AI Article Synopsis
- Sehnsucht refers to a deep longing for ideal life circumstances that are often unrealistic, and it's viewed in psychology as a way individuals regulate their emotions and goals.
- A study involving 168 middle-aged childless women explored how their desire for children manifests as either a goal or a life longing, depending on its perceived intensity and attainability.
- The pursuit of having children as a life longing was linked to better well-being, but this positive effect was strongest when women had significant control over this yearning and when other strategies to cope with it weren't effective.
Article Abstract
Sehnsucht (life longings), the intense desire for optimal (utopian) states of life that are remote or unattainable, was recently introduced into life-span psychology as a concept of self-regulation (P. B. Baltes, 2008; S. Scheibe, A. M. Freund, & P. B. Baltes, 2007). The authors propose that as a compensatory strategy to deal with nonrealizability and loss, life longings may develop out of blocked goals. Individuals would cease to invest behavioral effort into its attainment and instead maintain the goal target in imagination. In a sample of 168 middle-aged childless women, the present study investigated the circumstances under which the wish for children emerges as a goal or life longing and whether the representation of the wish for children as a life longing is beneficial for well-being. The wish for children was expressed as a goal when participants rated this wish as currently intense and attainable. In contrast, it was expressed as a life longing when participants rated it as highly intense and long-standing. The pursuit of the wish for children as a life longing was positively related to well-being only when participants had high control over the experience of this life longing and when other self-regulation strategies (goal adjustment) failed.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0016359 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Intermittent social isolation enhances social investigation but impairs social memory in adult male mice.
Physiol Behav
December 2024
School of Medicine, Southeast University, 87 Dingjiaqiao Road, Nanjing, PR China; The Key Laboratory of Developmental Genes and Human Disease, Ministry of Education, The School of Life Science and Technology, Southeast University, 2 Sipailou Road, Nanjing, PR China. Electronic address:
Social isolation profoundly impacts motivated behavior and neural plasticity. While the effects of acute and chronic social isolation have been extensively studied, the consequences of intermittent isolation during adulthood, particularly relevant to modern lifestyles, remain poorly understood. This study investigated the impact of intermittent social isolation (ISI) on social behavior and brain activation in adult male mice.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFExamining Caregiver Practices During Adolescent Outpatient Alcohol Use and Co-Occurring Mental Health Treatment: Protocol for a Dyadic Ecological Momentary Assessment Study.
JMIR Res Protoc
December 2024
Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University,, Brown University, Providence, RI, United States.
Background: Caregiver-involved treatments for adolescents with alcohol use disorder and co-occurring disorders (AUD+CODs) are associated with the best treatment outcomes. Understanding what caregiving practices during treatment improve core adolescent treatment targets may facilitate the refinement and scalability of caregiver-involved interventions. Caregiving is dynamic, varying by context, affect, and adolescent behavior.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChildhood Traumas, Attachment Styles and Related Clinical Factors in Opioid Use Disorder.
Noro Psikiyatr Ars
November 2024
Department of Psychiatry, Akdeniz University Faculty of Medicine, Antalya, Türkiye.
Introduction: The study aims to compare childhood traumas, attachment styles, impulsivity, and quality of life of Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) patients in remission with healthy controls and to reveal the relationships between these parameters.
Methods: The study included one hundred patients diagnosed with OUD and one hundred healthy volunteers. Sociodemographic data form, Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-5 Disorders Clinician Version, Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, Relationship Scales Questionnaire, Barratt Impulsivity Scale-11, World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale Brief Version and Substance Craving Scale were administered.
An Ecological Momentary Assessment Approach of Environmental Triggers in the Role of Daily Affect, Rumination, and Movement Patterns in Early Alcohol Use Among Healthy Adolescents: Exploratory Study.
JMIR Mhealth Uhealth
December 2024
see Acknowledgments, .
Background: Adolescence is a period characterized by an increased susceptibility to developing risky alcohol consumption habits. This susceptibility can be influenced by social and situational factors encountered in daily life, which, in conjunction with emotions and thoughts, contribute to behavioral patterns related to alcohol use even in the early stages of alcohol experimentation, when initial experiences with alcohol are formed, and regular consumption is still evolving.
Objective: This study aimed to examine the association between detailed behavioral and movement patterns, along with emotional and cognitive factors, and the early onset of alcohol use in the everyday lives of adolescents.
Psychosocial and physical wellbeing in women and male partners undergoing immediate versus postponed modified natural cycle frozen embryo transfer after ovarian stimulation and oocyte pick-up: a sub-study of a randomized controlled trial.
Hum Reprod
December 2024
Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Study Question: Are there differences in psychosocial and physical wellbeing among women and male partners undergoing modified natural cycle (mNC) frozen embryo transfer (FET) in immediate compared to postponed cycles after ovarian stimulation (OS) and oocyte pick-up (OPU)?
Summary Answer: Significantly more women in the immediate group reported physical symptoms than women in the postponed group whilst fewer were emotionally affected by waiting time, although the latter difference lost statistical significance after adjustment for multiple testing.
What Is Known Already: Infertility and fertility treatment are known to cause psychosocial distress in women and couples longing for a child. The treatment may be long-term and delayed for various reasons, such as the elective postponement of FET after a fresh transfer without pregnancy or an elective freeze-all cycle, possibly further increasing the level of distress.
Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!