The study focuses on the relationship between self-regulation and decision making of Slovak managers in work-related situations involving routine circumstances and circumstances where inappropriate decision may lead to possible serious negative consequences. 143 Slovak managers were asked to choose some work-related situation of decision making and to assess it on the scales provided (routine or not routine, with or without possible negative consequences). They were administered a Self-Regulation Scale (Schwarzer et al., 1999) and Melbourne Decision Making Questionnaire (MDMQ) (Mann et al., 1997), adapted for the assessment of current decision making behaviour. The results showed that self-regulation correlated positively with vigilant decision making and negatively with maladaptive decision making, such as buck-passing, hypervigilance, and procrastination. Moderation analysis revealed that situations with possible negative consequences weaken the relationship between self-regulation and both vigilance as well as maladaptive decision making.
Principal categories related to implementation of processes of systems self-organisation are shown. Basic preconditions of self-organisation process and main factors of their ensuring are analysed.
The following theoretical study focuses on a current topic of enhancing self-regulation through the executive functions training. We are building upon the ideas of recent findings (e.g. Hofmann, Schmeichel, Baddeley, 2012) suggesting that the training of executive functions has significant potential to improve the level of self-regulation. Our goal is to look at this issue from a theoretical point of view and offer some suggestions for the training implementation. Moreover we provide insight into the training program of the executive functions, its tasks, and its evaluation. We consider this issue to be relevant and important, mostly because of many benefits connected with the higher level of self-regulation and executive functions.
The main aim of this study was to focus specifically on the area of self-care and identify correlation between self-regulation and performed activities in the sphere of self-care. In this study, self-care is conceptualized as a much broader phenomenon. Instead of focusing only on health, physical well-being, psychological well-being and personal development are seen as important parts of self-care. Self-care contains a self-regulatory activating and inhibiting component. For this reason, we also constructed and verified structure a new questionnaire for measuring performed actions in the sphere of self-care: Performed self-care actions. 713 respondents participated in the research. Based on the factor analysis three factors of questionnaire Performed self-care actions were extracted. The results supported strong, positive correlations between self-care self-regulation and self-care performed actions.
The main purpose of the study was to investigate whether self-regulatory expectations, volition properties, emotions, and coping with stress contribute to the prediction of eating behavior change in overweight women who participated in weight-reduction program. One hundred and six overweight women aged 35-55 years - (average BMI=32.01) participated in three waves of the study, before the implementation of the weight-reduction program, 2 and 6 months later. Six measures were employed: Eating Behaviours Questionnaire, Generalized Self-Efficacy Scale, Life Orientation Test, Kuhl's Action Control Scale, State-Trait Personality Inventory and Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations. The participants changed their eating behaviors (they reduced tendency to overeating and body weight). The findings support the crucial role of self-regulatory personal resources, namely coping, emotions, expectations and volitional properties in eating behavior change.
The purpose of the present exploratory study was twofold: (a) to investigate the relationship among parents' and children's knowledge regarding health enhancing behaviors, self-regulation of health, self-efficacy beliefs, and parental socioeconomic status (SES), and (b) to examine whether parental SES, knowledge, self-regulation, and self-efficacy beliefs of health enhancing behaviors predict children's knowledge about health enhancing behaviors, their use of self-regulatory strategies towards the maintenance of health enhancing behaviors, and their self-efficacy beliefs to implement these strategies. The participants included 131 parents and their children. The results showed positive significant correlations among parents' and children's knowledge of health enhancing behaviors, self-regulated strategies, self-efficacy beliefs, and SES. In addition, using regression analyses and squared semi-partial correlations, the strongest predictor of children's self-regulatory skills and self-efficacy beliefs was parents' knowledge of health enhancing behaviors after accounting for SES. A large portion of the variance in children's knowledge of health enhancing behaviors was explained by parents' self-regulation, followed by parents' health knowledge. Parental self-efficacy beliefs were significantly associated only with children's self-efficacy. The findings are discussed from a social cognitive perspective of self-regulation.
Self regulation plays a crucial role in the stability of psychological processes. From the dynamical perspective self-regulation is manifested as the stabilization of psychological processes in the vicinity of equilibrium states - attractors of the system. Defects of self-regulation can be recast as defects of the structure of attractors. This article analyses low self-esteem and depression as defects of self-regulation, which are manifested as instability of positive states. Analysis of results revealed that low self-esteem is associated with instability of positive self relevant thought. High self esteem, in contrast, is associated with the stability of positive self-evaluation in self reflection and thus stability of attractor in positive self evaluation. A time series of over 20, monthly collected data, concerning depression in participants with bi-polar depression was analyzed with specific software to diagnose the attractor structure. The results have shown different configurations of attractors. Some individuals had the attractor in the area of low mood. In others two attractors co-exited: an attractor for positive mood and an attractor of the negative mood. Some others had no attractors, or could be characterized by the dynamics in which frequently visited states are unstable. Analysis of correlations revealed that individuals characterized by lack of stable attractors are more frequently hospitalized for depression and have higher suicidal tendencies. The results of both studies highlight the importance of self-regulation mechanisms for psychological well being.
