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The belief in a just world (BJW) affects subjective well-being and social behavior. However, its role in shaping the social goals that underlie behavior has not been investigated. Informed by the bidimensional model of BJW, the present study examined the relations of BJW for the self (BJW-self) versus BJW for other people (BJW-others) with social goals and subjective well-being in a sample of 398 university students. As predicted, BJW-self was positively related to affiliative social goals including nurturance, intimacy, and social development goals. In contrast, BJW-others was positively related to dominance and social demonstration goals. Consistent with the bidimensional model, BJW-self and BJW-others were related to most social goals in opposing directions. The present findings indicate that BJW-self and BJW-others is not only relevant to how people act in relation to others, but also why they act the way they do. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Procrastination is a self-defeating behavior that occurs when present self chooses to delay a task action in favor of future self taking on this task later. Given this dynamic between present and future self with procrastination, we hypothesized that higher levels of perceived self-continuity would be related to lower levels of self-reported procrastination, because higher self-continuity would help individuals experience future self as a direct extension of present self. Data collected from 583 undergraduate participants in three studies revealed that individual differences in perceived similarity to one's future self predicts procrastination such that participants who experienced higher future self-continuity in ten years (studies 1 and 2) and in two months (study 3) reported fewer procrastination behaviors. Furthermore, we found that high scores on Vividness of Mental Imagery and Positive Affective state scales were related to future self-continuity in ten years (study 2) and in two months (study 3). We discuss these results in relation to the theoretical importance of future self-continuity in an understanding of procrastination as well as our directions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In two studies, we explore the neurobiological basis of the General Factor of Personality (GFP) by correlating it with measures of the Behavioral Inhibition System–Behavioral Activation System (BIS–BAS), generalized expectancies of reward and punishment, self-esteem, and positive and negative affect. The GFP was measured by aggregating across the scales of the Big Five Inventory (reverse keying Neuroticism to reflect Emotional Stability). Self-report measures from undergraduate students (Ns =128, 88) revealed a single GFP dimension with positive loadings on BAS, expectations of reward, self-esteem, and positive affect, and negative loadings on BIS, expectations of punishment, and negative affect. The results were robust, replicating across the studies, the sexes, and after controlling for social desirability. The measures of BIS–BAS, generalized expectancies, self-esteem, and positive and negative affect accounted for 59% and 56% of the variance in the GFP. BIS–BAS may provide a neurobiological basis of the GFP. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the future are hardly predictable, and people differ in terms of expected repercussions on their future. This study investigated individual differences in the pandemic's expected repercussions, with particular attention to a Balanced Time Perspective (BTP). BTP reflects an individual profile with optimal temporal orientations, it is positively associated with mental health, and it has proven to promote successful coping with unexpected crises. We analyzed data from 3991 adults from 18 to 85 years old participating in an online survey conducted during the Italian lockdown. Participants provided information on BTP, affective states, financial resources, and expectations for the future. Multi-group path analysis was used to test the hypothesized model and to explore gender differences. Results showed that people with a more BTP had fewer negative beliefs about COVID-19's consequences on their future life. BTP affected expected repercussions also indirectly, via affects and beliefs. Finally, gender emerged as a significant moderator of some of the relationships highlighted. The present study contributes to the understanding of the psychological reactions to the current health emergency by confirming its impact on several life domains besides health, not only in the present but also in the anticipated future. • Individual differences in the expected repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic were found. • Time perspective is related to negative affect and beliefs about COVID-19's consequences. • Balanced time perspective predicted expected repercussions through affects and beliefs. • Gender differences on backlashes due to COVID-19 exist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Loneliness is associated with many physical and mental health problems, but the underlying mechanism remains unclear. Studies on trait loneliness have found evidence supporting the hypothesis that loneliness is associated with hypervigilance for social threats. However, few studies have examined this hypothesis with state loneliness. This study aims at testing the hypervigilance hypothesis of loneliness by examining the temporal dynamics between state loneliness and the momentary affect in daily life. We measured state loneliness and momentary positive and negative affect in 211 college students over a period of 13 days, using the experience sampling method. The network analysis revealed that state loneliness has a strong autoregressive effect and is positively correlated to sadness, fear, alertness, and hostility in the temporal and contemporaneous networks. In the temporal network, state loneliness formed mutually reinforced feedback loops with the feelings of alertness and hostility. The between-subject network suggested that the feeling of fear mediated the connections between loneliness and alertness, hostility, and anxiety. The centrality analysis showed that loneliness has a high strength centrality in the temporal and contemporaneous networks. These findings demonstrate how state loneliness interacted with momentary affect in daily life, indicating its association with emotional hypervigilance. • The temporal dynamics of momentary affect are described with a network approach. • State loneliness forms vicious feedback loops with alertness and hostility. • State loneliness has a relatively strong autoregressive effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Attentional bias towards resilience-related words could be adaptive for resilient people, by facilitating mental activation of related concepts and behaviors. We first analyzed the existence of attentional biases in processing resilience-related words. An emotional Stroop task experiment compared response latencies to resilience-positive, resilience-negative, positive non-resilience, and negative non-resilience words. We also collected measures of resilience and personality. A repeated measures ANOVA showed significantly higher latencies towards positive words and marginally significant latencies towards resilience-related ones. Participants were classified according to their percentile scores on post-traumatic growth or event-centrality. Planned comparisons revealed that those high in both measures spent more time on resilience-positive words than on resilience-negative ones. A second objective was to examine whether attentional bias towards resilience words is associated with affective personality traits. Participants classified as medium in reward responsiveness, drive, and positive affect showed this bias. These results shed light on the mechanisms underlying resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined the extent to which recalled saudade is associated with positive and negative affect, loneliness, close and societal connectedness (Study 1), self-esteem (Study 2), and inspiration (Study 3). Participants were either asked to think about a past event that makes them experience saudade or about a neutral event and then to complete a written narrative. Then they responded to sets of items assessing affect, connectedness, loneliness, self-esteem or inspiration. Participants in the recalled saudade condition (either students or adults) scored higher on positive affect, close connectedness and inspiration than participants in the neutral (control) condition. There were, however, no differences between conditions regarding negative affect, loneliness, societal connectedness, and self-esteem. These findings were largely consistent with results from previous studies on the closely related concept of nostalgia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]