engleski

Self-Regulation Across Some Life Transitions

The questions of developmental self-regulation in different transition life periods in adulthood are a relative novelty in developmental psychology of life age. Valid theoretical hypotheses have been created for answers to these questions, integrating many former insights in developmental and social psychology, psychology of personality and motivation as well as stress psychology. In future research of developmental regulation we should respect the fact that the relation of the variables in the proposed model (social and temporal comparisons, developmental goals, control of self development as well as the relation of developmental outcomes (self-esteem, Erikson’s personality components, life satisfaction, mental health etc.) is dynamic, process relation of feedbacks. Thus e.g. effective primary control may influence the change (preference) of the kinds of comparisons on the restructuring of developmental goals, equally as restructured goals may change the kind of comparison and the kind of control. On the other hand, developmental achievements (e.g. high self-esteem) may also influence back the developmental goals, the kind of comparison, and control of self-development. This means that beside character features, which are stable and which act as development moderators in adulthood, all other variables in the suggested model may be mediators of development or outcomes of development. It is quite evident that valid results of the possibilities and the limits of self-regulation can be given by longitudinal studies only and new ways of statistical analysis. In methodological literature warns that many process models are tested by means of graded regressive or hierarchical analyses, although the analysis can only evaluate the effects of one variable on another in one period. When there are sufficient valid hypotheses concerning relations among variables, as in the case of this model, it is more advisable to use path-analysis or SEM modeling. In the end, it is evident that much effort should still be invested in the development of methods of examination and techniques of measuring of some variables included in the outlined model that will be used in examining people belonging to different cultures in order to gain comparable parameters of development regulation in transitional life periods.

Self-regulation, transition, stressful transitions

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