#longitudinalstudy — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #longitudinalstudy, aggregated by home.social.
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DATE: May 25, 2026 at 06:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Early pretend play is linked to better mental health years later
URL: https://www.psypost.org/early-pretend-play-is-linked-to-better-mental-health-years-later/
A recent study suggests that toddlers who show stronger abilities in pretend play tend to experience fewer emotional and behavioral difficulties as they enter primary school. Published in the Early Childhood Education Journal, the research provides evidence that encouraging imaginative play early in life could support better long-term mental health. The findings highlight the potential benefits of simple childhood activities on psychological well-being.
The authors of the new study sought to explore the long-term mental health benefits of pretend play for children in the general population. Identifying mental health concerns in young children often relies on observing their behaviors during play, as their cognitive and social skills are still developing rapidly. Past research suggests that pretend play helps children express feelings and manage anxiety.
To build on these earlier findings, the authors wanted to see if the ability to engage in pretend play during toddlerhood predicts better mental health outcomes in later childhood. “The team wanted to focus on whether creative processes are important for mental health and wellbeing for young children,” said Fotini Vasilopoulos, a researcher at the Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use and the CREATE Centre at the University of Sydney.
“Pretend play is the precursor to the performing arts and is also like ‘the secret language of a child’ so looking at pretend play was a natural fit,” Vasilopoulos said.
Longitudinal studies tracking these benefits over several years are uncommon. Most previous studies have either focused on small groups of children in laboratory settings or looked at short-term interventions. The researchers aimed to test whether emotional regulation explains the connection between play and mental health over time.
Emotional regulation refers to a child’s ability to manage and respond to their feelings in different situations. It is a foundational skill for good mental health that develops quickly during the preschool years. The scientists hypothesized that children who engage in complex pretend play might develop better emotional regulation, which would then lead to fewer behavioral problems.
To answer these questions, the authors analyzed data from a large ongoing project called the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children. They focused on a specific sample of 1,426 children who regularly attended daycare or a childminder. The researchers tracked these children across three different developmental stages at ages two to three, four to five, and six to seven.
At ages two to three, early childhood educators rated the children’s pretend play abilities. The educators answered three specific questions about how well each child engaged in imaginative activities. These activities included simple pretend play, like pretending to feed a stuffed animal or a doll.
The assessment also included substituting objects, such as using a towel as a blanket or turning a cardboard box into a house. Finally, the educators rated the children on peer pretend play. This involved using materials to role-play in costumes or playing house with other children.
The scientists accounted for several outside factors that might influence a child’s development. These factors included the family’s socioeconomic status, which combines income, education, and occupational standing. They also controlled for the mother’s mental health, the child’s vocabulary and grammar abilities, and the security of the child’s attachment to their parents.
To measure emotional regulation at ages four to five, parents completed a temperament survey. This survey assessed how easily their child became upset and how difficult they were to comfort. Higher scores on this scale indicated lower levels of emotional regulation, meaning the child was highly reactive to stress.
At ages four to five and six to seven, both educators and primary caregivers evaluated the children’s mental health. They used a widely recognized behavioral screening tool called the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Because children often act differently at home than they do at school, collecting data from both parents and teachers provided a more complete picture.
This questionnaire measures internalizing problems, which refer to inward-facing struggles such as anxiety, depression, and social withdrawal. It also measures externalizing problems, which are outward-facing issues like aggressive behavior, hyperactivity, and rule-breaking. Higher scores on these sections indicate greater mental health difficulties, while lower scores point to better psychological adjustment.
The researchers found that higher pretend play ability at ages two to three predicted fewer internalizing and externalizing problems at later ages. This positive association was observed primarily in the mental health evaluations provided by the early educators. The connection was noticeable when the children were aged four to five and persisted when they reached ages six to seven.
Primary caregivers also reported a small but significant link between early pretend play and fewer behavioral issues when the children reached ages six to seven. The fact that this relationship held true even after controlling for family background and language skills suggests that play has a unique role in development.
Vasilopoulos emphasized the primary takeaway for the public. “Pretend play is important for the wellbeing of young children,” Vasilopoulos told PsyPost. “Play for play sake (not with a learning goal in mind) is also important.”
Interestingly, the researchers found that emotional regulation did not act as a bridge between early pretend play and later mental health. The data provided no evidence that emotional regulation at ages four to five explained the positive outcomes seen at ages six to seven.
This specific finding was unexpected for the research team. Vasilopoulos noted that the team was surprised “[t]hat emotional regulation did not mediate the relationship between pretend play ability and mental health outcomes.”
Because emotional regulation was not the connecting factor, the authors suggest that other unknown developmental processes might be at work. They point to a concept called embodied cognition as a possible explanation. This theory suggests that thinking is deeply tied to the body’s physical movements and interactions with objects.
During pretend play, children use their motor skills to simulate actions, even if the objects are imaginary. These physical simulations support higher-level thinking goals like improvising, finding solutions, and solving problems. Previous brain imaging research suggests that these physical simulations activate specific motor regions in the brain. The scientists note that these same brain regions are thought to play a role in attention and anxiety disorders.
Readers should note that this study is observational, which means it cannot prove that pretend play directly causes better mental health. It only suggests a statistical association between the two factors.
“This study shows that there is a relationship between pretend play ability and mental health,” Vasilopoulos said. “The next step is to show this through a randomized control trial.”
One limitation of the research is that pretend play was measured using just three questions answered by educators. This brief method may not capture the full complexity of a child’s imaginative abilities.
The study also focused exclusively on children who were already enrolled in formal childcare programs. This requirement might exclude children from highly disadvantaged backgrounds whose families cannot afford regular daycare. As a result, the findings might not perfectly apply to every segment of the population.
Additionally, the researchers did not test whether the relationship works in the opposite direction. It remains possible that children with inherently better mental health and fewer behavioral problems simply choose to engage in more pretend play. Because the data relies on surveys and questionnaires, there is always room for different interpretations of a child’s behavior.
Future studies should use a wider variety of methods to measure pretend play. The authors suggest incorporating direct observations by researchers or using structured play tasks rather than relying solely on educator surveys. Scientists also recommend looking into contextual factors that might influence play, such as daily screen time limits and different types of educational settings.
The research team is already taking steps to build on these findings. “We have completed a pilot program supporting quality of pretend play in early childhood settings and understanding its effects on self-regulated agency and emotional and behavioral difficulties,” Vasilopoulos said. “We will be publishing the paper soon and we have identified preliminary signs of promise.”
The study, “Longitudinal Evidence of the Relationship Between Pretend Play and Mental Health in the Early Years,” was authored by Fotini Vasilopoulos, Lucinda Grummitt, Sasha Bailey, Louise Birrell, Iroise Dumontheil, Gill Francis, Eliza Oliver, Olivia Karaolis, Robyn Ewing, Michael Anderson, Maree Teesson Emma L. Barrett.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/early-pretend-play-is-linked-to-better-mental-health-years-later/
-------------------------------------------------
DAILY EMAIL DIGEST: Email [email protected] -- no subject or message needed.
