This study explored first-year students' beliefs about the relevance of positive mood to self-regulation. Students were supplied with the definitions of ten constructs relating broadly to aspects of general health (Physical health), positive mood (Psychological well-being, Emotional response, Hope, Explanatory style, Self-Esteem) and self-regulation (Self-regulation, Self-efficacy, Motivation, Intelligence) and asked to indicate whether they believed a causal relationship to exist between pairs of constructs, and in which direction the causal relationship was perceived. An interactive qualitative analysis (IQA) approach was followed to extract a composite mental model of students' beliefs about positive mood and self-regulation. Findings indicate that students perceive positive mood constructs to be causally related to aspects of self-regulation. A mental model was extracted that depicted students' beliefs about positive mood and self-regulation as a complex system consisting of four interlinked feedback systems, namely Input states, Evaluatory mechanisms, Future perspectives and Active participation. Constructs associated with positive mood (Psychological well-being and Explanatory style) were identified as primary driver and primary outcome respectively.
AndersonJ. R. (1990). The adaptive character of thought.New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates
2.
AspinwallL. G. (1998). Rethinking the role of positive affect in self-regulation. Motivation and Emotion, 22(1), 1–32
3.
BellR. C.VinceJ.CostiganJ. (2002). Which vary more in repertory grid data: Constructs or elements?. Journal of Constructivist Psychology, 15, 305–314
4.
BoekaertsM.NiemivirtaM. (2005). Self-regulated learning: Finding a balance between learning goals and ego-protective goals. In BoekaertsM.PintrichP. R.ZeidnerM. (Eds.), Handbook of self-regulation (pp. 417–446). San Diego: Academic Press
5.
BoekaertsM.PintrichP. R.ZeidnerM. (Eds.). (2005). Handbook of self-regulation.San Diego: Academic Press
6.
BuckJ. S.Ryan-WengerN. A. (2003). Early adolescents' definition of health: The development of a new taxonomy. Journal of Theory Construction and Testing, 7(2), 50–55
7.
CapraF. (2005). Complexity and life. Theory, Culture and Society, 22(5), 33–44
8.
CarleyK.PalmquistM. (1992). Extracting, representing and analyzing mental models. Social Forces, 70(3), 601–636
9.
CarlsonR. A. (1997). Experienced cognition.New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates
10.
CarverC. S.ScheierM. S. (2005). On the structure of behavioural self-regulation. In BoekaertsM.PintrichP. R.ZeidnerM. (Eds.), Handbook of self-regulation (pp. 42–80). San Diego: Academic Press
11.
ChafouleasS. M.BrayM. A. (2004). Introducing positive psychology: Finding a place within school psychology. Psychology in the Schools, 41(1), 1–5
12.
ChoiN. (2005). Self-efficacy and self-concept as predictors of college students' academic performance. Psychology in the Schools, 42(2), 197–205
13.
DienerE.LucasR. E.OishiS. (2005). Subjective well-being: The science of happiness and life satisfaction. In SnyderC. R.LopezS. J. (Eds.) Handbook of positive psychology (pp. 63–73). New York: Oxford University Press
14.
EftklidesA.VoletS. (2005). Emotional experiences during learning: Multiple, situated and dynamic. Learning and Instruction, 15, 377–380
15.
EloffI.MareeJ. G.EbersohnL. (2006). Some thoughts on the perceptions of the role of educational psychologists in early childhood intervention. Early Child Development and Care, 176(2), 111–127
16.
FeldmanD. B.SnyderC. R. (2005). Hope and the meaningful life: Theoretical and empirical associations between goal-directed thinking and life meaning. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 24(3), 402–421
17.
FredricksonB. L. (2001). The role of positive emotions in positive psychology. American Psychologist, 56(3), 218–226
18.
FredricksonB. L. (2005). Positive emotions. In SnyderC. R.LopezS. J. (Eds.), Handbook of positive psychology (pp. 120–134). New York: Oxford University Press
19.
FrischM. B.ClarkM. P.RouseS. V.RuddM. D.PaweleckJ. K.GreenstoneA. (2005). Predictive and treatment validity of life satisfaction and the quality of life inventory. Assessment, 12(1), 66–78
20.
GriffithsT. L.TenenbaumJ. B. (2005). Structure and strength in causal induction. Cognitive Psychology, 51, 334–384
21.
HaberlandtK. (1994). Cognitive psychology.Boston: Allyn and Bacon
22.
HalfordG. S. (1993). Children's understanding: The development of mental models.New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates
23.
HeddenT.ZhangJ. (2002). What do you think I think you think? Strategic reasoning in matrix games. Cognition, 85, 1–36
24.
HewittJ. P. (2005). The social construction of self-esteem. In SnyderC. R.LopezS. J. (Eds.), Handbook of positive psychology (pp. 135–147). New York: Oxford University Press
25.
HumanS.BouwerA. C. (2005). Creating a complex learning environment for the mediation of knowledge construction in diverse educational settings. South African Journal of Education, 25(4), 229–238
26.
HusmanJ.McCannE.CrowsonH. M. (2000). Volitional strategies and future time perspective: Embracing the complexity of dynamic interactions. International Journal of Educational Research, 33, 777–799
27.
