The deleterious effects of discrimination are numerous, and these effects may be particularly detrimental in hindering psychological resources to manage daily stress, such as sense of purpose. Moreover, experiences of discrimination may leave individuals feeling derailed or disconnected from one’s past self. The current study (n = 354) therefore investigated the extent to which both general and daily experiences of discrimination impacted sense of purpose and feelings of derailment. This research finds that experiences of discrimination are related to both lower sense of purpose, and higher feelings of derailment. Further, the research shows that daily experiences of discrimination across two weeks predict concurrent declines in sense of purpose as well as increases in feelings of derailment. Thus, this research highlights the potential harms of discrimination in daily life on sense of purpose, and its potential to promote derailment, which may lead to increased risk for downstream poorer health and affective disorders.

Background: As an emergent developmental construct, derailment - an individual difference hallmarked by a temporal discordance of the self - has been positively associated with depressive features, though less is known about the role of stress in this relationship. The aim of the present study was to explore the interaction between derailment and subjective stress on depressed mood. Methods: 265 adults recruited through Prolific - a crowd sourcing platform were first tasked with completing baseline measures, then were randomly assigned to a low stress or high stress condition. We utilized an adapted version of the Online Trier Stress Test to manipulate stress levels. Next, depressed mood and post-test perceived stress were measured. We analyzed data through STATA using a two-tailed independent samples t-test and multiple linear regression. Results: Findings suggested the experimental manipulation increased subjective stress within the high stress condition compared to the low stress condition (M-diff = 36.14, SE = 4.4, t = 8.21, p < .001). Further, we found the interaction between derailment and stress conditions was associated with increased depressed mood (beta = -0.11, SE = 0.05, p = .038, R-2 = 0.5). Notably, we found significant between-condition differences in depressed mood for those who endorsed either low (d = 0.22, SE = 0.07, p = .003) or moderate levels of derailment (d = 0.11, SE = 0.05, p = .033), but not for those who endorsed high levels of derailment (d = 0.01, SE = 0.07, p = .92). Limitations: This study utilized self-report measures, which may be susceptible to biased responses. Conclusions: Derailment may play a role in the persistence of depressed mood regardless of varying contexts of stress.

The accumulation of evidence that having a sense of purpose contributes to greater health and well-being has vastly outpaced investigations into why this is so. Here, we offer a novel functional account for the demonstrated benefits of purpose by characterizing it as a resource that maintains psychological homeostasis. We posit that a sense of purpose recenters conscious attention toward prospective and overarching aims, thereby limiting the magnitude of disruption to well-being caused by the proximal stimuli. By attenuating reactivity to proximal events both stressful and uplifting, a sense of purpose facilitates greater stability in health and functioning over time. We leverage this mechanistic account with specific examples found across areas of psychological science and outline questions to guide future research.

Psychological inquiry into identity has focused predominantly on its construction, contents, or consequences for individuals. However, often overlooked in identity research agendas are the motivations that drive people to disclose their identities to others. Contemporary research suggests that identity has become a psychosocial currency individuals can exchange to navigate social interactions toward desired aims. Here, we introduce the Identity Disclosure Matrix (IDM) as a conceptual framework for understanding why and how identities are disclosed. We contend that efforts to intervene on identities would be more efficacious by considering the reasons and ways people disclose them. We then leverage the IDM to suggest that emotion regulation and social connection are two basic and interactive needs that motivate disclosing who one is to others. Enacted at either high or low levels, motivations to satisfy these two needs result in four unique types of identity disclosures that enable individuals to navigate the social world.

Previous research is replete with evidence that emotions and self-regulation work together to influence learning performance, but distinct trait and state features of emotions and self-regulation are rarely considered. With an analytic sample comprising 9,501 daily diaries from 280 adolescents participating in a self-driven learning program, this study used multilevel modeling to examine how trait and state positive and negative emotions and self-regulation interact to predict adolescents' perceived daily learning progress. Results suggested that daily perceived learning progress was associated with trait and state positive emotions and self-regulation, as well as trait negative emotions. Furthermore, there was a significant positive interaction between state positive emotions and state self-regulation on perceived daily learning progress, such that when adolescents' state self-regulation was higher than usual, their perceived daily learning progress was more sensitive to state positive emotion. Results underscore the importance of enhancing adolescents' self-regulation and positive emotion, and the feasibility of facilitating adolescents' learning even if they are in a state of greater negative emotion.