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
NYU Information for Practice puts out 400-500 good quality health-related research posts per week but its too much for many people, so that bot is limited to just subscribers. You can read it or subscribe at @PsychResearchBot
Since 1991 The National Psychologist has focused on keeping practicing psychologists current with news, information and items of interest. Check them out for more free articles, resources, and subscription information: https://www.nationalpsychologist.com
EMAIL DAILY DIGEST OF RSS FEEDS -- SUBSCRIBE: http://subscribe-article-digests.clinicians-exchange.org
READ ONLINE: http://read-the-rss-mega-archive.clinicians-exchange.org
It's primitive... but it works... mostly...
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #PretendPlay #EarlyChildhoodMentalHealth #ImaginativePlay #EmotionalRegulation #ChildDevelopment #LongitudinalStudy #ToddlerPlay #MentalHealthAwareness #EarlyEducation #PlayBasedLearning
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DATE: May 25, 2026 at 06:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Early pretend play is linked to better mental health years later
URL: https://www.psypost.org/early-pretend-play-is-linked-to-better-mental-health-years-later/
A recent study suggests that toddlers who show stronger abilities in pretend play tend to experience fewer emotional and behavioral difficulties as they enter primary school. Published in the Early Childhood Education Journal, the research provides evidence that encouraging imaginative play early in life could support better long-term mental health. The findings highlight the potential benefits of simple childhood activities on psychological well-being.
The authors of the new study sought to explore the long-term mental health benefits of pretend play for children in the general population. Identifying mental health concerns in young children often relies on observing their behaviors during play, as their cognitive and social skills are still developing rapidly. Past research suggests that pretend play helps children express feelings and manage anxiety.
To build on these earlier findings, the authors wanted to see if the ability to engage in pretend play during toddlerhood predicts better mental health outcomes in later childhood. “The team wanted to focus on whether creative processes are important for mental health and wellbeing for young children,” said Fotini Vasilopoulos, a researcher at the Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use and the CREATE Centre at the University of Sydney.
“Pretend play is the precursor to the performing arts and is also like ‘the secret language of a child’ so looking at pretend play was a natural fit,” Vasilopoulos said.
Longitudinal studies tracking these benefits over several years are uncommon. Most previous studies have either focused on small groups of children in laboratory settings or looked at short-term interventions. The researchers aimed to test whether emotional regulation explains the connection between play and mental health over time.
Emotional regulation refers to a child’s ability to manage and respond to their feelings in different situations. It is a foundational skill for good mental health that develops quickly during the preschool years. The scientists hypothesized that children who engage in complex pretend play might develop better emotional regulation, which would then lead to fewer behavioral problems.
To answer these questions, the authors analyzed data from a large ongoing project called the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children. They focused on a specific sample of 1,426 children who regularly attended daycare or a childminder. The researchers tracked these children across three different developmental stages at ages two to three, four to five, and six to seven.
At ages two to three, early childhood educators rated the children’s pretend play abilities. The educators answered three specific questions about how well each child engaged in imaginative activities. These activities included simple pretend play, like pretending to feed a stuffed animal or a doll.
The assessment also included substituting objects, such as using a towel as a blanket or turning a cardboard box into a house. Finally, the educators rated the children on peer pretend play. This involved using materials to role-play in costumes or playing house with other children.
The scientists accounted for several outside factors that might influence a child’s development. These factors included the family’s socioeconomic status, which combines income, education, and occupational standing. They also controlled for the mother’s mental health, the child’s vocabulary and grammar abilities, and the security of the child’s attachment to their parents.
To measure emotional regulation at ages four to five, parents completed a temperament survey. This survey assessed how easily their child became upset and how difficult they were to comfort. Higher scores on this scale indicated lower levels of emotional regulation, meaning the child was highly reactive to stress.
At ages four to five and six to seven, both educators and primary caregivers evaluated the children’s mental health. They used a widely recognized behavioral screening tool called the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Because children often act differently at home than they do at school, collecting data from both parents and teachers provided a more complete picture.
This questionnaire measures internalizing problems, which refer to inward-facing struggles such as anxiety, depression, and social withdrawal. It also measures externalizing problems, which are outward-facing issues like aggressive behavior, hyperactivity, and rule-breaking. Higher scores on these sections indicate greater mental health difficulties, while lower scores point to better psychological adjustment.
The researchers found that higher pretend play ability at ages two to three predicted fewer internalizing and externalizing problems at later ages. This positive association was observed primarily in the mental health evaluations provided by the early educators. The connection was noticeable when the children were aged four to five and persisted when they reached ages six to seven.
Primary caregivers also reported a small but significant link between early pretend play and fewer behavioral issues when the children reached ages six to seven. The fact that this relationship held true even after controlling for family background and language skills suggests that play has a unique role in development.
Vasilopoulos emphasized the primary takeaway for the public. “Pretend play is important for the wellbeing of young children,” Vasilopoulos told PsyPost. “Play for play sake (not with a learning goal in mind) is also important.”
Interestingly, the researchers found that emotional regulation did not act as a bridge between early pretend play and later mental health. The data provided no evidence that emotional regulation at ages four to five explained the positive outcomes seen at ages six to seven.
This specific finding was unexpected for the research team. Vasilopoulos noted that the team was surprised “[t]hat emotional regulation did not mediate the relationship between pretend play ability and mental health outcomes.”
Because emotional regulation was not the connecting factor, the authors suggest that other unknown developmental processes might be at work. They point to a concept called embodied cognition as a possible explanation. This theory suggests that thinking is deeply tied to the body’s physical movements and interactions with objects.
During pretend play, children use their motor skills to simulate actions, even if the objects are imaginary. These physical simulations support higher-level thinking goals like improvising, finding solutions, and solving problems. Previous brain imaging research suggests that these physical simulations activate specific motor regions in the brain. The scientists note that these same brain regions are thought to play a role in attention and anxiety disorders.
Readers should note that this study is observational, which means it cannot prove that pretend play directly causes better mental health. It only suggests a statistical association between the two factors.
“This study shows that there is a relationship between pretend play ability and mental health,” Vasilopoulos said. “The next step is to show this through a randomized control trial.”
One limitation of the research is that pretend play was measured using just three questions answered by educators. This brief method may not capture the full complexity of a child’s imaginative abilities.
The study also focused exclusively on children who were already enrolled in formal childcare programs. This requirement might exclude children from highly disadvantaged backgrounds whose families cannot afford regular daycare. As a result, the findings might not perfectly apply to every segment of the population.
