Background
Personality disorders are highly prevalent worldwide imposing substantial personal and social challenges. Schema Therapy is an effective psychotherapeutic approach for personality pathology and other complex characterological problems. New scientific insights prompted a re-evaluation of its theoretical underpinnings leading to a reformulated Schema Therapy theory. Furthermore, the assumed cross-cultural universality of the Schema Therapy model has not been tested.
Aims
This project has two primary aims: (1) To develop revised instruments based on the reformulated theory that are psychometrically sound and valid across diverse cultures and languages. (2) To validate the Schema Therapy-related constructs and their inter-relationships across cultures.
Methods
New draft versions of the Young Schema Questionnaire, Schema Coping Inventory, and Schema Mode Inventory were developed. Before dissemination, these instruments will undergo rigorous psychometric evaluation to refine item sets and ensure linguistic and conceptual consistency. A minimum of 100 adult mental health patients and 100 non-patients from each participating country will complete the revised instruments. Sociodemographic and mental health-related variables will also be assessed. Statistical analyses will evaluate (a) internal consistency, (b) unidimensionality, (c) cross-cultural invariance, (d) factorial validity (if possible), and (e) known-group validity. Malfunctioning items will be deleted, and subscales will be shortened, if possible, targeting internal consistency of ≥.80.
Expected outcomes
This study is expected to yield optimized versions of the three instruments aligned with the reformulated theory. These findings will inform subsequent international studies to further assess the structural and cross-cultural validity of the revised scales. The resulting empirically validated scales will be openly accessible, facilitating worldwide utilization.
Discussion
This protocol outlines the first international study based on the reformulated theory, aiming to extend the psychopathological coverage and enhance the cross-cultural application of evidence-based treatments for personality pathology. Results will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations. Potential limitations are discussed.
Grounded in self-determination theory, this study aimed to (1) identify distinct profiles of basic psychological need satisfaction and frustration (BPNSF) and (2) examine associations of loneliness, relationship status, age, and gender with profile assignment.
An online survey was conducted with a diverse nonclinical adult sample (N = 383; 54.5% women; aged 18–75) using the Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction and Frustration Scale and the De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale. Latent profile analysis revealed five BPNSFS profiles, including an Average profile. Two congruent profiles emerged: Need Fulfillment (high satisfaction, low frustration) and Need Unfulfillment (low satisfaction, high frustration). Two mixed profiles were also identified: Frustrated Competence & Autonomy (high relatedness satisfaction alongside frustration in competence and autonomy) and Frustrated Relatedness (elevated relatedness frustration with moderate satisfaction in competence and autonomy). Regarding covariates, associations with the Average and mixed profiles were weaker than those observed for the congruent profiles. Loneliness was most strongly linked to the Need Unfulfillment profile, with this association moderated by gender (stronger for women) and by relationship status (stronger for single participants). Findings support the independence of need satisfaction and frustration as dimensions of psychological need fulfillment, confirm two robust congruent profiles, and indicate weaker associations within mixed profiles.
Objective. Procrastination is a common self-regulatory difficulty leading to impaired well-being. Although cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is considered the most promising intervention for procrastination, it remains unclear whether outcomes vary across individuals and which mechanisms drive therapeutic change. To address these gaps, we synthesized key mechanistic accounts of procrastination in an integrative cognitive-behavioral (ICB-P) model outlining processes involved in development and persistence of procrastination. We then comprehensively examined the processes of change in CBT for procrastination.
Methods. Candidate moderators and mechanisms of therapeutic change were examined in secondary analyses of pooled data (N = 459) from two randomized controlled trials comparing CBT for academic procrastination with a wait-list control. Procrastination and a wide set of candidate mechanisms were assessed at pre-, mid-, and post-intervention. Moderation analyses and longitudinal structural equation models with contemporaneous (within-wave) and lagged (cross-wave) mediation paths were applied.
Results. Participants with greater baseline emotion regulation difficulties benefited more from the intervention, whereas dysfunctional beliefs associated with some cluster B personality disorders were linked to lower improvements. Baseline depression, anxiety, or ADHD symptoms did not moderate outcomes. Regarding mechanisms of change, increased task value and proactive control mediated both contemporaneous and lagged reductions in procrastination. Contemporaneous effects were mediated through increased positive and decreased negative task-related affect, improved perseverance, emotional clarity, and internal attributions of success.
Conclusions. Findings suggest broad applicability of CBT for procrastination. Optimized interventions could enhance the implicated mechanisms, i.e. target task-related affect and self-regulation, or incorporate additional components. Directions for future research are discussed.
People automatically imitate each other, which is known to elicit feelings of affiliation. Previous research on mimicry has mainly studied dyadic interactions and thereby neglected that many social interactions are often observed by others. This raises the question of how observers perceive individuals who mimic or are mimicked. Based on previous research, we formulated two competing hypotheses about how third-party observers perceive people who initiate actions and people who mimic the actions along the Big Two dimensions (i.e., agency vs. communion). We tested these hypotheses against each other in eight experiments. The results strongly support the “Agency Hypothesis” according to which people who initiate actions are perceived as more agentic than people who mimic the actions. Our experiments also find some support for the “Communion Hypothesis” indicating that people who mimic actions are perceived as more communal than people who initiate the actions. Interestingly, support for the Agency Hypothesis was very robust, whereas the effect on perceived communion was more variable and dependent on the stimuli used. When investigating downstream consequences of the link between observed mimicry and ascriptions along the Big Two dimensions, we find that both ascribed agency and communion predict donation behavior.
Climate change is a serious threat to people and ecosystems worldwide, making it increasingly important to understand what drives pro-environmental behavior (PEB). Emotions are recognized as key drivers of PEB, with underlying appraisals that seem to shape behavioral outcomes. We conducted a preregistered study on the influence of anger, compassion, and hope on PEB. Participants (N = 1029 in Poland, N = 1010 in Norway) read emotional stories designed to elicit a specific set of climate-related appraisals or neutral stories. Subsequently, they completed two tasks designed to measure different types of PEB: an effort task (Work for Environmental Protection Task; WEPT) and a monetary donation task. We hypothesized that reading emotional (as compared to neutral) stories would increase PEB and that distinct appraisal patterns would promote different behavioral intentions. We also predicted that demographic and personal factors would moderate the relationship between emotions and PEB. Contrary to expectations, results showed no effects of emotion manipulation on either measure. Older age, however, consistently predicted higher effort and donations. We discuss potential areas for further research, including the use of validated naturalistic and immersive stimuli, prolonged exposure to interventions, momentary assessment of behaviors, and matching behavioral tasks to emotional manipulation.
