Abstract:
Across different life stages and contexts (e.g., at school and university, at the workplace, in sports) personal accomplishment and success are heavily determined by an individual’s self-regulation. Self-regulation encompasses the ability to strive for long-term goals and orchestrate one’s thoughts, feelings and actions in a way that benefits those long-term goals over conflicting short-term temptations. High self-regulation on a trait level—that is, across time and contexts—is associated with numerous positive outcomes across the life span. In turn, individuals with low trait self-regulation (including but not limited to individuals with clinically relevant self-regulation problems, such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder) exhibit, for instance, greater learning problems and more health problems. Recently, researchers started to consider whether the developmental advantages of high trait self-regulation might come at the cost of personal well-being but were not able to confirm such an assumption. That is, for example, individuals with high vs. low trait self-regulation report to be happier and more satisfied with their lives. Furthermore, within the last two decades, research dedicated increased focus to the social consequences of high self-regulation, reporting that individuals with high vs. low trait self-regulation foster better relationships with their close relationship partners (e.g., their parents and spouses).
However, irrespective of such between-person differences (i.e., some individuals having higher trait self-control than others), each individual experiences dynamic changes in their self-regulation in everyday life. That is, while on some days a person might be particularly well able to sustain attention on their long-term goals and inhibit distracting impulses (e.g., not going out late with friends to be able to study the next day), on other days, they might be more prone to lose sight of these goals and give in to an attractive alternative promising immediate gratification (e.g., staying out late, drinking with friends, even though having to study the next day). While such state-level fluctuations in self-regulation have received some theoretical and empirical consideration in the past, research has not yet fully identified under which circumstances individuals present such ups and downs in self-regulation.
Therefore, the aim of this dissertation is to innovatively combine these current directions in self-regulation research to fill existing research gaps and broaden our understanding about the role of self-regulation for psychosocial functioning. First, this dissertation considers both, between-person differences, and daily within-person fluctuations in self-regulation. Second, across both these levels of analyses, this dissertation investigates links between self-regulation and personal well-being (i.e., affective well-being, life satisfaction). Third, it also examines how self-regulation is related to relational well-being (i.e., interaction quality, closeness) between and within individuals or couples. To this end, the thesis refers to three empirical studies applying ambulatory assessment methodology in three independent samples (Study 1: N = 64 undergraduate students, Study 2: N = 70 parent-child dyads, and Study 3: N = 53 intimate relationship couples). These studies largely confirm the assumption that self-regulation is positively linked to personal well-being, while revealing more diverse result patterns regarding the association of self-regulation and relational well-being across the three studies.
In conclusion, when studying self-regulation in close relationships, this dissertation suggests the need to consider the interplay between (1) variations in self-regulation between and within individuals, (2) individual and dyadic effects of self-regulation on psychological well-being, (3) dispositional and situational determinants of self-regulation, (4) different processes related to self-regulation, and (5) different individual and relationship processes determining personal and relational well-being. This should advance the development of tailored self-regulation interventions to enhance psychosocial functioning of individuals embedded in their close relational ties, rather than in isolation of their surroundings.
Self-Regulation Fluctuations