Additionally, the researchers did not test whether the relationship works in the opposite direction. It remains possible that children with inherently better mental health and fewer behavioral problems simply choose to engage in more pretend play. Because the data relies on surveys and questionnaires, there is always room for different interpretations of a child’s behavior.
Future studies should use a wider variety of methods to measure pretend play. The authors suggest incorporating direct observations by researchers or using structured play tasks rather than relying solely on educator surveys. Scientists also recommend looking into contextual factors that might influence play, such as daily screen time limits and different types of educational settings.
The research team is already taking steps to build on these findings. “We have completed a pilot program supporting quality of pretend play in early childhood settings and understanding its effects on self-regulated agency and emotional and behavioral difficulties,” Vasilopoulos said. “We will be publishing the paper soon and we have identified preliminary signs of promise.”
The study, “Longitudinal Evidence of the Relationship Between Pretend Play and Mental Health in the Early Years,” was authored by Fotini Vasilopoulos, Lucinda Grummitt, Sasha Bailey, Louise Birrell, Iroise Dumontheil, Gill Francis, Eliza Oliver, Olivia Karaolis, Robyn Ewing, Michael Anderson, Maree Teesson Emma L. Barrett.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/early-pretend-play-is-linked-to-better-mental-health-years-later/
-------------------------------------------------
DAILY EMAIL DIGEST: Email [email protected] -- no subject or message needed.
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
NYU Information for Practice puts out 400-500 good quality health-related research posts per week but its too much for many people, so that bot is limited to just subscribers. You can read it or subscribe at @PsychResearchBot
Since 1991 The National Psychologist has focused on keeping practicing psychologists current with news, information and items of interest. Check them out for more free articles, resources, and subscription information: https://www.nationalpsychologist.com
EMAIL DAILY DIGEST OF RSS FEEDS -- SUBSCRIBE: http://subscribe-article-digests.clinicians-exchange.org
READ ONLINE: http://read-the-rss-mega-archive.clinicians-exchange.org
It's primitive... but it works... mostly...
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #PretendPlay #EarlyChildhoodMentalHealth #ImaginativePlay #EmotionalRegulation #ChildDevelopment #LongitudinalStudy #ToddlerPlay #MentalHealthAwareness #EarlyEducation #PlayBasedLearning
-
DATE: May 25, 2026 at 06:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Early pretend play is linked to better mental health years later
URL: https://www.psypost.org/early-pretend-play-is-linked-to-better-mental-health-years-later/
A recent study suggests that toddlers who show stronger abilities in pretend play tend to experience fewer emotional and behavioral difficulties as they enter primary school. Published in the Early Childhood Education Journal, the research provides evidence that encouraging imaginative play early in life could support better long-term mental health. The findings highlight the potential benefits of simple childhood activities on psychological well-being.
The authors of the new study sought to explore the long-term mental health benefits of pretend play for children in the general population. Identifying mental health concerns in young children often relies on observing their behaviors during play, as their cognitive and social skills are still developing rapidly. Past research suggests that pretend play helps children express feelings and manage anxiety.
To build on these earlier findings, the authors wanted to see if the ability to engage in pretend play during toddlerhood predicts better mental health outcomes in later childhood. “The team wanted to focus on whether creative processes are important for mental health and wellbeing for young children,” said Fotini Vasilopoulos, a researcher at the Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use and the CREATE Centre at the University of Sydney.
“Pretend play is the precursor to the performing arts and is also like ‘the secret language of a child’ so looking at pretend play was a natural fit,” Vasilopoulos said.
Longitudinal studies tracking these benefits over several years are uncommon. Most previous studies have either focused on small groups of children in laboratory settings or looked at short-term interventions. The researchers aimed to test whether emotional regulation explains the connection between play and mental health over time.
Emotional regulation refers to a child’s ability to manage and respond to their feelings in different situations. It is a foundational skill for good mental health that develops quickly during the preschool years. The scientists hypothesized that children who engage in complex pretend play might develop better emotional regulation, which would then lead to fewer behavioral problems.
To answer these questions, the authors analyzed data from a large ongoing project called the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children. They focused on a specific sample of 1,426 children who regularly attended daycare or a childminder. The researchers tracked these children across three different developmental stages at ages two to three, four to five, and six to seven.
At ages two to three, early childhood educators rated the children’s pretend play abilities. The educators answered three specific questions about how well each child engaged in imaginative activities. These activities included simple pretend play, like pretending to feed a stuffed animal or a doll.
The assessment also included substituting objects, such as using a towel as a blanket or turning a cardboard box into a house. Finally, the educators rated the children on peer pretend play. This involved using materials to role-play in costumes or playing house with other children.
The scientists accounted for several outside factors that might influence a child’s development. These factors included the family’s socioeconomic status, which combines income, education, and occupational standing. They also controlled for the mother’s mental health, the child’s vocabulary and grammar abilities, and the security of the child’s attachment to their parents.
To measure emotional regulation at ages four to five, parents completed a temperament survey. This survey assessed how easily their child became upset and how difficult they were to comfort. Higher scores on this scale indicated lower levels of emotional regulation, meaning the child was highly reactive to stress.
At ages four to five and six to seven, both educators and primary caregivers evaluated the children’s mental health. They used a widely recognized behavioral screening tool called the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Because children often act differently at home than they do at school, collecting data from both parents and teachers provided a more complete picture.
This questionnaire measures internalizing problems, which refer to inward-facing struggles such as anxiety, depression, and social withdrawal. It also measures externalizing problems, which are outward-facing issues like aggressive behavior, hyperactivity, and rule-breaking. Higher scores on these sections indicate greater mental health difficulties, while lower scores point to better psychological adjustment.
The researchers found that higher pretend play ability at ages two to three predicted fewer internalizing and externalizing problems at later ages. This positive association was observed primarily in the mental health evaluations provided by the early educators. The connection was noticeable when the children were aged four to five and persisted when they reached ages six to seven.
Primary caregivers also reported a small but significant link between early pretend play and fewer behavioral issues when the children reached ages six to seven. The fact that this relationship held true even after controlling for family background and language skills suggests that play has a unique role in development.
Vasilopoulos emphasized the primary takeaway for the public. “Pretend play is important for the wellbeing of young children,” Vasilopoulos told PsyPost. “Play for play sake (not with a learning goal in mind) is also important.”
Interestingly, the researchers found that emotional regulation did not act as a bridge between early pretend play and later mental health. The data provided no evidence that emotional regulation at ages four to five explained the positive outcomes seen at ages six to seven.
This specific finding was unexpected for the research team. Vasilopoulos noted that the team was surprised “[t]hat emotional regulation did not mediate the relationship between pretend play ability and mental health outcomes.”
Because emotional regulation was not the connecting factor, the authors suggest that other unknown developmental processes might be at work. They point to a concept called embodied cognition as a possible explanation. This theory suggests that thinking is deeply tied to the body’s physical movements and interactions with objects.
