Moderating Effects of Striving to Avoid Inferiority on Income and Mental Health
Many people experience feelings of inferiority in their life. The concept of striving to avoid inferiority is a belief associated with the unwanted fear of being overlooked, missing out on opportunities for advancement, and active rejection. This study examined the effect of striving to avoid inferi...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-06-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.838991/full |
| _version_ | 1818017362499076096 |
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| author | Asa Nagae Asa Nagae Kenichi Asano Kenichi Asano Yasuhiro Kotera |
| author_facet | Asa Nagae Asa Nagae Kenichi Asano Kenichi Asano Yasuhiro Kotera |
| author_sort | Asa Nagae |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Many people experience feelings of inferiority in their life. The concept of striving to avoid inferiority is a belief associated with the unwanted fear of being overlooked, missing out on opportunities for advancement, and active rejection. This study examined the effect of striving to avoid inferiority on mental health and well-being. We hypothesized that striving to avoid inferiority would modify the relationship among socioeconomic status, mental health, and well-being, therefore examined the effect of striving to avoid inferiority on the relationship between annual income, mental health, and well-being. The participants were 491 adults (241 men and 250 women). The results indicated that insecure striving (IS) in competition with others positively correlated with depression, anxiety, and stress, whereas secure non-striving (SNS) in acceptance of inferiority positively correlated with the satisfaction with life and negatively correlated with depression. The effect of striving to avoid inferiority on the relationship among annual income, mental health, and well-being indicated that SNS affected the relationships between annual income and well-being, annual income and depression, income and anxiety, and the interaction between IS and SNS. Moreover, the relationship between income and stress was influenced by SNS and the interaction between IS and SNS. These results indicated that SNS or the interaction between IS and SNS were the only variables regulating the relationship among annual income, mental health, and well-being. These findings suggested that accepting feelings of inferiority or striving to avoid inferiority influences the mental health and well-being of people. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-14T07:26:03Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0329917a27da47d7b02fa5c7e10a1e82 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-14T07:26:03Z |
| publishDate | 2022-06-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-0329917a27da47d7b02fa5c7e10a1e822022-12-22T02:06:00ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782022-06-011310.3389/fpsyg.2022.838991838991Moderating Effects of Striving to Avoid Inferiority on Income and Mental HealthAsa Nagae0Asa Nagae1Kenichi Asano2Kenichi Asano3Yasuhiro Kotera4Graduate School of Psychology, Mejiro University, Tokyo, JapanNational Center for Cognitive Behavior Therapy and Research, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Tokyo, JapanGraduate School of Psychology, Mejiro University, Tokyo, JapanNational Center for Cognitive Behavior Therapy and Research, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Tokyo, JapanSchool of Health Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United KingdomMany people experience feelings of inferiority in their life. The concept of striving to avoid inferiority is a belief associated with the unwanted fear of being overlooked, missing out on opportunities for advancement, and active rejection. This study examined the effect of striving to avoid inferiority on mental health and well-being. We hypothesized that striving to avoid inferiority would modify the relationship among socioeconomic status, mental health, and well-being, therefore examined the effect of striving to avoid inferiority on the relationship between annual income, mental health, and well-being. The participants were 491 adults (241 men and 250 women). The results indicated that insecure striving (IS) in competition with others positively correlated with depression, anxiety, and stress, whereas secure non-striving (SNS) in acceptance of inferiority positively correlated with the satisfaction with life and negatively correlated with depression. The effect of striving to avoid inferiority on the relationship among annual income, mental health, and well-being indicated that SNS affected the relationships between annual income and well-being, annual income and depression, income and anxiety, and the interaction between IS and SNS. Moreover, the relationship between income and stress was influenced by SNS and the interaction between IS and SNS. These results indicated that SNS or the interaction between IS and SNS were the only variables regulating the relationship among annual income, mental health, and well-being. These findings suggested that accepting feelings of inferiority or striving to avoid inferiority influences the mental health and well-being of people.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.838991/fullinferioritymental health – related quality of lifewell-beingincomesocial safenesssocial comparison |
| spellingShingle | Asa Nagae Asa Nagae Kenichi Asano Kenichi Asano Yasuhiro Kotera Moderating Effects of Striving to Avoid Inferiority on Income and Mental Health Frontiers in Psychology inferiority mental health – related quality of life well-being income social safeness social comparison |
| title | Moderating Effects of Striving to Avoid Inferiority on Income and Mental Health |
| title_full | Moderating Effects of Striving to Avoid Inferiority on Income and Mental Health |
| title_fullStr | Moderating Effects of Striving to Avoid Inferiority on Income and Mental Health |
| title_full_unstemmed | Moderating Effects of Striving to Avoid Inferiority on Income and Mental Health |
| title_short | Moderating Effects of Striving to Avoid Inferiority on Income and Mental Health |
| title_sort | moderating effects of striving to avoid inferiority on income and mental health |
| topic | inferiority mental health – related quality of life well-being income social safeness social comparison |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.838991/full |
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