The process of creating, pursuing, and achieving goals in the form of self-regulation is an essential part of an individual's life, as it helps them to create and subsequently implement their life plan. However, even with individually set goals, one does not always achieve them, and some goals can turn out to be unattainable. Personal goals can therefore be a source of stress, especially if the person encounters serious obstacles or experiences major setbacks. The main goal of the current research was to clarify the relationship between experiencing action crisis and the type of obstacle (subjective/ objective), to explain the connection between action crisis and selected obstacle characteristics as perceived frequency and intensity. An additional goal was to categorize obstacles according to content, based on the criterion of subjectivity and objectivity. The study was conducted on a sample of 542 young adults aged from 18 to 34 years (Mage = 22.2; SD = 1.96). The sample consisted of 73.25 % females (N = 379) and of 26.75% males (N = 145). Convenience and purposive sampling methods have been used. Content analysis of obstacles based on the criterion of subjectivity and objectivity was conducted. We perceive the benefit of the study to be in the enrichment of the existing classifications of obstacles by adding two more categories (physical / mental state and personality). It is also a beneficial finding that objective and subjective obstacles contribute to the experiencing of the action crisis to approximately the same extent, but with a more detailed look at specific types of obstacles, it is possible to notice differences. The results suggest that it is not the type of obstacle that is crucial, but rather the perceived intensity and frequency of the obstacle. These results support not only the importance of self-reflection, persistence training, self-control, but also mental resilience.
Goal attainment is a complex process shaped by numerous decisions individuals make on their way to successfully reaching the desired objective. While there is no doubt about the impact decision-making and goal-attainment have on each other, a unified approach exploring how these processes work together is lacking. Nonetheless, the existing literature has suggested various possible ways of connecting them, such as through self-regulation. Self-regulation plays a pivotal role in individual´s efforts in reaching a goal, especially in the case of distractions and obstacles which threaten the success of this process. The literature is not short of various approaches to different self-regulatory strategies, making it harder to integrate them in a way that would be helpful to the research in other areas. Some authors (Higgins et al., 2020) have pointed out a possible connection between the regulatory focus and a certain type of thinking that can be characteristic for specific decision-making styles. The existing literature provides the basis for connecting decision-making and goal-attainment in a way that might be beneficial for further research. The goal of this paper was to explore the importance of focusing on self-regulation and specific self-regulatory strategies as a link between these processes, and to outline the possible applications in psychological research and practice.
The quality and strength of intention as well as planning are the key self-regulatory processes in health behavior change. The aim of the present study was to test whether the processes resulting in implementation of intention depend not only on planning but also on the sense of agency, an involvement and social influence variables. The study involved 143 voluntary participants, 83 women, 56 men, aged 18-35 with high school or higher education. A set of rating scales and questionnaires was used to measure the self-regulatory processes, health behaviors, well-being and their predictors. The results support the notion that health behaviors and well-being were found to be affected by similar predictors such as the intention strength, completeness and action orientation in planning. High evaluation of developmental goals in health decision making was among crucial predictors of health behaviors. Participants with high levels of self-regulatory indicators used credible social influence sources.
In a time of advancing neoliberal educational practice globally (e.g. Roxborough, 1997, McCafferty, 2010), in the provision of public sector education as well as in assumptions regarding public educational purposes and curriculum development; this paper looks to a broader definition of education (e.g. Biesta, 2009). Authors argue that pedagogical proposal of the Community of Philosophical Inquiry as in the work of Matthew Lipman (e.g. 2002) and Ann Sharp, a model of educational praxis existent in over 60 countries world-wide, can enable the advancement of a vision for deliberative democracy (Lipman, 1998) and social justice and contribute to educational theory and practice in ways which develop communicative rather than individualistic notions of autonomy (Code, 2006, p.170.). Philosophical inquiry, especially as discussed in this paper with adolescents, equips students with the tools to become more critical, to develop a more social and global awareness and consequently enable them to make more reflected moral judgments (Hannam & Echeverria, 2009, p.114). Drawing on practical examples from the direct experience of the authors in the UK and Mexico, as well as building on 40 years of research world-wide, an argument is developed for embedding philosophical thinking into all educational environments as a means of forming transformative intellectuals (Giroux, 1988) and enabling a raising of awareness with regard to the consequences of the tacit acceptance of neoliberal educational policies. Furthermore, drawing on the writing of Hannah Arendt (1998) a view is advanced which suggests that deliberative and participatory democratic structures can be developed in our societies where the opportunity for careful thinking as well as conscious action taking can take place.