During pretend play, children use their motor skills to simulate actions, even if the objects are imaginary. These physical simulations support higher-level thinking goals like improvising, finding solutions, and solving problems. Previous brain imaging research suggests that these physical simulations activate specific motor regions in the brain. The scientists note that these same brain regions are thought to play a role in attention and anxiety disorders.
Readers should note that this study is observational, which means it cannot prove that pretend play directly causes better mental health. It only suggests a statistical association between the two factors.
“This study shows that there is a relationship between pretend play ability and mental health,” Vasilopoulos said. “The next step is to show this through a randomized control trial.”
One limitation of the research is that pretend play was measured using just three questions answered by educators. This brief method may not capture the full complexity of a child’s imaginative abilities.
The study also focused exclusively on children who were already enrolled in formal childcare programs. This requirement might exclude children from highly disadvantaged backgrounds whose families cannot afford regular daycare. As a result, the findings might not perfectly apply to every segment of the population.
Additionally, the researchers did not test whether the relationship works in the opposite direction. It remains possible that children with inherently better mental health and fewer behavioral problems simply choose to engage in more pretend play. Because the data relies on surveys and questionnaires, there is always room for different interpretations of a child’s behavior.
Future studies should use a wider variety of methods to measure pretend play. The authors suggest incorporating direct observations by researchers or using structured play tasks rather than relying solely on educator surveys. Scientists also recommend looking into contextual factors that might influence play, such as daily screen time limits and different types of educational settings.
The research team is already taking steps to build on these findings. “We have completed a pilot program supporting quality of pretend play in early childhood settings and understanding its effects on self-regulated agency and emotional and behavioral difficulties,” Vasilopoulos said. “We will be publishing the paper soon and we have identified preliminary signs of promise.”
The study, “Longitudinal Evidence of the Relationship Between Pretend Play and Mental Health in the Early Years,” was authored by Fotini Vasilopoulos, Lucinda Grummitt, Sasha Bailey, Louise Birrell, Iroise Dumontheil, Gill Francis, Eliza Oliver, Olivia Karaolis, Robyn Ewing, Michael Anderson, Maree Teesson Emma L. Barrett.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/early-pretend-play-is-linked-to-better-mental-health-years-later/
-------------------------------------------------
DAILY EMAIL DIGEST: Email [email protected] -- no subject or message needed.
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
NYU Information for Practice puts out 400-500 good quality health-related research posts per week but its too much for many people, so that bot is limited to just subscribers. You can read it or subscribe at @PsychResearchBot
Since 1991 The National Psychologist has focused on keeping practicing psychologists current with news, information and items of interest. Check them out for more free articles, resources, and subscription information: https://www.nationalpsychologist.com
EMAIL DAILY DIGEST OF RSS FEEDS -- SUBSCRIBE: http://subscribe-article-digests.clinicians-exchange.org
READ ONLINE: http://read-the-rss-mega-archive.clinicians-exchange.org
It's primitive... but it works... mostly...
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #PretendPlay #EarlyChildhoodMentalHealth #ImaginativePlay #EmotionalRegulation #ChildDevelopment #LongitudinalStudy #ToddlerPlay #MentalHealthAwareness #EarlyEducation #PlayBasedLearning
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DATE: May 12, 2026 at 04:00PM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: New study finds sustainable living relies on stable personality traits, not temporary bursts of willpower
Recent research suggests that people who naturally possess higher levels of self-control tend to engage in more environmentally friendly habits over time. However, short-term changes in a person’s willpower do not directly lead to greener choices. These findings provide evidence that making sustainable choices easier, rather than relying on individual discipline, might be a more effective way to encourage eco-friendly habits. The study was published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology.
Scientists conducted this study to better understand the psychological traits that drive people to protect the environment. Environmental challenges like climate change and biodiversity loss require immediate action from everyday people. Actions that reduce a person’s negative impact on the planet are known as pro-environmental behaviors. Taking these actions often requires individuals to override their immediate conveniences for the sake of long-term ecological goals.
Pursuing these long-term goals requires a degree of self-regulation. Self-control is a specific and essential type of self-regulation. It involves managing internal reactions, delaying gratification, and resisting unwanted behavioral impulses. Previous research suggests that people with higher self-control tend to act more sustainably because they can keep long-term goals in mind.
“The idea first struck me during a very ordinary moment,” said Jingguang Li, a professor of psychology at Dali University in China. “I had just finished a bottle of water and there was no recycling bin in sight. I felt the urge to simply discard it, but instead I held onto it until I found a proper disposal point.”
“That minor internal struggle made me curious: do people with stronger self-control naturally gravitate toward greener choices in their daily lives?” Li said. His laboratory was already studying self-control, making the connection to everyday environmental behavior a natural extension of their work.
Most previous studies on this topic relied on cross-sectional designs. A cross-sectional study looks at a group of people at a single point in time, much like a photograph. This makes it difficult to know the exact direction of the relationship between variables.
“Previous studies found that more self-controlled people also report more sustainable habits, but almost all of that evidence came from cross-sectional surveys, single snapshots in time,” Li told PsyPost. “That leaves a crucial ambiguity: does the link simply reflect stable differences between people, or can a real change in self-control actually drive a change in behavior?”
This single-snapshot approach also leaves room for survey bias. “Because both self-control and pro-environmental behavior are socially valued traits, respondents filling out a one-shot questionnaire tend to paint a consistently positive picture of themselves,” Li said. “If they rate themselves as highly disciplined, they often feel compelled to rate themselves as environmentally conscious too.”
This bias can artificially inflate the correlation, making the two traits look more tightly linked than they truly are in daily life. “To get around both problems, we followed the same participants across multiple time points,” Li said. “Spacing out the measurements helps separate genuine directional effects from the bias of wanting to appear virtuous in a single sitting.”
Longitudinal studies track the exact same individuals across multiple points in time. This allows scientists to see how changes in one trait might predict changes in another trait over months or years. The researchers specifically chose to study adolescents and young adults. Late adolescence and early adulthood are periods when individuals are still developing their self-regulation capacities and forming their long-term environmental habits.
In the first study, the researchers recruited 221 high school students from a public school in China. The sample included about 66 percent female students with an average age of roughly 16 years old. The researchers assessed the students twice, with a full year passing between the first and second assessment waves. During each wave, the students filled out paper questionnaires in their classrooms while supervised by research assistants.
To measure self-control, the scientists used a 13-item questionnaire. Students rated statements about their ability to resist temptation and their tendency to think before acting. To measure pro-environmental behavior, the students rated how often they engaged in specific green activities over the past 12 months. These activities included recycling cans, saving energy at home, or buying products in reusable containers.
