<p>An abstract of a dissertation that examines the motivational foundations of social networks. Five studies using diverse methods examine goal pursuit as an antecedent to social network structure, finding that self-oriented and affiliation-oriented goal pursuit evoke unique patterns of interpersonal perception and motivation which lead to the development of sparser and denser social networks, respectively. Study 1 serves as an empirical summary of our theorizing: individuals primed with dense networks feel more efficacious pursuing affiliation-oriented goals versus self-oriented goals, and individuals primed with sparse networks feel more efficacious pursuing self-oriented goals than individuals primed with dense networks. Study 2finds a correlation between personal goals and network structure. Studies 3 and 4 experimentally demonstrate that reminders of self versus affiliation-oriented goals lead to different cognitively-activated network structures. Study 5 finds that individuals entering a new social network with strong career goals (self-oriented goals) develop significantly sparser local networks and attain more central network positions; the opposite pattern emerges for individuals pursuing strong social goals (affiliation-oriented goals). Individuals strongly motivated to pursue both goals lose the network structure benefits of having a strong career goal. Findings support the hypothesis linking personal goal pursuit to network structure, a novel approach to integrating psychology and networks research.</p> / Dissertation

This study examined the emotional and physiological differences between masticatory muscle pain patients and age, height, and weight matched pain-free controls. Physiological activation and emotional reactivity were assessed in the 22 muscle pain patients and 23 pain-free controls during a baseline rest period, while discussing a personally relevant stressor, and during a post-stressor recovery period. Physiological activity was assessed through the use of the frequency domain heart rate variability indices. Activity in the high frequency heart rate variability range is an index of parasympathetic activity while activity in the low frequency heart rate variability range is an index of both sympathetic and parasympathetic activity (Akselrod, 1981). The muscle pain patients showed significantly more physiological activation during both the baseline rest and the post-stressor recovery periods. These physiological differences were quantified by higher low frequency heart rate variability and lower high frequency heart rate variability during these study periods. This pattern of higher activation was also present in the report of emotional reactivity in the muscle pain patients. The emotional and physiological differences between the groups across study periods were more pronounced in muscle pain patients who reported a traumatic life experience. These results provide evidence of physiological activation and emotional responding in masticatory muscle pain patients that differentiates them from matched pain-free controls. The use of HRV indices to measure physiological functioning quantifies the degree of sympathetic and parasympathetic activation. Study results suggest the use of these HRV indices will improve understanding of the role that excitatory and inhibitory mechanisms play in the onset and maintenance of chronic masticatory muscle pain conditions.

Despite having fewer cognitive resources, older adults regulate their emotions as well as, if not better than, younger adults. This study aimed to (1) test the limits of older adults’ emotion regulation capacity and (2) gain a better understanding of how older adults use their more limited resources to regulate their emotions. Participants included 48 healthy older adults aged 65-85 from the community and 50 healthy younger adults aged 18-25 from the student population. They were randomly assigned to one of four experimental groups involving an initial activity that was high or low in self-regulatory demand followed by a test task of emotion regulation or attention regulation. As expected, older adults performed equally as well as younger adults on the emotion regulation test task, though worse on the attention regulation test task. Using resting heart rate variability (HRV) as a physiological measure of self-regulatory capacity, older adults appeared to allocate more resources toward the emotion regulation task compared to the attention regulation task, and relative to younger adults. The results suggest that older adults maintain their emotion regulation capacity in part by allocating more resources toward emotion regulation goals.

The current study addressed the deficiency in research by examining risk factors for immigrant children that may lead to academic disengagement (such as ethnic discrimination by peers and teachers, and psychological distress) and resilience factors that promote academic engagement (such as the development of a positive ethnic identity). Children who had stronger, more positive ethnic identities had more positive academic attitudes. Furthermore, the more the children were teased by their peers and graded unfairly by their teachers because of their ethnicity, the more they thought school was less important, less useful and felt less efficacious about school and valued school less. Also as expected, the more the children perceived discrimination, the more depressed and anxious they felt. Perceptions of discrimination negatively predicted self-regulation such that children who perceived more discrimination were less capable of regulating their attention and inhibitory control. In turn, children who were less able to self-regulate reported more psychological distress and lower academic attitudes. These results support the importance of supporting children’s ethnic identities, being sensitive to perceived discrimination experiences, and working to offset depression and anxiety. Other important implications include using the school setting and including teachers in an active way to influence the children’s environment.

