Frontiers in Psychology最新文献

It has been 20 years since the term "peer motivational climate" was first conceptualized and measured. The purpose of this systematic scoping review was to (i) quantify the literature on the study characteristics and methodologies of peer motivational climate research, (ii) examine the scope and consistency of associations between peer motivational climate and other psychosocial factors, and (iii) explore its interplay with motivational climates created by other social agents. Three databases were searched and all studies published in English were screened for inclusion. Of the 54 studies included, most were cross-sectional (N = 30, 55.55%), and adolescents were the most frequently researched participants (N = 42, 77.77%). Peer motivational climate was explored mainly in competitive sports (N = 27, 50%), followed by non-competitive sports and exercise (N = 21, 38.88%), with only six studies conducted in PE (Physical Education) contexts. Seven research categories and four different interplays among social agents (parents, coaches, teachers, and peers) were identified. Overall, a peer task-involving climate has been more linked to adaptive outcomes while there were also relations between a peer ego-involving climate and maladaptive outcomes (e.g., negative affect and basic psychological need thwarting), but the latter were less consistent. Importantly, the ways peers and adults predicted youth's motivation were distinct. This scoping review can guide not only practitioners into harmonizing different peer motivational climates to optimize youth sports and physical activity experiences but also researchers into future avenues with broader scope and methodologies on peer motivational climate research.

Objective: This study aims to investigate the dynamic relationships between physical exercise (PE), body image (BI), and social anxiety (SA) among Chinese junior high school students, as well as to analyze the mechanism through which PE may alleviate SA by improving BI.

Methods: A total of 851 students (652 males, 391 females) from grades 7 and 8 across five secondary schools in Sichuan, Jiangsu, and Guangdong provinces were selected for this 12-month longitudinal study. Four waves of data were collected using validated questionnaires measuring PE, BI, and SA. The data were analyzed using a random intercept cross-lagged panel model (RI-CLPM).

Results: The study revealed the following findings: (1) PE showed significant positive correlations with BI at all four time points (r = 0.308 to 0.463, p < 0.001) and significant negative correlations with SA (r = -0.142 to -0.301, p < 0.001); (2) BI was also significantly negatively correlated with SA (r = -0.138 to -0.313, p < 0.001); (3) PE significantly reduced subsequent SA levels by improving BI. The total effect of the pathway PE(T1) → BI(T2) → SA(T3) was -0.301, with a mediation effect of -0.125 (accounting for 41.53% of the total effect).

Conclusion: This study elucidates the mediating mechanism through which PE alleviates SA by enhancing BI, providing scientific evidence for adolescent mental health interventions. Schools are advised to incorporate strategies in physical education curricula and activities that foster positive BI and social adaptation skills to promote psychological well-being.

Introduction: This study aimed to explore cultural variations in meaning in life (MIL) by comparing ultra-Orthodox and secular individuals in Israel, examining the roles of attachment to God and synchronicity awareness.

Method: A matched sample of ultra-Orthodox and secular participants completed measures of attachment to God, synchronicity awareness, synchronicity meaning-detection, and MIL. Participants were matched on age and gender using nearest neighbor matching. Measures included the Experiences in Close Relationships scale adapted for God attachment, the Synchronicity Awareness and Meaning-Detecting Scale, and the Meaning in Life Questionnaire. Path analysis was used to test the hypothesized relationships.

Results: Ultra-Orthodox individuals reported higher levels of anxious attachment to God and MIL, while secular individuals exhibited more avoidant attachment. Both groups showed similar levels of synchronicity awareness and meaning-detection. Insecure attachment styles to God (anxious and avoidant) were negatively associated with MIL. Mediation analyses indicated that synchronicity meaning-detection significantly mediated the relationship between anxious attachment to God and MIL, suggesting that interpreting coincidences as meaningful may enhance overall life meaning for those with anxious attachment. Synchronicity awareness did not mediate this relationship, highlighting the importance of active interpretation rather than mere recognition of events.

Discussion: The findings highlight the complex interplay between religious affiliation, attachment to God, and synchronicity experiences in shaping perceptions of life meaning across different cultural contexts. The study extends attachment theory and synchronicity research, offering insights into meaning-making processes and wellbeing. Future research should employ longitudinal and experimental designs to further validate these relationships and explore implications for enhancing MIL across diverse populations.