When analyzing the data, the scientists used a statistical technique called a cross-lagged panel model. This method looks at how a variable at the first time point predicts a different variable at the second time point. The findings of this first study showed that higher self-control at the start of the year predicted an increase in pro-environmental behaviors by the end of the year.
The researchers conducted a second study to expand on these findings using a larger sample and a longer timeframe. The second study included 1286 university students from a single university in China. This group was about 63 percent female with an average age of roughly 19 years old. Instead of just two check-ins, the researchers tracked these students across three distinct waves, with exactly one year between each wave.
Because the study spanned three full years, the scientists could use a more advanced statistical tool called a random-intercept cross-lagged panel model. This advanced statistical model separates the survey data into two different mathematical layers. The first layer looks at stable differences between different people. The second layer looks at temporary fluctuations within the exact same person.
Separating these layers helps scientists avoid confusing a stable personality trait with a passing state of mind. At the stable, trait-like level, the researchers found a positive association between the two factors. Individuals who consistently showed higher self-control compared to their peers also consistently reported more sustainable behaviors. This suggests that self-control is a stable personal trait strongly linked to living a greener lifestyle.
At the fluctuating, individual level, the data showed a different pattern. When a specific student experienced a natural drop or increase in their own typical self-control, it did not predict any subsequent change in their sustainable habits. This suggests that year-to-year shifts in a person’s willpower do not directly drive short-term changes in how they treat the environment.
“We were genuinely surprised by what we found inside the same person over time,” Li said. “At the outset, we had assumed that if someone’s self-control improved, their pro-environmental behavior would improve with it. But when we tracked the same individuals across waves, natural fluctuations in self-control simply did not translate into meaningful shifts in pro-environmental behavior.”
“The link is really anchored in stable, long-term trait differences,” Li continued. “It underscores that promoting sustainability requires more than urging people to ‘try harder’; we need to build habits and shape environments that make green choices effortless.”
The results provide evidence that having greener habits is part of an overarching lifestyle rather than a fleeting mood. “The main message is that the connection between self-control and green behavior is primarily a stable trait-level pattern: people who generally have stronger self-control also tend to live more sustainably across time,” Li said. “Yet when we tracked the same individuals over multiple waves, short-term ups and downs in their self-control did not reliably produce immediate changes in their environmental habits.”
“So it is not about heroic bursts of willpower in the moment; it is about who you are, on average, over the long haul,” Li added. “That distinction matters for everyday life. Sustainable living is really a marathon built from countless small decisions, turning off lights, carrying reusable bags, sorting waste, that add up over months and years.”
This highlights the need for structural changes that make sustainable choices easier for everyone. “If we rely solely on asking people to ‘try harder’ each time, we are fighting an uphill battle against human nature,” Li said. “A smarter approach is to reduce the self-control demand itself. Putting reminder stickers near light switches, placing recycling bins in convenient locations, or sharing monthly electricity or water-use feedback with family members can make the green choice the easy choice.”
Communities can also use nudging strategies to encourage green behaviors. Nudging involves designing choices in a way that guides people toward a desired action without restricting their freedom. Making recycling bins more accessible or automatically opting people into green energy plans reduces the amount of willpower needed to help the planet. “By designing environments and routines that minimize friction, we can promote sustainable actions without requiring constant mental effort,” Li said.
The researchers also note that self-control could be used as a helpful metric when assembling teams to tackle climate issues. People with naturally high self-control might be better equipped to handle the long-term demands of environmental advocacy. “One final thought: when selecting people for roles with significant environmental responsibilities, it makes sense to weigh self-control alongside their environmental attitudes and professional competence,” Li said.
The study does have a few limitations that should be noted. “We used self-report questionnaires and focused on Chinese high school and university students,” Li said. “That makes the findings suggestive rather than definitive. Future work should test whether the same pattern holds in other populations and with objective measures, such as actual behavioral tasks or real-world tracking, before drawing firmer conclusions.”
In addition, the one-year gap between the data collection waves might have missed smaller, short-term connections between willpower and sustainable choices. A full year is a long time, and a person’s self-control might fluctuate on a daily or weekly basis.
Going forward, the researchers plan to look at other psychological traits that support sustainable living. “Our next step is to understand why some people follow through on environmental intentions while others do not,” Li said. “We are especially interested in grit, passion and perseverance for long-term goals, because environmental protection is not a one-off act; it is a decades-long commitment.”
“The Paris Agreement, for instance, sets carbon-neutrality targets for the mid-twenty-first century, a timeline that feels distant to most people alive today,” Li noted. “That means safeguarding the planet demands sustained effort against slow, incremental payoffs, exactly the conditions where grit should matter.”
The scientists hope to figure out exactly how to foster this type of long-term dedication. “We want to test whether grit and related traits can help explain who stays the course in the face of such delayed rewards, and whether we can design interventions or educational programs that cultivate this kind of persistence for ecological goals,” Li said.
The study, “Longitudinal associations between self-control and pro-environmental behaviors,” was authored by Xingbo Wang, Yanru Liu, Yalun Zhang, Zhenglian Su, Liyun Hua, Yajun Zhao, and Jingguang Li.
-------------------------------------------------
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #SelfControl #ProEnvironmentalBehavior #SustainableLiving #EnvironmentalPsychology #HabitFormation #GreenerChoices #Nudging #EcoFriendlyHabits #LongitudinalStudy #ClimateAction
-
DATE: May 12, 2026 at 04:00PM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: New study finds sustainable living relies on stable personality traits, not temporary bursts of willpower
Recent research suggests that people who naturally possess higher levels of self-control tend to engage in more environmentally friendly habits over time. However, short-term changes in a person’s willpower do not directly lead to greener choices. These findings provide evidence that making sustainable choices easier, rather than relying on individual discipline, might be a more effective way to encourage eco-friendly habits. The study was published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology.
Scientists conducted this study to better understand the psychological traits that drive people to protect the environment. Environmental challenges like climate change and biodiversity loss require immediate action from everyday people. Actions that reduce a person’s negative impact on the planet are known as pro-environmental behaviors. Taking these actions often requires individuals to override their immediate conveniences for the sake of long-term ecological goals.
Pursuing these long-term goals requires a degree of self-regulation. Self-control is a specific and essential type of self-regulation. It involves managing internal reactions, delaying gratification, and resisting unwanted behavioral impulses. Previous research suggests that people with higher self-control tend to act more sustainably because they can keep long-term goals in mind.
“The idea first struck me during a very ordinary moment,” said Jingguang Li, a professor of psychology at Dali University in China. “I had just finished a bottle of water and there was no recycling bin in sight. I felt the urge to simply discard it, but instead I held onto it until I found a proper disposal point.”
“That minor internal struggle made me curious: do people with stronger self-control naturally gravitate toward greener choices in their daily lives?” Li said. His laboratory was already studying self-control, making the connection to everyday environmental behavior a natural extension of their work.