Sense of purpose refers to the extent to which one feels that they have personally meaningful goals and directions guiding them through life. Though this construct predicts a host of benefits, little is known regarding the extent to which sense of purpose fluctuates within an individual and the affective changes tied to those fluctuations. The current study uses daily diary data to addresses this gap by exploring (1) how much sense of purpose and different components of purpose fluctuate from one day to the next, (2) the extent to which these fluctuations correlate with positive and negative affect, and (3) whether dispositional sense of purpose and age correlate with greater variability. Participants (N = 354) reported on their sense of purpose and positive and negative affect every day for 10 days. Results suggest that approximately 45-61% of the variability in sense of purpose scores occurs between-person depending on how it is assessed. Furthermore, the within-person variability in sense of purpose is more strongly correlated with changes in positive affect relative to negative affect. Finally, higher levels of dispositional sense of purpose and age do not appear to be associated with how much variability an individual experiences in their purposefulness from one day to next. The discussion focuses on what these findings mean for the trait-like nature of sense of purpose, short-term sense of purpose measurement, lifespan development, and intervention efforts.

Purpose offers several important benefits to youth. Thus, it is necessary to understand how a sense of purpose develops in supportive contexts and what psychological resources can help. From 2021 to 2022, this study investigated purpose change among 321 youth (M-age = 16.4 years; 71% female; 25.9% Black, 33.3% Asian, 15.6% Hispanic/Latinx, 13.4% White, 9.7% multiracial) participating in GripTape, a similar to 10-week self-driven learning program. Many youth started with high initial purpose that increased throughout enrollment (Strengthening), whereas others began with slightly lower purpose that remained stable (Maintaining). For each unit increase in baseline agency, youth were 1.6x more likely to be classified as Strengthening. As such, agency may be a resource that helps youth capitalize on certain types of environments.

Multiple studies have focused on the role of psychosocial factors as predictors of COVID-19 vaccination willingness and uptake, with less attention paid to whether vaccination itself could influence wellbeing. The current study evaluated this possibility with respect to sense of purpose, the perception one has goals and a direction in life, building on previous evidence this factor may influence vaccination willingness and decision-making. Across seven waves of monthly data from February to August 2021, participants (n = 2169, mage = 48.0 years) across Canada and the United States reported on their sense of purpose and vaccination status. Using piecewise regression models, results indicated that sense of purpose did not appear to fluctuate in the month prior to, during, or following COVID-19 vaccination. However, across most months of the survey, vaccinated participants did report greater sense of purpose relative to unvaccinated participants. These findings are discussed with respect to whether health behaviors, such as vaccination, should be viewed as behaviors indicative of leading a purposeful life.

Derailment is the sense of being "off-course" in life. But what could this mean for adolescents, who are often establishing identity and self-direction for the first time? We examined the structure and correlates of the Derailment Scale and its short form, the Derailment Scale-6 (DS-6), among middle-to-late adolescents (N = 452). Both scales exhibited unidimensionality, but the DS-6 demonstrated superior fit and correlated with cross-sectional distress markers (e.g., greater depression, lower life satisfaction, strained sense of purpose). Breaking from adult-based research, we failed to find evidence that derailment related to adolescent identity exploration and commitment. In extending assessment of derailment to adolescence, this study invites exploration of this experience during a time characterized by substantial transition and the emergence of stable self-views.

Public Significance Statement The results of this study suggest notable shifts in experiences of discrimination and social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, the findings indicate that Black young adults experienced increases in discrimination, which exacerbated Black-White racial disparities in social isolation. Determining the degree to which the reported changes are enduring, evident in other demographic groups, and of longer term developmental and public health significance will be important next steps to inform a continuing pandemic response, and responses to future societal-level stressful events. Objective: The objective of this study was to examine whether experiences of discrimination have increased during the pandemic, particularly among negatively stigmatized racial/ethnic groups, and whether such experiences have exacerbated feelings of social isolation. Method: Discrimination and social isolation were assessed before and during the pandemic in a sample of 263 Black and White young adults attending a large, predominantly White 4-year research university in the Southeastern region of the United States (52% Black, 48% White, 53% female, mean age = 19.2). Results: Increases in discrimination were evident among Black but not White participants. Black participants also reported greater increases in social isolation than White participants, and changes in discrimination partially mediated the emergent racial disparity in social isolation. Conclusions: Findings are consistent with theoretical perspectives on discrimination during times of stress and suggest the need for broader attention to the impact of the pandemic on unfair treatment of stigmatized groups.