JensonW. R.OlympiaD.FarleyM.ClarkE. (2004). Positive psychology and externalising students in a sea of negativity. Psychology in the Schools, 41(1), 67–79
28.
Johnson-LairdP. N. (1983). Mental models.London: Cambridge University Press
29.
KarolyP.BoekaertsM.MaesS. (2005). Toward consensus in the psychology of self-regulation: How far have we come? How far do we yet have to travel?. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 54(2), 300–311
30.
KretzmannJ. P.McKnightJ. L. (1993). Building communities from the inside out: A path towards finding and mobilizing a community's assets (Guide).Chicago: Acta Publications
31.
KriekT.EloffI. (2004). Verkenning van ‘n bate-gebaseerde benadering tot vroeë intervensie (Exploration of an assets-based approach to early intervention). South African Journal of Education, 24(2), 133–140
32.
LangerE. (2005). Well-being: Mindfulness versus positive evaluation. In SnyderC. R.LopezS. J. (Eds.), Handbook of positive psychology (pp. 214–230). New York: Oxford University Press
33.
LeondariA.SyngollitouE.KiosseoglouG. (1998). Academic achievement, motivation and possible selves. Journal of Adolescence, 21, 219–222
34.
LinaresL. O.RosbruchM.SternM. E.EdwardsM. B.WalkerG.AbikoffH. B. (2005). Developing cognitive-social-emotional competencies to enhance academic learning. Psychology in the Schools, 42(4), 405–417
35.
LockeE. A. (2005). Setting goals for life and happiness. In SnyderC. R.LopezS. J. (Eds.), Handbook of positive psychology (pp. 299–312). New York: Oxford University Press
36.
MadduxJ. E. (2005). Self-efficacy: The power of believing you can. In SnyderC. R.LopezS. J. (Eds.), Handbook of positive psychology (pp. 277–287). New York: Oxford University Press
37.
MargalitM. (2003). Resilience model among individuals with learning disabilities: Proximal and Distal influences. Learning Disabilities Research and Practice, 18(2), 82–86
38.
MarsdenD.LittlerD. (1998). Repertory grid technique: An interpretive research framework. European Journal of Marketing, 34(7), 816–834
39.
NeimeyerG. J. (2002). Towards reflective scrutiny in repertory grid methodology. Journal of Constructivist Psychology, 15, 89–94
PajaresF. (2001). Towards a positive psychology of academic motivation. The Journal of Educational Research, 95(1), 27–35
42.
ParkN. (2005). Life satisfaction among Korean children and youth: A developmental perspective. School Psychology International, 26(2), 209–223
43.
PetersonC.SteenT. A. (2005). Optimistic explanatory style. In SnyderC. R.LopezS. J. (Eds.), Handbook of positive psychology (pp. 244–256). New York: Oxford University Press
44.
PintrichP. R. (2000a). The role of goal orientation in self-regulated learning. In BoekaertsM.PintrichP. R.ZeidnerM. (Eds.), Handbook of self-regulation (pp. 452–94). San Diego: Academic Press
45.
PintrichP. R. (2000b). Taking control of research on volitional control: Challenges for future theory and research. Learning and Individual Differences, 11(3), 335–354
46.
PresburyJ. H.EchterlingL. G.McKeeJ. E. (2002). Ideas and tools for brief counseling.New Jersey: Merril Prentice Hall
47.
RawsthorneL. J.ElliotA. J. (1999). Achievement goals and Intrinsic Motivation: A meta-analytic review. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 3(4), 326–344
48.
RobertsM. C.BrownK. J.JohnsonR. J.ReinkeJ. (2005). Positive psychology for children. In SnyderC. R.LopezS. J. (Eds.), Handbook of positive psychology (pp. 663–675). New York: Oxford University Press
49.
SandersR. (1988). The Pareto principle: Its use and abuse. The Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing, 3(2), 37–40
50.
SeligmanM. E. P. (2005). Positive psychology, positive prevention and positive therapy. In SnyderC. R.LopezS. J. (Eds.), Handbook of positive psychology (pp. 3–9). New York: Oxford University Press
51.
ShapiroS. L.SchwartzG. E. (2005). The role of intention in self-regulation. In BoekaertsM.PintrichP. R.ZeidnerM. (Eds.), Handbook of self-regulation (pp. 253–273). San Diego: Academic Press
52.
SnyderC. R. (2002). Hope theory: Rainbows in the mind. Psychological Inquiry, 13(4), 249–275
53.
SnyderC. R.LopezS. J. (Eds.). (2005). Handbook of positive psychology.New York: Oxford University Press
54.
SnyderC. R.RandK. L.KingE. A.FeldmanD. B.WoodwardJ. T. (2002). False hope. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 58(9), 1003
55.
SnyderC. R.RandK. L.SigmonD. R. (2005). Hope Theory: A member of the positive psychology family. In SnyderC. R.LopezS. J. (Eds.), Handbook of positive psychology (pp. 257–276). New York: Oxford University Press
56.
SternbergR. J.GrigorenkoE. L. (2004). Successful intelligence in the classroom. Theory into Practice, 43(4), 274–280
57.
WroschC.ScheierM. R. (2003). Personality and quality of life: The importance of optimism and goal adjustment. Quality of Life Research, 12(1), 59–72