Most previous studies on this topic relied on cross-sectional designs. A cross-sectional study looks at a group of people at a single point in time, much like a photograph. This makes it difficult to know the exact direction of the relationship between variables.
“Previous studies found that more self-controlled people also report more sustainable habits, but almost all of that evidence came from cross-sectional surveys, single snapshots in time,” Li told PsyPost. “That leaves a crucial ambiguity: does the link simply reflect stable differences between people, or can a real change in self-control actually drive a change in behavior?”
This single-snapshot approach also leaves room for survey bias. “Because both self-control and pro-environmental behavior are socially valued traits, respondents filling out a one-shot questionnaire tend to paint a consistently positive picture of themselves,” Li said. “If they rate themselves as highly disciplined, they often feel compelled to rate themselves as environmentally conscious too.”
This bias can artificially inflate the correlation, making the two traits look more tightly linked than they truly are in daily life. “To get around both problems, we followed the same participants across multiple time points,” Li said. “Spacing out the measurements helps separate genuine directional effects from the bias of wanting to appear virtuous in a single sitting.”
Longitudinal studies track the exact same individuals across multiple points in time. This allows scientists to see how changes in one trait might predict changes in another trait over months or years. The researchers specifically chose to study adolescents and young adults. Late adolescence and early adulthood are periods when individuals are still developing their self-regulation capacities and forming their long-term environmental habits.
In the first study, the researchers recruited 221 high school students from a public school in China. The sample included about 66 percent female students with an average age of roughly 16 years old. The researchers assessed the students twice, with a full year passing between the first and second assessment waves. During each wave, the students filled out paper questionnaires in their classrooms while supervised by research assistants.
To measure self-control, the scientists used a 13-item questionnaire. Students rated statements about their ability to resist temptation and their tendency to think before acting. To measure pro-environmental behavior, the students rated how often they engaged in specific green activities over the past 12 months. These activities included recycling cans, saving energy at home, or buying products in reusable containers.
When analyzing the data, the scientists used a statistical technique called a cross-lagged panel model. This method looks at how a variable at the first time point predicts a different variable at the second time point. The findings of this first study showed that higher self-control at the start of the year predicted an increase in pro-environmental behaviors by the end of the year.
The researchers conducted a second study to expand on these findings using a larger sample and a longer timeframe. The second study included 1286 university students from a single university in China. This group was about 63 percent female with an average age of roughly 19 years old. Instead of just two check-ins, the researchers tracked these students across three distinct waves, with exactly one year between each wave.
Because the study spanned three full years, the scientists could use a more advanced statistical tool called a random-intercept cross-lagged panel model. This advanced statistical model separates the survey data into two different mathematical layers. The first layer looks at stable differences between different people. The second layer looks at temporary fluctuations within the exact same person.
Separating these layers helps scientists avoid confusing a stable personality trait with a passing state of mind. At the stable, trait-like level, the researchers found a positive association between the two factors. Individuals who consistently showed higher self-control compared to their peers also consistently reported more sustainable behaviors. This suggests that self-control is a stable personal trait strongly linked to living a greener lifestyle.
At the fluctuating, individual level, the data showed a different pattern. When a specific student experienced a natural drop or increase in their own typical self-control, it did not predict any subsequent change in their sustainable habits. This suggests that year-to-year shifts in a person’s willpower do not directly drive short-term changes in how they treat the environment.
“We were genuinely surprised by what we found inside the same person over time,” Li said. “At the outset, we had assumed that if someone’s self-control improved, their pro-environmental behavior would improve with it. But when we tracked the same individuals across waves, natural fluctuations in self-control simply did not translate into meaningful shifts in pro-environmental behavior.”
“The link is really anchored in stable, long-term trait differences,” Li continued. “It underscores that promoting sustainability requires more than urging people to ‘try harder’; we need to build habits and shape environments that make green choices effortless.”
The results provide evidence that having greener habits is part of an overarching lifestyle rather than a fleeting mood. “The main message is that the connection between self-control and green behavior is primarily a stable trait-level pattern: people who generally have stronger self-control also tend to live more sustainably across time,” Li said. “Yet when we tracked the same individuals over multiple waves, short-term ups and downs in their self-control did not reliably produce immediate changes in their environmental habits.”
“So it is not about heroic bursts of willpower in the moment; it is about who you are, on average, over the long haul,” Li added. “That distinction matters for everyday life. Sustainable living is really a marathon built from countless small decisions, turning off lights, carrying reusable bags, sorting waste, that add up over months and years.”
This highlights the need for structural changes that make sustainable choices easier for everyone. “If we rely solely on asking people to ‘try harder’ each time, we are fighting an uphill battle against human nature,” Li said. “A smarter approach is to reduce the self-control demand itself. Putting reminder stickers near light switches, placing recycling bins in convenient locations, or sharing monthly electricity or water-use feedback with family members can make the green choice the easy choice.”
Communities can also use nudging strategies to encourage green behaviors. Nudging involves designing choices in a way that guides people toward a desired action without restricting their freedom. Making recycling bins more accessible or automatically opting people into green energy plans reduces the amount of willpower needed to help the planet. “By designing environments and routines that minimize friction, we can promote sustainable actions without requiring constant mental effort,” Li said.
The researchers also note that self-control could be used as a helpful metric when assembling teams to tackle climate issues. People with naturally high self-control might be better equipped to handle the long-term demands of environmental advocacy. “One final thought: when selecting people for roles with significant environmental responsibilities, it makes sense to weigh self-control alongside their environmental attitudes and professional competence,” Li said.
The study does have a few limitations that should be noted. “We used self-report questionnaires and focused on Chinese high school and university students,” Li said. “That makes the findings suggestive rather than definitive. Future work should test whether the same pattern holds in other populations and with objective measures, such as actual behavioral tasks or real-world tracking, before drawing firmer conclusions.”
In addition, the one-year gap between the data collection waves might have missed smaller, short-term connections between willpower and sustainable choices. A full year is a long time, and a person’s self-control might fluctuate on a daily or weekly basis.
Going forward, the researchers plan to look at other psychological traits that support sustainable living. “Our next step is to understand why some people follow through on environmental intentions while others do not,” Li said. “We are especially interested in grit, passion and perseverance for long-term goals, because environmental protection is not a one-off act; it is a decades-long commitment.”
“The Paris Agreement, for instance, sets carbon-neutrality targets for the mid-twenty-first century, a timeline that feels distant to most people alive today,” Li noted. “That means safeguarding the planet demands sustained effort against slow, incremental payoffs, exactly the conditions where grit should matter.”
The scientists hope to figure out exactly how to foster this type of long-term dedication. “We want to test whether grit and related traits can help explain who stays the course in the face of such delayed rewards, and whether we can design interventions or educational programs that cultivate this kind of persistence for ecological goals,” Li said.
