiences and hallucination proneness.     

Understanding the relationship between PTSD and social support: The role of negative network orientation

Network orientation is conceptualized as an individual's attitudes and expectations regarding the usefulness of support networks in coping with stress. The present research examined the potential for network orientation to explicate the well documented association between post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and attenuated social support. Data collected from survivors of serious motor vehicle trauma (N = 458) were used to test the hypothesis that severity of PTSD would hold a significant indirect relationship with social support through negative network orientation. Childhood victimization and elapsed time from the accident were examined as potential moderators of this indirect relationship. Consistent with hypotheses, path analyses demonstrated a significant indirect relationship between PTSD and social support through negative network orientation. Specifically, this indirect effect was the result of a direct association between PTSD severity and negative network orientation and an inverse association between negative network orientation and social support. This pattern of relationships was invariant across mode of PTSD assessment (interview vs. self-report). No moderation effects were noted. These data suggest that network orientation may be an important factor in understanding interface of interpersonal processes and post-trauma pathology.     

Relations between stress and work outcomes: The role of felt challenge, job control, and psychological strain

Recent research on reported work stress indicates stress may not always be deleterious for an individual or organization. Research in this area, however, has not yet examined a variety of work outcomes, the mechanism by which stress leads to such outcomes, and the moderators of this effect. The present study hypothesized that two types of reported stress (challenge- and hindrance-related) have a divergent relationship with work outcomes (relating to desirable and undesirable outcomes, respectively) and a similar (positive) relationship with psychological strain. We also hypothesize felt challenge as a mechanism through which challenge stress relates to desirable outcomes and job control as a moderator of the effect. Results from a heterogeneous sample of university staff employees (N=461) supported many of the hypotheses. The two types of stress differentially related to work outcomes yet both positively related to psychological strain. In addition, felt challenge mediated the relationship between challenge-related stress and work outcomes, yet the effect of challenge-related stress did not depend on job control.     

Role of Parenting and Maltreatment Histories in Unipolar and Bipolar Mood Disorders: Mediation by Cognitive Vulnerability to Depression

In this article, we review empirical research on the role of individuals' parenting and maltreatment histories as developmental antecedents for symptoms and diagnosable episodes of unipolar and bipolar spectrum disorders. Our review is focused on the following three overarching questions: (1) Do negative parenting and a history of maltreatment contribute risk to symptoms or diagnosable episodes of unipolar and bipolar disorders? (2) Are the associations of negative parenting and maltreatment histories with bipolar disorders similar to those for unipolar depression? and (3) Are the associations between negative parenting and maltreatment histories and unipolar and bipolar symptoms or disorders mediated by cognitive vulnerability to depression? We begin by discussing the methodological requirements for demonstrating a psychosocial risk factor and the methodological issues that plague the parenting and maltreatment literatures. Next, we review the extant studies on the role of parenting histories in unipolar and bipolar disorders. We consider the specificity and possible moderators of the parenting-mood disorder relationship, as well as cognitive vulnerability to depression as a mediator of this relationship. Then, we review studies on the association of maltreatment histories with unipolar and bipolar disorders and the role of cognitive vulnerability to depression as a mediator of this association. We conclude with an assessment of the state of the parenting and maltreatment literatures in unipolar and bipolar disorder with regard to our guiding questions.     

The relationship among genital herpes simplex virus, stress, and social support

Despite widespread popular belief in the activation of recurrent lesions in genital herpes simplex virus (HSV) by psychosocial stress, little empirical evidence supports that contention. This study retrospectively examined the role of stress in activation of HSV lesions as mediated by social support. Participants were 59 volunteers who had self-reported culture-positive genital HSV for at least 10 months. Measures of stress proneness (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory; STAI-Trait), recent stressful events (Schedule of Recent Events; SRE), and subjective appraisal of stress (global self-rating) were administered along with measures of general social support and herpes-specific social support. When retrospective reports of HSV symptoms were examined using a multiple-regression approach, duration of disease and amount of herpes-specific social support were found to be significant moderators of the relation between stress and number of HSV recurrences in the preceding 12 months. When duration of disease was short (less than 4 years), stress (SRE) and number of recurrences were positively associated; when disease duration was longer, there was no relationship. Similarly, at low levels of herpes-specific social support, a positive relation between stress (SRE) and number of recurrences was found. However, at higher levels of herpes-specific social support, no association was found. No relation was found between stress proneness (STAI-Trait) and HSV symptoms. However, subjective appraisal (global rating) of stress in the preceding 12 months was positively and significantly correlated with reported number of recurrences. Results are discussed in terms of their clinical implications.