In the context of artificial intelligence (AI) integration in higher education-such as AI-supported learning platforms, automated feedback and grading systems, and generative AI tools like ChatGPT-teachers' innovative teaching behaviors (ITB) are a key factor influencing students' learning engagement (LE). While previous research has confirmed the positive effect of ITB on LE, the underlying psychological mechanisms, especially in AI-mediated environments, remain insufficiently understood. Guided by student engagement theory and social-cognitive perspectives on technology use, this study examined the parallel mediating roles of trust in AI (AIT) and learning satisfaction (LS) in the relationship between ITB and LE. A survey was conducted among 513 vocational university students in Guangdong, China-a region with advanced digital infrastructure and early AI adoption. The results showed that ITB significantly and positively predicted LE. Both AIT and LS acted as partial mediators in this relationship, suggesting that enhancing students' satisfaction yields slightly stronger gains in engagement than focusing on AI trust alone. The findings indicate that teachers' innovative practices enhance engagement both directly and indirectly by fostering learning satisfaction and cultivating calibrated, critical trust in AI-that is, confidence in AI's usefulness combined with awareness of its limitations. This study is among the first to model AI trust and learning satisfaction as parallel mediators between innovative teaching behaviors and learning engagement, thereby enriching our understanding of how pedagogical innovation and students' psychological perceptions jointly shape engagement in the AI era. These results imply that higher education should not only encourage innovative, AI-supported teaching designs but also deliberately nurture students' emotional experiences (satisfaction) and their thoughtful, critical trust in AI tools to maximize learning engagement.

Objective: To compare the psychosocial health and quality of life of children with different types and prism diopters (Δ) of strabismus, and to observe the impact of surgery on the psychosocial health and quality of life of children with strabismus.

Methods: We use questionnaires to evaluate the scores of perceived discrimination (PD), social anxiety (SAD), self-esteem (S-E), and quality of life (QoL) of children. These indicators are compared between children with and without strabismus, as well as changes before and after strabismus surgery.

Results: 1. Children with strabismus had lower QoL and S-E scores than those without strabismus, while their SAD and PD scores were higher (p < 0.05). 2. Children with intermittent exotropia had higher QoL scores than the other types of strabismus (p < 0.05), vertical strabismus had higher SAD scores than the other three types (p < 0.05); 3. Patients with exotropia (-15Δ ≤ ∼ < -30Δ) had higher sores on QoL and S-E, had lower scores on SAD and individual PD than those with exotropia ( ≤ -30Δ) (p < 0.05). Patients with esotropia (+10Δ ≤ ∼ < +30Δ) had higher scores on QoL and S-E, had lower scores on group PD than those with esotropia ( ≥ +30Δ) (p < 0.05); 4. There were no significant differences in the scores of QoL and S-E between strabismus patients pre and 1 month post-surgery. These scores significantly increased 3 months after surgery (p = 0.000). There were no significant differences in some sub-dimensions of S-E between pre and post-surgery. There were no significant differences in SAD between pre and 1-mon-post-surgery, but it significantly decreased 3 months post-surgery compared to pre-surgery. There were some differences in PD between pre and post-surgery, although they didn't reach the traditional statistical significance level (p = 0.056). Individual PD significantly decreased at 1 and 3 months after surgery (p = 0.010), and group PD significantly decreased at 3 months after surgery (p = 0.048).

Conclusion: Children with strabismus have lower psychosocial health and quality of life than those without strabismus. The type and severity of strabismus is correlated with mental health and quality of life. Surgery improved S-E and QoL for strabismus patients effectively and reduced PD and SAD. However, these changes exhibit a certain latency, typically occurring 3 months after surgery.

Introduction: Grounded in social exchange theory, this study examines how psychological contract violation shapes preschool teachers' turnover intention through cognitive, affective, and behavioral organizational cynicism, and whether equity sensitivity strengthens these links in the Chinese context.

Methods: We surveyed 505 preschool teachers across five Chinese provinces. Using PLS-SEM with 5,000 bootstraps, we tested direct, mediating, and moderating effects among psychological contract violation, three facets of organizational cynicism, equity sensitivity, and turnover intention.

Results: Psychological contract violation shows positive effects on cognitive, affective, and behavioral organizational cynicism as well as on turnover intention. Cognitive organizational cynicism and affective cynicism partially mediate the psychological contract violation-turnover intention relationship, whereas behavioral organizational cynicism does not. Equity sensitivity positively moderates the psychological contract violation-turnover intention path. The model explains 50% of the variance in turnover intention.