The study, “Longitudinal associations between self-control and pro-environmental behaviors,” was authored by Xingbo Wang, Yanru Liu, Yalun Zhang, Zhenglian Su, Liyun Hua, Yajun Zhao, and Jingguang Li.
-------------------------------------------------
DAILY EMAIL DIGEST: Email [email protected] -- no subject or message needed.
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
NYU Information for Practice puts out 400-500 good quality health-related research posts per week but its too much for many people, so that bot is limited to just subscribers. You can read it or subscribe at @PsychResearchBot
Since 1991 The National Psychologist has focused on keeping practicing psychologists current with news, information and items of interest. Check them out for more free articles, resources, and subscription information: https://www.nationalpsychologist.com
EMAIL DAILY DIGEST OF RSS FEEDS -- SUBSCRIBE: http://subscribe-article-digests.clinicians-exchange.org
READ ONLINE: http://read-the-rss-mega-archive.clinicians-exchange.org
It's primitive... but it works... mostly...
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #SelfControl #ProEnvironmentalBehavior #SustainableLiving #EnvironmentalPsychology #HabitFormation #GreenerChoices #Nudging #EcoFriendlyHabits #LongitudinalStudy #ClimateAction
-
DATE: May 12, 2026 at 04:00PM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: New study finds sustainable living relies on stable personality traits, not temporary bursts of willpower
Recent research suggests that people who naturally possess higher levels of self-control tend to engage in more environmentally friendly habits over time. However, short-term changes in a person’s willpower do not directly lead to greener choices. These findings provide evidence that making sustainable choices easier, rather than relying on individual discipline, might be a more effective way to encourage eco-friendly habits. The study was published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology.
Scientists conducted this study to better understand the psychological traits that drive people to protect the environment. Environmental challenges like climate change and biodiversity loss require immediate action from everyday people. Actions that reduce a person’s negative impact on the planet are known as pro-environmental behaviors. Taking these actions often requires individuals to override their immediate conveniences for the sake of long-term ecological goals.
Pursuing these long-term goals requires a degree of self-regulation. Self-control is a specific and essential type of self-regulation. It involves managing internal reactions, delaying gratification, and resisting unwanted behavioral impulses. Previous research suggests that people with higher self-control tend to act more sustainably because they can keep long-term goals in mind.
“The idea first struck me during a very ordinary moment,” said Jingguang Li, a professor of psychology at Dali University in China. “I had just finished a bottle of water and there was no recycling bin in sight. I felt the urge to simply discard it, but instead I held onto it until I found a proper disposal point.”
“That minor internal struggle made me curious: do people with stronger self-control naturally gravitate toward greener choices in their daily lives?” Li said. His laboratory was already studying self-control, making the connection to everyday environmental behavior a natural extension of their work.
Most previous studies on this topic relied on cross-sectional designs. A cross-sectional study looks at a group of people at a single point in time, much like a photograph. This makes it difficult to know the exact direction of the relationship between variables.
“Previous studies found that more self-controlled people also report more sustainable habits, but almost all of that evidence came from cross-sectional surveys, single snapshots in time,” Li told PsyPost. “That leaves a crucial ambiguity: does the link simply reflect stable differences between people, or can a real change in self-control actually drive a change in behavior?”
This single-snapshot approach also leaves room for survey bias. “Because both self-control and pro-environmental behavior are socially valued traits, respondents filling out a one-shot questionnaire tend to paint a consistently positive picture of themselves,” Li said. “If they rate themselves as highly disciplined, they often feel compelled to rate themselves as environmentally conscious too.”
This bias can artificially inflate the correlation, making the two traits look more tightly linked than they truly are in daily life. “To get around both problems, we followed the same participants across multiple time points,” Li said. “Spacing out the measurements helps separate genuine directional effects from the bias of wanting to appear virtuous in a single sitting.”
Longitudinal studies track the exact same individuals across multiple points in time. This allows scientists to see how changes in one trait might predict changes in another trait over months or years. The researchers specifically chose to study adolescents and young adults. Late adolescence and early adulthood are periods when individuals are still developing their self-regulation capacities and forming their long-term environmental habits.
In the first study, the researchers recruited 221 high school students from a public school in China. The sample included about 66 percent female students with an average age of roughly 16 years old. The researchers assessed the students twice, with a full year passing between the first and second assessment waves. During each wave, the students filled out paper questionnaires in their classrooms while supervised by research assistants.
To measure self-control, the scientists used a 13-item questionnaire. Students rated statements about their ability to resist temptation and their tendency to think before acting. To measure pro-environmental behavior, the students rated how often they engaged in specific green activities over the past 12 months. These activities included recycling cans, saving energy at home, or buying products in reusable containers.
When analyzing the data, the scientists used a statistical technique called a cross-lagged panel model. This method looks at how a variable at the first time point predicts a different variable at the second time point. The findings of this first study showed that higher self-control at the start of the year predicted an increase in pro-environmental behaviors by the end of the year.
The researchers conducted a second study to expand on these findings using a larger sample and a longer timeframe. The second study included 1286 university students from a single university in China. This group was about 63 percent female with an average age of roughly 19 years old. Instead of just two check-ins, the researchers tracked these students across three distinct waves, with exactly one year between each wave.
Because the study spanned three full years, the scientists could use a more advanced statistical tool called a random-intercept cross-lagged panel model. This advanced statistical model separates the survey data into two different mathematical layers. The first layer looks at stable differences between different people. The second layer looks at temporary fluctuations within the exact same person.
Separating these layers helps scientists avoid confusing a stable personality trait with a passing state of mind. At the stable, trait-like level, the researchers found a positive association between the two factors. Individuals who consistently showed higher self-control compared to their peers also consistently reported more sustainable behaviors. This suggests that self-control is a stable personal trait strongly linked to living a greener lifestyle.
At the fluctuating, individual level, the data showed a different pattern. When a specific student experienced a natural drop or increase in their own typical self-control, it did not predict any subsequent change in their sustainable habits. This suggests that year-to-year shifts in a person’s willpower do not directly drive short-term changes in how they treat the environment.
“We were genuinely surprised by what we found inside the same person over time,” Li said. “At the outset, we had assumed that if someone’s self-control improved, their pro-environmental behavior would improve with it. But when we tracked the same individuals across waves, natural fluctuations in self-control simply did not translate into meaningful shifts in pro-environmental behavior.”
“The link is really anchored in stable, long-term trait differences,” Li continued. “It underscores that promoting sustainability requires more than urging people to ‘try harder’; we need to build habits and shape environments that make green choices effortless.”