The article introduces current attempts, in contemporary psychology, to respond to the phenomenon of free will. Psychologists, who believe that determinism excludes free will, adopt a different definition of free will, than those psychologists, who believe that it is possible to reconcile determinism with freedom of will. The first, freedom of the will involve with the belief of individuals that they could have acted differently than they did, and treat this belief to be illusory. Others will define freedom as freedom from coercion and mainly show the possibilities of individuals in the scope of action and self-control, which allow the realization of their goals and objectives (Bandura, 2008). Simultaneously conducted research confirms that the lack of pressure and coercion in the action is associated with a better ability to self-regulation. The article discusses two different types of action control: self-regulation, as an example of "democratic" control, and self-control as "authoritarian", repressive type of action control (Kuhl, 1996; Ryan & Deci, 2008). Empirical reports, presented in this article, show unconscious automatic or the intuitive nature of the regulation which does not exclude subjectivity (Kolanczyk, 2009) and is often associated with "democratic" type of action control. Observed, both in experimental studies as well as in everyday life, difficulties in self-regulation, in the light of presented findings, seem to have their roots in non-compliance objectives with the needs, the value system and directly result from the nature of activities involved in this type of control.
There are three kinds of circularity in legal systems: 1. Avoidable mistake of a legal regulation, when two or more legal norms refer mutually to each other. This situation is relatively common in times of legal (including constitutional) pluralism. 2. Complex system of mutual but mediated references and of „legal regulation of law“ (secondary rules). This kind of circularity is necessary in any developed legal system. 3. Rule of recognition is unavoidably a self-applying one. It is self-application results in a paradox and regres ad infinitim. It is a proof of necessity of some extralegal starting point for any legal system. The circulartiy forms one of the central tenants of autopoietic concept of legal system, but it is not only necessary for any developed legal system, it relativizes the ideas of (operative) closure of legal system because it shows the necessity of some extrolegal „starting point“ and continual base for any legal system.
The aim of this study was to extend the psychometric evaluation of the Short Self-Regulation Questionnaire (SSRQ) by assessing the factor structure across three countries from Central and Eastern Europe. The sample included 1809 students from Slovakia, Lithuania and Hungary. Based on an initial confirmative factor analysis, a 2-factor structure by Neal and Carey (2005) was confirmed in the Lithuanian sample. Next, exploratory factor analyses were used on the Slovak and Hungarian subsamples separately. For both national subsamples, a very similar four factor solution was found, which was confirmed by confirmatory factor analyses on the rest of the data. Despite the reduced number of items, the abridged scale did not suffer in terms of its internal reliability and thus provides an adequate approximation of self-regulation levels as the entire scale or as the scale with the proposed 4-factor solution.
The study explores the relationships between decision-making styles in hospital nurses and their attachment styles in adulthood as well as the possible mediation of these associations by self-regulation. It is based on the assumption that attachment styles, defined as mental working models of self and others, affect the decision-making process in nurses, whose profession includes frequent interaction with other people. The research sample included 161 nurses from the Children’s University Hospital in Bratislava, Slovakia. Attachment styles were measured by the Relationship Questionnaire, self-regulation by the Self-regulation Scale, and decision-making styles by the Melbourne Decision Making Questionnaire. Correlation analysis showed that two insecure attachment styles (anxious-preoccupied and fearful-avoidant) correlated positively with the preference of maladaptive decision-making styles (hypervigilance, buck-passing and procrastination). Mediation analysis revealed that these relationships are mediated by self-regulation, which means that the effect of attachment styles on decision-making styles might be carried by self-regulation ability. The results point to the role that attachment might play in the specific context of nursing.
The first aim of this study was to explore how much variance in the health indicators, emotional well-being (EWB) and depressive symptoms (M-BDI) can be explained by a set of individual and psychosocial factors: gender, social support, self-regulation, perceived stress and resilience. Secondly, this study aimed to explore the indirect effect of perceived stress on mental health indicators through the resilience among university students. The final aim was to test whether this indirect effect is moderated by social support, or, in other words, whether it depends on the level of social support. 237 students from four universities in Eastern Slovakia took part in this study (79.4% females, all aged 18 – 35, mean age 19.94, SD = 1.54). The collection of the data was part of the SLiCE (Student Life Cohort in Europe) research project. This study extends previous research - based knowledge regarding the relationship between perceived stress, resilience and mental health indicators by using a comprehensive model to predict health indicators as well as through the exploration of the indirect effect that perceived stress has on mental health indicators. These findings suggest that students with a higher level of stress perception and lower level of resilience as well as lower social support were exposed to the risk of depressive symptoms development. This supports the importance of resilience enhancing especially among students with lower levels of social support under stressful life conditions. This study contributes to the understanding of the underlying mechanisms of perceived stress and mental health by exploring the role of resilience and corroborates the importance of social support and resilience-based intervention. The main limitations of the present study were that all the data were obtained via self-report measures and through online data collection.
JavaScript is turned off in your web browser. Turn it on to take full advantage of this site, then refresh the page.