Discussion: Findings suggest that distrust and emotional disillusion-rather than overt resistance-translate breached obligations into quitting intentions. Administrators should prioritize promise tracking, procedural justice, and emotional support, with targeted interventions for equity-sensitive staff. Limitations include the cross-sectional design and self-report measures; future work should incorporate longitudinal turnover data.

Background: Health anxiety involves excessive worry about illness and heightened vigilance toward bodily sensations. These concerns may relate to reduced physical activity and musculoskeletal symptoms such as low back pain (LBP). However, the interrelationships among health anxiety, physical inactivity, and LBP in Chinese university students remain insufficiently explored. This study examined these associations using structural equation modeling (SEM).

Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted between February and May 2025 among 5,607 third- and fourth-year students from 39 universities in Guangdong Province, China. Standardized instruments measured health anxiety, physical activity, participation in physical education (PE) classes, and LBP. SEM was used to evaluate direct and indirect associations while adjusting for demographic and behavioral covariates.

Results: Among participants (64.99% female; 22.32 ± 0.67 years), 44% were classified as physically inactive and 33.93% reported LBP in the past month. Higher health anxiety was associated with a greater likelihood of physical inactivity (β = 0.291), and an indirect association with LBP through inactivity (indirect effect = 0.061). Physical inactivity was associated with greater LBP intensity (β = 0.211) and higher BMI (β = 0.157), and BMI was associated with higher LBP (β = 0.165). Participation in PE classes showed an inverse association with physical inactivity (β = -0.119), indicating that students who attended PE classes more frequently were less likely to be classified as inactive. Gender and family income showed negligible associations with health anxiety.

Conclusion: Health anxiety was linked to both physical inactivity and LBP, and physical inactivity partially accounted for this association. The findings underscore the importance of integrated approaches addressing both psychological concerns and activity-related behaviors among university students. Longitudinal studies are needed to clarify temporal pathways and evaluate whether interventions targeting health anxiety or sedentary behavior may help reduce LBP in young adults.

This article investigates the novel therapeutic approach of "amplified psychoanalysis" through a detailed examination of the Ygg case, which offers a descriptive single-case illustration of the integration of MDMA-assisted therapy with traditional psychoanalytic treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The study explores how subjective experience induced by MDMA can interact with an ongoing analysis, potentially enhancing psychoanalytic processes by facilitating access to unconscious material and helping to move beyond therapeutic impasses. The work is presented as a psychoanalytic single-case clinical narrative, acknowledging the value of such cases for generating nuanced insights into psychological phenomena rather than for demonstrating efficacy. In this case, the integration of MDMA experiences within an established psychoanalytic framework appeared to create specific therapeutic opportunities: the altered states of consciousness were experienced by the patient as allowing more direct access to, and processing of, previously avoided memories and affects. This combination may be particularly promising for OCD, where traditional approaches often face limitations; however, its efficacy requires systematic investigation beyond this psychoanalytic single-case clinical narrative. The clinical process analysis highlights several putative processes of change, including enhanced emotional processing, a strengthened therapeutic alliance, and improved access to traumatic memories. The study aims to contribute to both psychedelic therapy and psychoanalytic practice by offering a novel therapeutic perspective on the treatment of OCD. It suggests that "amplified psychoanalysis" may represent a promising direction for future research with larger samples and formal outcome measures.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1713464.].

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the effects of career calling on the learning engagement of medical students, along with the psychological mechanisms of self-efficacy and achievement motivation in the relationship between them.

Methods: The study used a convenience sampling method to select 1,930 students from two undergraduate medical colleges in Anhui Province, China. The Career Calling Scale, Learning Engagement Scale, Achievement Motivation Scale, and Self-Efficacy Scale were used to conduct the survey.

Results: The results of the study found that career calling significantly and positively predicted the learning engagement of medical students. In addition, achievement motivation and self-efficacy not only partially mediated the relationship between career calling and learning engagement but also played a chain mediation role between them. Finally, there were significant gender differences in the above chain mediation model, and gender moderated the path from achievement motivation to learning engagement in the model.

Conclusion: Self-efficacy and achievement motivation act as chain mediators between career calling and learning engagement of medical students, and this path is moderated by gender. This study provides theoretical guidance and empirical evidence for improving the learning engagement of medical students and promoting the development of medical education.