Reciprocal Relations Between Honesty-Humility and Internal Locus of Control Specific to Well-Being: A Four-Wave...

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Personality Psychology
• Mental Health Research

Background:

• The co-development of moral personality and beliefs about control over well-being is crucial for sustaining mental health.
• The theoretical linkage between moral personality traits and well-being causation beliefs is underexplored.
• This study addresses the gap by examining the reciprocal dynamics between honesty-humility and internal well-being locus of control (Internal WB-LOC).

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the reciprocal relationship between honesty-humility and internal well-being locus of control (Internal WB-LOC).
• To understand how moral personality and beliefs about well-being causation interact over time.
• To integrate personality research with well-being belief systems.

Main Methods:

• Utilized four-wave longitudinal data from 1349 Chinese participants.
• Employed random intercept cross-lagged panel models (RI-CLPM) to analyze associations.
• Examined both between-person stability and within-person reciprocal effects.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated stable between-person effects: higher honesty-humility correlated with greater Internal WB-LOC across time.
• Found concurrent positive associations within individuals.
• Observed significant cross-lagged effects, indicating that increases in honesty-humility temporally precede increases in Internal WB-LOC, and vice versa.

Conclusions:

• Honesty-humility and Internal WB-LOC are dynamically and reciprocally related.
• Internalized moral orientation and perceived agency over well-being mutually reinforce each other.
• Findings suggest a pathway for sustaining mental health through the interplay of personality and control beliefs.