The State Contentment Measure: The Construction and Testing of a Positive Emotion in the Context of Self-Regulation and Health Behaviour

Abstract

The attainability of a personal health-behaviour goal, such as losing weight or increasing physical activity, may be partly determined from the moment an individual first formulates their goal, and influenced by their self-regulation capacity. Existing literature investigating positive emotions suggests that SRC may be increased through the broadening cognitive effects of positive emotions (Fredrickson, 2000). The present thesis investigated state contentment for its potential role in increasing self-regulation capacity through mindfulness meditation and physical activity. First, study 1 involved the introduction of and preliminary psychometric investigation into the new State Contentment Measure (SCM). This was developed with reference to the existing literature pertaining to cognitive and physiological theories of emotions. Preliminary convergent and divergent validity testing indicated that the measure was related in the expected directions to theoretically-related and unrelated psychological constructs. Following this, the SCM showed physiological convergence with an electroencephalography based meditation task. The measure went on to show satisfactory reliability and validity in the second and third meditation and physical activity-based studies. Although confirmatory factor analysis and further psychometric testing is needed, these preliminary results indicated the potential utility of the state contentment measure in future research. Study 2A and 2B aimed to test whether five consecutive days of 20 minute mindfulness meditation sessions could induce significant changes in state contentment and executive functions. Second, it aimed to test whether state contentment could be significantly increased after each of the 20 minutes mindfulness meditation sessions. The executive functions that were measured included working memory and inhibitory control. These represented areas of the brain involved in self-regulation capacity. Study 2A was a quasi-experimental study involving a self-selected community sample. Physical activity (PA) was used as an active control condition. The results indicated that state contentment was increased over each 20-minute mindfulness meditation session and also over 5- days. Additionally, contentment scores and executive function scores improved after five days in the PA condition, suggesting that physical activity is also an activity that increases contentment and executive function.Study 2B was a randomised student sample aimed to replicate and extend study 2A by controlling for potentially confounding factors. Between group analyses did not support the prediction that five days of 20 minute mindfulness meditation sessions would result in higher levels of contentment and executive function for the meditation group. However, within-groups results indicated that in replication of community sample, the meditation condition showed increases in inhibitory attentional control, general working memory, and working memory capacity accuracy scores over five days. Contrary to the results of the community sample study however, only the participants in 2B’s meditation condition showed higher levels of contentment over five days. On the other hand, state contentment was found to significantly increase over each 20 minute mindfulness meditation and PA session. Study 3 involved first, a quantitative study to investigate contentment as a predictor of gym attendance in an all-women’s gym-member sample over four weeks. Based on existing selfregulation literature, intentions, past behaviour, self-efficacy, positive affect and negative affect were also investigated for their potential roles in gym attendance over the four week study period. The results revealed that while contentment showed some significant correlational relationships with past and future gym attendance during the first two weeks of the study, the results did not support contentment as a factor predicting gym attendance. Consistent with the wider literature however, it was found that intentions and past behaviour were shown to predict gym attendance over the four week study period. Self-efficacy was also shown to predict contentment, positive and negative affect. The final explorative qualitative study involved in-depth interviews with five members of the gym and focussed on the negotiating of barriers and motivating factors guiding ongoing selfregulating for gym attendance. The qualitative findings of this study triangulated with the quantitative results of study 2 and study 3. Connections were made between contentment, positive emotions, intentions, self-efficacy and gym attendance as well as supporting the wider self-regulation literature. Participants’ accounts illustrated how positive emotions and cognitive processes induced through a physical activity may work to reinforce and increase self-efficacy and self-regulation for gym attendance. The accounts also revealed how social and demographic barriers and motivators are negotiated in day to day lives.