Fischer Elena, Mühlberger Christina, Weber Julia, Jonas Eva, Kuhl Julius, Quirin Markus
Department of Psychology, Paris Lodron University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria.
Department of Psychology, Private University of Applied Sciences Goettingen, Goettingen, Germany.
Eur J Psychol. 2024 Feb 29;20(1):25-40. doi: 10.5964/ejop.12031. eCollection 2024 Feb.
Interventions can foster personal growth. However, our understanding of the specific mechanisms for change and the types of interventions driving this growth process remains limited. In this study, we focused on emotion regulation ability as a potential mechanism. We examined the effects of an affirmation coaching intervention on changes in emotion regulation ability, an important facet of personality. In this coaching intervention, participants created a personal mantra/goal derived from a selected image and positive associations linked to this image (motto goals). This is considered to enhance emotion regulation abilities by internalizing self-stabilizing value. We assigned sixty-six participants to either this affirmation coaching intervention or one of two control coaching interventions: specific-goal versus indulgence coaching. Before and after each intervention, participants completed questionnaires. Only the affirmation coaching intervention significantly increased in adaptive aspects of personality. Notably, the affirmation coaching intervention increased emotion regulation ability, and this effect persisted even when controlling for extraversion and neuroticism. Furthermore, exploratory analysis showed that extraversion increased following the affirmation coaching, while neuroticism remained unchanged. Our results suggest that emotion regulation ability might be the key factor in personality growth. It could be more malleable and/or respond more strongly to short-term coaching, compared to neuroticism. Thus, the malleability of personality traits may not be an all-or-nothing phenomenon; rather, it could depend on the facet of emotion regulation ability. We discuss potential mechanisms of personality growth, distinguishing between emotion regulation and emotion sensitivity.
干预措施可以促进个人成长。然而，我们对促成改变的具体机制以及推动这一成长过程的干预类型的理解仍然有限。在本研究中，我们将情绪调节能力作为一种潜在机制进行了重点关注。我们考察了肯定式辅导干预对情绪调节能力变化的影响，情绪调节能力是人格的一个重要方面。在这种辅导干预中，参与者根据所选图像以及与该图像相关的积极联想（座右铭目标）创建了个人口头禅/目标。这被认为通过内化自我稳定价值观来提高情绪调节能力。我们将66名参与者分配到这种肯定式辅导干预或两种对照辅导干预之一：具体目标辅导与放纵辅导。在每次干预前后，参与者都完成了问卷调查。只有肯定式辅导干预在人格的适应性方面有显著提高。值得注意的是，肯定式辅导干预提高了情绪调节能力，即使在控制了外向性和神经质之后，这种效果仍然存在。此外，探索性分析表明，肯定式辅导后外向性增加，而神经质保持不变。我们的研究结果表明，情绪调节能力可能是人格成长的关键因素。与神经质相比，它可能更具可塑性和/或对短期辅导反应更强。因此，人格特质的可塑性可能不是一个全有或全无的现象；相反，它可能取决于情绪调节能力的方面。我们讨论了人格成长的潜在机制，区分了情绪调节和情绪敏感性。