Background Previous scholarship has illustrated the pernicious role of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in self-reported mental health, namely depressive and anxiety-related symptoms. Given these insights, highlighting protective factors that may diminish the magnitude of this relationship is important. The present study explored the moderating role of perceived control on the relationship between ACEs and depressive and anxiety symptoms, respectively. Methods Participants consisted of a US-based non-clinical sample of 567 undergraduate students who completed a battery of surveys related to psychological wellbeing and individual differences. A series of hierarchical linear regression analyses were utilized for hypothesis testing. Results Consistent with our main hypotheses, perceived control moderated the relationship between ACEs and both anxiety and depressive symptoms, respectively. Namely, at low levels of perceived control, ACEs were associated with significantly greater levels of anxiety and depressive symptoms, respectively. However, for those reporting high levels of perceived control, we found no association between ACEs and self-reported symptoms. Conclusion We offer evidence that perceived control may serve as a protective factor for mental health and wellbeing against the influence of adverse childhood experiences.

IntroductionRecent data suggests significant racial disparities in police killings in the United States: Much research finds that Black men are killed by police officers at higher rates than White men, and many individuals killed by police have been unarmed.MethodToward addressing psychological mechanisms at play in these complicated decision contexts, the current study tested the effectiveness of two writing tasks at reducing the unjustified shooting of unarmed targets using a virtual shooting-decision platform. Participants wrote either about their sense of purpose, self-affirming values, or a control topic and then played a first-person shooter video game, which randomly presented pictures of Black and White armed and unarmed targets. Participants were instructed not to shoot unarmed targets and to shoot armed targets.ResultsResults indicated that relative to controls, writing about either purpose or self-affirming values reduced the probability of shooting unarmed targets, without negatively impacting shooting decision reaction time.

A broad interest in finding purpose is understandable, as having purpose is situated in notions of "the good life" and is linked in studies to greater health and wellbeing. Yet, the empirical basis for whether purpose is truly findable is inadequate, lacking guidance from theories predicting behavioral capacities that drive its acquisition. If feeling purposeful is as favorable as studies suggest, then more transparent and precise explanations of how it is derived are needed; otherwise, the field risks illuminating this resource while leaving the pathways to it unlit. Here, I call for a translational science of purpose acquisition directed at gathering and disseminating evidence of the processes by which this sense can be cultivated. I introduce a minimal viable framework for integrating basic and applied investigations into purpose by bridging laboratory research, intervention and implementation efforts, community-engaged practices, and policies to accelerate testing and strategies for enhancing this salubrious sense in people's lives.

High positive affect and low negative affect have been repeatedly tied to better individual and interpersonal well-being. However, research has focused on mean levels whereas the day-to-day unfolding of affect and its impact on romantic relationships remain largely understudied. Here, we examined the links between mean levels and variability in affect and changes in perceptions of partner regard -the extent to which people believe that their partners value and accept them. One hundred twenty-five African American couples (N = 250 individuals) reported how positively they thought their partners viewed them across two sessions (T1 and T2), separated by a 3-week daily diary study in which participants reported on their positive and negative affect each day for 21 consecutive days. Using dyadic analysis, we found that higher actor negative affect variability was associated with lower perceived regard at T2 controlling for perceived regard at T1. This finding held when controlling for mean levels of actor and partner negative affect. By contrast, PA variability was curvilinearly associated with perceived regard, with moderate levels of variability associated with higher subsequent perceived regard. These results highlight the importance of accounting for mean levels and curvilinear effects when examining links between affect dynamics and relational well-being.

OBJECTIVE:Despite long-standing assumptions that a sense of purpose in life and goal pursuit are mutually supportive, empirical evidence of their reciprocity remains deficient. In the context of a unique out-of-school time program that empowers youth to pursue passions through self-driven learning, we examined whether purpose and one aspect of goal pursuit-perceptions of goal progress-work together to sustain themselves and each other over time. METHOD:Adolescents (N = 321) completed daily surveys throughout program enrollment (Menrollment = 69.09 days). Through dynamic structural equation modeling, we derived within-person patterns of day-to-day prediction as well as individual differences in these patterns. RESULTS:We found purpose and perceived goal progress exhibited significant daily inertia (i.e., autoregressive prediction) and reciprocity (i.e., cross-lagged prediction) at the within-person level. We also found initial evidence suggesting (a) tighter reciprocity was related to greater perceived goal progress overall and (b) people with greater purpose inertia may rely less on making goal progress to sustain momentum. CONCLUSIONS:With evidence of daily purpose-progress reciprocity, the field can look forward to replicating this work in other contexts, diving deeper into interesting patterns of within-person dynamics, and developing interventions to support youth striving.