Under conditions of high self-regulatory effort, peripheral organ systems have been found to slow, potentially to rearrange energetic priorities in favor of the brain. The present study tested an expansion of this model by exploring the possibility that alcohol metabolism (i.e., liver function) may slow during self-regulation. We also anticipated that high trait self-control would attenuate the effect of condition on metabolism. Twelve males aged 21-25 completed two conditions in counterbalanced order. During each session, the participant received 0.33 ml/kg of absolute alcohol for a target peak blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.03 g%. Participants then performed tasks (self-regulatory tasks in the high self-regulation condition and identical tasks without a self-regulatory component in the low self-regulation condition) and BAC was measured throughout. Although there was no main effect of condition, trait self-regulation moderated the effect of condition on alcohol metabolism such that only those with lower trait self-control had slower alcohol metabolism under high self-regulatory effort. These results provide support for the hypothesis that liver function may indeed be altered by self-regulatory effort. In addition to suggesting the liver as a target organ for psychophysiological research, these data provide further support for slowing of peripheral systems during high self-regulatory demand.

Self-regulation is the capacity to exert control over cognition, emotion, behavior, and physiology. Since chronic pain interferes with the ability to self-regulate, the primary goal of this study was to examine, in rodents, the effects of chronic pain on self-regulation processes. Sixteen male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into two groups: (1) chronic constriction injury of the infraorbital nerve (CCI-ION) and (2) naïve. Testing confirmed that CCI-ION animals had significant mechanical allodynia compared to naïve animals (p<0.001). A two-part self-regulation behavioral paradigm consisting of a cued go/no-go task and a subsequent persistence task was developed based on human paradigms. In the cued task, both groups made fewer incorrect lever presses in post-surgery trials (p<0.001); naive animals had a greater decrease in number of incorrect presses than CCI-ION animals (p=0.06). Similarly, both groups had a larger correct to total lever presses ratio in post-surgery trials (p<0.001); naïve animals had a greater increase than CCI-ION animals (p=0.06). In the persistence task, naïve animals experienced a greater decrease in lever presses (p=0.08) than did CCI-ION animals (p=0.66). These results suggest that animals experiencing chronic pain were not able to learn as well as naïve animals, and may have difficulty responding to novel environmental demands.

Chronic pain patients have poorer pain inhibition, self-regulatory ability, executive functioning and autonomic inhibition than those without pain, supporting the view that suppressing pain is mentally taxing. In the current study, an alternate explanation was proposed; namely, that pain inhibition, self-regulation, executive functions, and heart rate variability (HRV) are all controlled by the same general inhibitory system. To test this hypothesis, participants came into the laboratory for three sessions. At the first session, individual differences in pain thresholds, self-regulatory strength, executive functioning, and HRV were measured. At the second and third sessions, self-regulatory persistence and within-session changes in pain thresholds were measured under conditions of high and low self-regulatory fatigue. Results revealed that those low in inhibitory strength, operationalized as the aggregate of pain inhibition, self-regulation, executive functioning, and HRV, became more sensitive to pain under conditions of self-regulatory fatigue, whereas no significant changes in pain threshold were found for those high in inhibitory strength. Additional analyses revealed that high baseline pain threshold marginally protected against the effects of self-regulatory fatigue. The findings provide some support for a general inhibitory system and suggest that physiological inhibition of pain and autonomic activity may be influenced by phasic self-regulatory fatigue.

國內對於自律學習（self-regulation learning）的研究甚多，但尚缺乏一統合性之研究，故本研究以性別為主變項，使用後設分析法，使用臺灣博碩士論文知識加值系統與臺灣期刊論文索引系統內的文獻為樣本，探討影響臺灣學生自律學習表現之因素。 本研究發現臺灣兩性學生自律學習之差異達顯著，女生自律學習表現優於男生。採用固定模式進行調節變項分析時，首先發現，使用不同的發表方式對於兩性間自律學習差異未達顯著影響，代表可以將三者採不同方式發表之論文同時進行分析；再者不同的學習階段、地區、學習科目、自律學習模式、發表時期與樣本大小則對兩性間自律學習差異達顯著影響。本研究則針對以上六個變項再進行事後比較，探討其中之差異。 根據分析結果，本研究結論有以下四點：（一）臺灣女學生自律學習表現顯著優於男生，唯獨高中職階段女生的自律學習優勢削弱；（二）男生自律學習並非絕對弱勢，透過實作經驗的自律學習模式，可以顯著提升男生自律學習表現；（三）在國語文與英語文兩個科目中，兩性間自律學習差異顯著大於社會科與數學科；（四）採取大樣本以及全國抽樣時，可減少抽樣誤差，降低兩性自律學習差異之結果。

