Questions of Self-regulation and Affect: Affectivity, Locomotion, Assessment, and Psychological Well-Being

The affectivity system is a complex dynamic system, thus, it needs to be seen as a whole-system unit that is best studied by analyzing four profiles: self-destructive (low positive affect, high negative affect), low affective (low positive affect, low negative affect), high affective (high positive affect, high negative affect), and self-fulfilling (high positive affect, low negative affect). Our purpose was to examine individual differences in psychological well-being and self-regulatory strategies (assessment/locomotion). Additionally, we investigated if the effect of psychological well-being on self-regulatory strategies was moderated by the individual’s type of profile. Participants (N = 567) answered the Positive Affect Negative Affect Schedule, Ryff’s Scales of Psychological Well-being, and the Regulatory Mode Questionnaire. We conducted a Multivariate Analysis of Variance using age as covariate and Structural Equation Modeling in a multi-group for moderation analysis. Individuals with a self-fulfilling profile scored highest in all psychological well-being constructs and locomotion and lowest in assessment. Nevertheless, matched comparisons showed that increases in certain psychological resources might lead to profile changes. Moreover, while some psychological well-being constructs (e.g., self-acceptance) had an effect of self-regulatory mode independently of the individual’s profile, other constructs’ (e.g., personal growth) effect on self-regulation was moderated by the person’s unique type of profile. Although only theoretical, these results give an idea of how leaps/changes might be extreme (i.e., from one profile at the extreme of the model to the other extreme), while other might be serial (i.e., from one profile to another depending on matching affective dimensions).