Investigating the relationship between basic psychological needs satisfaction and primary maladaptive schemas with emotional dysregulation in undergraduate students of Boali Sina University, Hamedan

Dissertation for Master's Degree in Psychology (M.A)

Tension: General

Abstract:

The purpose of this research was to investigate the relationship between the satisfaction of basic psychological needs and primary maladaptive schemas with emotional dysregulation in students. For this purpose, 364 people (166 girls and 198 boys) were selected from undergraduate students of Bo Ali Sina University, Hamedan, by multi-stage cluster sampling. The design of this research was descriptive-correlational. To collect information, the basic psychological needs questionnaire of Guardia, Desi and Ryan (2000), Yang's primary maladaptive schemas (1998), and Gratz's emotional dysregulation (2004) were used. Data analysis was done using structural equations, correlation coefficient and T-test. The research results showed that the experimental data model or the conceptual model has a good fit. Based on the findings, autonomy and competence from the subscale of basic psychological needs can affect emotional dysregulation both directly and indirectly. Also, the need for autonomy and competence can affect maladaptive schemas.

Keywords:

Basic psychological needs - primary maladaptive schemas - emotional dysregulation

Introduction:

Today, despite deep cultural changes and changes in the way of life and modernism, many people lack the necessary and basic abilities to face life issues and this is the same. It has made them weak and vulnerable in facing the problems and issues of daily life. Countless researches have shown that many health problems and psycho-emotional disorders have psycho-social roots. Many social injuries are rooted in low self-esteem, inability to express feelings and lack of communication skills. Humans need to learn some skills to cope with stressful situations and conflicts in life. The purpose of these skills is to help people to understand their needs as well as possible, establish appropriate and effective interpersonal relationships, control emotions, manage stressful situations and solve people's issues and problems as best as possible. Emotion is a basic phenomenon of human functioning, which normally has adaptive value to increase our effectiveness in pursuing goals. We all experience different emotions and try to deal with them through effective methods (Emami Naini, 2015). Because people's emotions will be involved in their performance. In other words, emotion regulation includes the use of mental and physiological experience of emotions to achieve a goal (Gross[1], 2002; Thomspoon[2], 1994). It is intrinsic to differentiate between assimilation and avoidance of emotions, which involves changing the intensity or duration of the emotional experience, rather than trying to avoid or completely extinguish negative emotions. Emotional regulation disorders [3], as a common factor across a range of emotional problems (Berking, Everett, Weperman, Mayer and Kasper [4], 2008).

Among the important and new constructs that investigate cognitive processing style and how it affects emotional processing in humans is the structure of primary maladaptive schemas[5]. Primary maladaptive schemas are self-damaging emotional and cognitive patterns in a person that are formed in the mind at the beginning of growth and development and are repeated in the course of life (Yang, Klosko and Vishar [6], 2003, translated by Hamidpour and Indoz, 2012). Mental disturbances and dysfunctional cognitions are the characteristics of emotional disorders. For this reason, in recent years, the relationship between cognition and emotion has been the subject of various researches in psychology. Many researchers have studied these two fields in connection with each other, and in this way, cognition and emotion have expanded as a recognized field of study (Dusilva [7], 1991).

However, primary schemas are the beliefs that people have about themselves, others, and the environment, and they usually originate from the lack of satisfaction of basic needs, especially emotional needs in childhood (Zhang and He [8], 2010).

1-2 Statement of the problem:

Emotions are much more complicated than they first appear. At first glance, we all know emotions as feelings because their emotional aspect is very clear according to our experience.When we face a threat or make progress toward a goal, it's almost impossible not to notice the emotional side of excitement. But in the same way that the nose is a part of the face, emotions are also only a part of emotions (Rio[9], 2005, translated by Seyed Mohammadi, 2010). Emotions arise when a person does something and realizes that it was in line with his goals (Lazarus [10], 1991). After experiencing stressful events, people regulate their emotions through thoughts and cognition, and this issue is inseparably intertwined with life (Garnefsky, Krij and Van Etten [11], 2005). However, the ability of a person to control his emotions is one of the most important skills that must be learned. Emotional regulation is defined as the process of initiating, maintaining, adjusting or changing the intensity or continuity of inner feeling and emotion related to social-psychological and physical processes in achieving one's goals (Weems and Pina [12], 2010).

According to Beck's theory [13] (1967), emotional regulation disorder [14] is related to the activation of bad behavior schemas. The evolutionary roots of primary maladaptive schemas[15] originate from the lack of satisfaction of basic emotional needs, early life experiences, and emotional mood. Schemas arise due to not satisfying the basic emotional needs of childhood. A person who has mental health can satisfy these basic emotional needs in an adaptive manner. In addition to the early life environment, other factors also play a role in the formation of schemas, among which the child's emotional temperament is very important (Yang et al., 2003, translated by Hamidpour and Andoz, 2012). People with low emotional regulation are less able to predict the wishes of others. They do not understand the pressures of the environment and do not control their emotions well, and as a result, they show less resistance to events (Trindad and Johnson[16], 2000).

Primary incompatible schemas as cognitive infrastructures lead to the formation of illogical beliefs and a bad perception of the world. When these schemas are activated, levels of excitement are released and directly and indirectly lead to physical and psychological damage (Halgin and Whitburn [17], 2003, translated by Seyed Mohammadi, 2011). These schemas arise when basic and universal psychological needs (secure attachment, self-regulation, freedom to express healthy needs and emotions, self-stimulation, realistic limits) are not satisfied (Tim [18], 2010). If the basic psychological needs [19] are satisfied, the feeling of self-confidence and self-worth is formed in people, but if these needs are prevented and not met, the person will have a fragile, negative, alienated and critical perception of himself (Chen and Chang [20], 2010). Primary maladaptive and emotional disorders and the role of activation of maladaptive schemas exist in the processing and biased interpretation of relationship information.

In a research conducted by Shehamat (2009) titled predicting general health symptoms based on primary maladaptive schemas, this research confirms the mediating role of schemas in psychopathology. conducted marital satisfaction, showed that the treatment of emotional regulation disorder had a significant effect on increasing marital satisfaction and increasing confidence in the couple's emotional regulation ability.

Given that dysfunctional cognitions are one of the characteristics of emotional disorders and failure to satisfy basic psychological needs correctly causes the formation of ineffective schemas, it can be concluded that one of the causes of disorders in emotional regulation is the failure to satisfy basic psychological needs and the formation of primary incompatible schemas.

According to the mentioned materials, the present research seeks to answer the question of whether the satisfaction of basic psychological needs and initial maladaptive schemas is related to emotional regulation disorders? 1-3 Importance and necessity of research: Today, one of the mental preoccupations of thinkers is the difficulty in emotional regulation in people. Emotion regulation as one of the psychological variables has been the focus of many researchers (Mayer, Carso, and Salovey [21], 1999).