Quiet ego, self-regulatory skills, and perceived stress in college students

Examine the unique contributions of self-control and grit subscales (perseverance, interest consistency) as potential mediators of the relationship between quiet ego characteristics and less perceived stress in college students.

Data from 1117 college students were collected between October, 2015 and May, 2016.

The sample was split randomly into exploratory and confirmatory samples. Multiple mediator models were tested with PROCESS module (SPSS v. 24) in both samples.

Hypotheses were largely confirmed with self-control fully mediating the link between quiet ego and perceived stress in both samples.

Although many self-regulatory constructs may argue for their positive impact on college student outcomes, interventions that strengthen self-control, and not grit, may be most promising to reduce perceived stress. Further, interventions to strengthen quiet ego characteristics may be beneficial for strengthening self-control in college students.