The construct of self-regulation has been well researched, however, no comprehensive approach is available for promoting self-regulation as a strength operating in an integrated process, and, furthermore, current research gives limited consideration regarding the role of creativity in the self-regulation process. The objective of this study was to explore the relation between self-regulation and creativity, and to promote self-regulation as a psychological strength by means of a creativity programme in the field of painting in a group of individuals. Self-regulation is described in the literature as a skill that is acquired through an interaction of neurological and environmental factors that enables a person to intentionally accept agency of his or her actions. Creative self-regulation is conceptualised as the ability to generate original, novel and appropriate behaviour while constantly adjusting and adapting behaviour with a view to attain goals and promoting psychological well-being. A qualitative, interpretative design was used in the initial empirical inquiry to explore the subjective experience of 14 established painters in terms of their creativity as a self-regulatory process during the practice of their art. Data was obtained from a questionnaire specifically designed for this study. Thematic data analysis supported the findings of the literature regarding the crucial similarities between self-regulation and creativity, and particular themes concerning the self-regulatory aspects of creativity, such as intrinsic motivation, self-efficacy, self-control, and mindfulness were identified. Additionally, creativity appeared to strongly favour assimilation, which was ascribed to perseverance and a strong identification with goals. Based on the findings of the first two phases of the study, a painting programme was developed with a view to promote self- regulation as an adaptive life skill through the facilitation of creativity. Relevant guidelines for effective programme development have been incorporated into this programme. In the subsequent empirical study the painting programme was assessed, by means of a mixed experimental control group consisting of 18 patients in a private psychiatric clinic. Pre- and post-testing were conducted by means of the Basic Psychological Needs Scale (General) (BPNS-Gen); the 14 item Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory (FMI), as well as the Shortened Self Regulation Questionnaire (SSRQ) to determine whether any improvement in self-regulation occurred within the group. Quantitative data provided information on differences within and between the experimental and control groups, while an additional qualitative method was used for examining the progress of the experimental group during the course of the programme. The results indicated that the programme brought about a significant positive change in self-regulation among the experimental group. Certain self-regulation factors, especially mindfulness, but also autonomy, decision-making, and self-evaluation appeared to have improved to a practically significant degree, whilst perseverance showed a lesser improvement of medium effect. This study therefore concluded that creativity appears to equip a person with specific skills that play a crucial role in the facilitation of self- regulation in all the phases of goal-directed behaviour. The limitations of this study were discussed and recommendations for further research and practical implementation were made. / Thesis (PhD (Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

The construct of self-regulation has been well researched, however, no comprehensive approach is available for promoting self-regulation as a strength operating in an integrated process, and, furthermore, current research gives limited consideration regarding the role of creativity in the self-regulation process. The objective of this study was to explore the relation between self-regulation and creativity, and to promote self-regulation as a psychological strength by means of a creativity programme in the field of painting in a group of individuals. Self-regulation is described in the literature as a skill that is acquired through an interaction of neurological and environmental factors that enables a person to intentionally accept agency of his or her actions. Creative self-regulation is conceptualised as the ability to generate original, novel and appropriate behaviour while constantly adjusting and adapting behaviour with a view to attain goals and promoting psychological well-being. A qualitative, interpretative design was used in the initial empirical inquiry to explore the subjective experience of 14 established painters in terms of their creativity as a self-regulatory process during the practice of their art. Data was obtained from a questionnaire specifically designed for this study. Thematic data analysis supported the findings of the literature regarding the crucial similarities between self-regulation and creativity, and particular themes concerning the self-regulatory aspects of creativity, such as intrinsic motivation, self-efficacy, self-control, and mindfulness were identified. Additionally, creativity appeared to strongly favour assimilation, which was ascribed to perseverance and a strong identification with goals. Based on the findings of the first two phases of the study, a painting programme was developed with a view to promote self- regulation as an adaptive life skill through the facilitation of creativity. Relevant guidelines for effective programme development have been incorporated into this programme. In the subsequent empirical study the painting programme was assessed, by means of a mixed experimental control group consisting of 18 patients in a private psychiatric clinic. Pre- and post-testing were conducted by means of the Basic Psychological Needs Scale (General) (BPNS-Gen); the 14 item Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory (FMI), as well as the Shortened Self Regulation Questionnaire (SSRQ) to determine whether any improvement in self-regulation occurred within the group. Quantitative data provided information on differences within and between the experimental and control groups, while an additional qualitative method was used for examining the progress of the experimental group during the course of the programme. The results indicated that the programme brought about a significant positive change in self-regulation among the experimental group. Certain self-regulation factors, especially mindfulness, but also autonomy, decision-making, and self-evaluation appeared to have improved to a practically significant degree, whilst perseverance showed a lesser improvement of medium effect. This study therefore concluded that creativity appears to equip a person with specific skills that play a crucial role in the facilitation of self- regulation in all the phases of goal-directed behaviour. The limitations of this study were discussed and recommendations for further research and practical implementation were made. / Thesis (PhD (Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.