君子不忧不惧：君子人格与心理健康——自我控制与真实性的链式中介

基于儒学经典命题提出君子人格通过自我控制与真实性的链式中介对心理健康产生正向效应的假设, 运用多种方法进行验证(总样本量为1169)。结果表明, 君子人格正向预测同时测量的心理健康(研究1)和6个月后测量的自尊、核心自我评价、情感平衡, 负向预测心理症状(研究4); 君子人格正向预测自我控制特质(研究1)和自我控制决策(研究3和研究4), 受到情境模拟操纵的自我控制提升心理健康与真实性(研究2), 受到回忆启动操纵的真实性提升心理健康(研究3); 链式中介作用也得到了同时和跨时间点测量、统计控制和实验控制等多方法结果的支持。君子人格水平较高的人, 更易自我控制, 由此感到自己的行为与真实自我更加一致与贯通, 因此具有更积极的心理状态。

Confucian ideal personality traits(Junzi personality)and mental health:The serial mediating roles of self-control and authenticity

Junzi personality refers to the composite of traits of ideal persons from the viewpoint of Confucian philosophy and is a key to East-Asian indigenous personality studies.Confucius said,"Junzi is free from worries and fears"and that in such a personality,"to return to the observance of the rites through overcoming the self constitutes benevolence."Mencius said,"there is no greater delight than to be conscious of authenticity on self-examination"while according to Chengzi,"one who returns to the observance of the rites through overcoming the self for long is authentic."Based on these classic Confucian propositions and related empirical studies,this paper proposes the hypothesis that a Junzi personality has a positive effect on mental health,in which self-control and authenticity play serial mediating roles.To examine the above hypothesis,four studies were conducted.In Study 1(N=207),the self-rated questionnaires of Junzi personality,self-control,authenticity,and mental health were used.Study 2(N=425)involved manipulating self-control using the scenario simulation method and looking into its effects on mental health and authenticity.In Study 3(N=317),authenticity,which was manipulated using the method of recall priming,was investigated for its effects on mental health.Participants were also asked to recall real-life instances involving a decision that may or may not have involved self-control to support the external validity.In Study 4(N=220),participants were subjected to four different tests with 2-month intervals for each that measured Junzi personality,self-control,and authenticity,with the final test measuring self-esteem,core self-evaluation,affect balance,and mental symptoms as overall indicators of mental health.Results showed that when measured simultaneously,Junzi personality positively predicted mental health.When measured after 6 months,Junzi personality also positively predicted self-esteem,core self-evaluation,and affect balance but negatively predicted mental symptoms.Junzi personality positively predicted the trait of self-control and decisions involving self-control,whether in situations provided in the experiment or as were recalled by the participants.Manipulated self-control positively affected both mental health and authenticity while manipulated authenticity positively affected mental health.Results also provided evidence to the serial mediating effect of self-control and authenticity in the positive effect of Junzi personality on mental health through simultaneous measurement and cross-temporal measurement.In addition,results of experimental manipulation also provided indirect evidence for this.This research sought to explore the positive relationship between Junzi personality and mental health and to help in the understanding of the internal mechanism of this relationship.The results are consistent with previous studies on the relationship between personality and mental health,self-control and mental health,and authenticity and mental health.In addition,this paper also discusses the practical value of Junzi personality and Confucianism in today’s China.