While opportunities for adolescents to drive their own learning are increasing, differences in motivations for and engagement in these opportunities are rarely investigated. The current study employed a sample of adolescents ( N = 580, M age = 16.53) enrolled in GripTape , a 10-week self-driven learning program in which youth pursue topics of their choosing. Cluster analysis classified adolescents based on their personal (e.g., resilience, competence) and ecological (e.g., adult support, safe environments) assets, resulting in two distinguishable groups. A High Asset group scored more favorably on these indicators than a Lower Asset group. Between-cluster comparisons revealed that compared to the Lower Asset group, the High Asset group reported greater levels of motivation for self-driven learning (i.e., intrinsic, extrinsic, and competence demonstration), but not engagement (i.e., positive learning experience, commitment to learning topics and activities). Subsequent tests showed that extrinsic motivation and competence demonstration negatively correlates with youth commitment to learning topics and activities. These findings enrich the literature concerning adolescents’ motivations for and engagement in self-driven learning, and how to support youth self-driven learning.

Research suggests a sense of purpose begins developing in earnest during adolescence, which may shape youth's interests and resilience. Here, we explored the types of purpose orientations reflected in youth's applications to a self-driven learning program, and how distinct pathways by which youth pursued these purposes moderated their resilience throughout the program. A content analysis of 356 youth's (M-age = 16.53, 57.02% female) descriptions of and rationales for choosing their learning topics found that career, creative, and prosocial purposes were the most prevalent; and about 70% of participants indicated following proactive pathways toward purposes. Moreover, youth's resilience significantly increased throughout the program, a pattern amplified among youth whose applications revealed a proactive purpose pathway (gradually developing and pursuing an interest) relative to reactive or social-learning pathways. Findings underscore important links between purpose pathways and resilience and have implications for designing learning opportunities that facilitate positive youth development.

INTRODUCTION Supportive adults are a critical component of effective out-of-school time (OST) youth programs, yet the short-term dynamics that underlie their role are poorly understood. Within GripTape, a US-wide self-driven learning program, we examined if interactions with program-assigned adults (i.e., Champions) correspond with youths' daily psychosocial functioning (i.e., sense of purpose, self-concept clarity, and self-esteem). METHOD Participants were 204 North American adolescents (M [SD] = 16.42 [1.18] years; female = 70.1%, male = 25.0%) enrolled in GripTape, a remote OST program that empowers under-resourced teens to pursue their passions for ~10 weeks. During enrollment, youth are given autonomy to structure their learning goals and methods to best match their needs; a stipend of up to 500 USD; and an adult Champion to act as a touchpoint. Data collection consisted of a baseline survey before the program launch and a 5-min survey on each day of enrollment. RESULTS Across ~70 days, we found that youth reported greater psychosocial functioning on days they reported interacting with their Champion. After controlling for same-day psychosocial functioning, we failed to find evidence that Champion interactions predicted youths' next-day psychosocial functioning. CONCLUSION In addition to being among the first studies to investigate the daily benefits of youth-adult interactions within OST programming, this study documents the short-term incremental change that may underlie previous work on OST program outcomes.

Despite being a valued resource for adolescent health and development, the field maintains an incomplete view of how youths’ sense of purpose in life corresponds with their subjective well-being (SWB; i.e., greater life satisfaction and positive affect, lower negative affect). These blind spots are especially noticeable at the daily level, and the field further fails to consider how daily associations between purpose and SWB might vary across important individual differences. This study addresses these gaps in the literature using a daily diary approach to track adolescents ( N = 204; M age = 16.42 years; 70.1% female) across approximately 70 days of enrollment in GripTape , a U.S.-based out-of-school time program that supports engagement with personally meaningful activities. We found that on days teens felt more purposeful than usual, they tended to report greater SWB. Moreover, we failed to find evidence that subclinical autistic traits, an individual difference that corresponded with lower daily SWB ratings, moderated the observed daily benefits of feeling more purposeful than usual. With one of the longest consecutive studies of youth well-being to date, our work shows that day-to-day fluctuations in purpose are a useful addition to the adolescent SWB landscape. Following this necessary observational groundwork, future research may invest in creating and testing purpose opportunities for a more inclusive range of youth.

While rich with opportunities for self-exploration, the transition to and through college is stressful, often associated with the onset or exacerbation of mental illness. Attending to these characteristics, this preregistered study asked whether derailment-or difficulties reconciling perceived identity change-in freshman year predicts senior depressive symptoms, and how individual risks for depression relate to this association. Derailment and depressive symptoms evidenced significant 3-year stability, and these constructs had positive cross-sectional associations in both freshman and senior year. Freshman derailment failed to predict senior depressive symptoms for the average student, but individual differences in self-reflection moderated the association: freshman derailment positively predicted senior depression among those lowest in self-reflection. Together, this study suggests derailment and depressive symptoms are consistently related at critical points of transition, and some individual differences in cognition may help predict their long-term association. While useful for understanding nuances between derailment and depression, these findings also inform ways of attending to and supporting college students through periods of transition. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).