The results provide evidence that having greener habits is part of an overarching lifestyle rather than a fleeting mood. “The main message is that the connection between self-control and green behavior is primarily a stable trait-level pattern: people who generally have stronger self-control also tend to live more sustainably across time,” Li said. “Yet when we tracked the same individuals over multiple waves, short-term ups and downs in their self-control did not reliably produce immediate changes in their environmental habits.”
“So it is not about heroic bursts of willpower in the moment; it is about who you are, on average, over the long haul,” Li added. “That distinction matters for everyday life. Sustainable living is really a marathon built from countless small decisions, turning off lights, carrying reusable bags, sorting waste, that add up over months and years.”
This highlights the need for structural changes that make sustainable choices easier for everyone. “If we rely solely on asking people to ‘try harder’ each time, we are fighting an uphill battle against human nature,” Li said. “A smarter approach is to reduce the self-control demand itself. Putting reminder stickers near light switches, placing recycling bins in convenient locations, or sharing monthly electricity or water-use feedback with family members can make the green choice the easy choice.”
Communities can also use nudging strategies to encourage green behaviors. Nudging involves designing choices in a way that guides people toward a desired action without restricting their freedom. Making recycling bins more accessible or automatically opting people into green energy plans reduces the amount of willpower needed to help the planet. “By designing environments and routines that minimize friction, we can promote sustainable actions without requiring constant mental effort,” Li said.
The researchers also note that self-control could be used as a helpful metric when assembling teams to tackle climate issues. People with naturally high self-control might be better equipped to handle the long-term demands of environmental advocacy. “One final thought: when selecting people for roles with significant environmental responsibilities, it makes sense to weigh self-control alongside their environmental attitudes and professional competence,” Li said.
The study does have a few limitations that should be noted. “We used self-report questionnaires and focused on Chinese high school and university students,” Li said. “That makes the findings suggestive rather than definitive. Future work should test whether the same pattern holds in other populations and with objective measures, such as actual behavioral tasks or real-world tracking, before drawing firmer conclusions.”
In addition, the one-year gap between the data collection waves might have missed smaller, short-term connections between willpower and sustainable choices. A full year is a long time, and a person’s self-control might fluctuate on a daily or weekly basis.
Going forward, the researchers plan to look at other psychological traits that support sustainable living. “Our next step is to understand why some people follow through on environmental intentions while others do not,” Li said. “We are especially interested in grit, passion and perseverance for long-term goals, because environmental protection is not a one-off act; it is a decades-long commitment.”
“The Paris Agreement, for instance, sets carbon-neutrality targets for the mid-twenty-first century, a timeline that feels distant to most people alive today,” Li noted. “That means safeguarding the planet demands sustained effort against slow, incremental payoffs, exactly the conditions where grit should matter.”
The scientists hope to figure out exactly how to foster this type of long-term dedication. “We want to test whether grit and related traits can help explain who stays the course in the face of such delayed rewards, and whether we can design interventions or educational programs that cultivate this kind of persistence for ecological goals,” Li said.
The study, “Longitudinal associations between self-control and pro-environmental behaviors,” was authored by Xingbo Wang, Yanru Liu, Yalun Zhang, Zhenglian Su, Liyun Hua, Yajun Zhao, and Jingguang Li.
-------------------------------------------------
DAILY EMAIL DIGEST: Email [email protected] -- no subject or message needed.
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
NYU Information for Practice puts out 400-500 good quality health-related research posts per week but its too much for many people, so that bot is limited to just subscribers. You can read it or subscribe at @PsychResearchBot
Since 1991 The National Psychologist has focused on keeping practicing psychologists current with news, information and items of interest. Check them out for more free articles, resources, and subscription information: https://www.nationalpsychologist.com
EMAIL DAILY DIGEST OF RSS FEEDS -- SUBSCRIBE: http://subscribe-article-digests.clinicians-exchange.org
READ ONLINE: http://read-the-rss-mega-archive.clinicians-exchange.org
It's primitive... but it works... mostly...
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #SelfControl #ProEnvironmentalBehavior #SustainableLiving #EnvironmentalPsychology #HabitFormation #GreenerChoices #Nudging #EcoFriendlyHabits #LongitudinalStudy #ClimateAction
-
https://www.europesays.com/ch/63302/ Nestlé Health Science Launches Landmark Study to Uncover the Impact of Lifestyle on Gut Health #ClevelandClinic #DietaryFiber #JasonGoldsmith #LongitudinalStudy #Nestlé #ThaddeusStappenbeck
-
There is no safe amount of alcohol when it comes to dementia, study finds
Drinking any amount of alcohol increases your risk of dementia later in life, according to a new study…
#NewsBeep #News #US #USA #UnitedStates #UnitedStatesOfAmerica #Health #alcoholconsumption #AnyaTopiwala #dementia #geneticanalyses #geneticrisk #longitudinalstudy #Observationalstudies #RichardIsaacson #studyauthor #studyauthors #Topiwala
https://www.newsbeep.com/us/177954/ -
There is no safe amount of alcohol when it comes to dementia, study finds
Drinking any amount of alcohol increases your risk of dementia later in life, according to a new study…
#NewsBeep #News #US #USA #UnitedStates #UnitedStatesOfAmerica #Health #alcoholconsumption #AnyaTopiwala #dementia #geneticanalyses #geneticrisk #longitudinalstudy #Observationalstudies #RichardIsaacson #studyauthor #studyauthors #Topiwala
https://www.newsbeep.com/us/177954/ -
The Time of Day You Eat in Later Life Could Foreshadow an Early Death
A new longitudinal study by an international team of researchers has found a link between eating breakfast later in the day and a greater chance of an early d…
#dining #cooking #diet #food #Nutrition #EatingBreakfast #EatingHabits #elderlypeople #longitudinalstudy #Mentalhealth #mortalityrisk #nutrition #researchers
https://www.diningandcooking.com/2284880/the-time-of-day-you-eat-in-later-life-could-foreshadow-an-early-death/ -
The Time of Day You Eat in Later Life Could Foreshadow an Early Death https://www.diningandcooking.com/2284880/the-time-of-day-you-eat-in-later-life-could-foreshadow-an-early-death/ #EatingBreakfast #EatingHabits #ElderlyPeople #LongitudinalStudy #MentalHealth #MortalityRisk #nutrition #researchers
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🚨 New research using our #population #opendata - Real-time #sewage surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 in Dhaka, #Bangladesh versus clinical #COVID-19 surveillance: a longitudinal environmental surveillance study - in #TheLancet #LongitudinalStudy https://doi.org/10.1016/S2666-5247(23)00010-1
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📃A robust #NumberSense at 12 months old predicts math skills at age 4, regardless of general intelligence or other skills, report @manuela_piazza and her #CIMeC Per2Con group in Developmental Science, after a #LongitudinalStudy of the same 40 children, three years apart. #EarlyMaths
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/desc.13386