Open-ended Diaries Research Articles

The Dynamics of Self-Control Conflicts in Daily Life in Predicting Self-Control Success and Perceived Self-Regulatory Effectiveness

People often face conflicts where they must choose between their long-term goals and tempting alternatives. Using an open-ended daily diary design, we investigated the characteristics of self-control conflicts in daily life, both replicating and extending past work. Specifically, we examined the factors that affected self-control conflict success, as well as how the nature and resolution of the conflict affected general perceptions of self-regulatory effectiveness. Self-control conflicts varied considerably within-persons including the domain of the conflict, the use of strategies, and whether they were successfully resolved. There was also variability in people’s subjective perceptions of how pulled they felt towards the temptation and the opposing goal, as well as how difficult and important the overall decision was. Furthermore, these factors predicted whether a conflict was resolved successfully (i.e., in favor of the goal), with pull towards the temptation emerging as the strongest predictor. People were also more successful in resolving self-control conflicts when they reported using any type of self-regulatory strategy; no specific strategy emerged as most effective. On days when participants successfully resolved conflicts, they also felt more confident in their general ability to self-regulate. Overall, our findings largely conceptually replicate past work using an open-ended diary format, and suggest that factors influencing self-control conflict resolution are also linked to general feelings of self-regulatory effectiveness.

'Physically it was fine, I'd eat what normal people do. But it's never like this in my head': A qualitative diary study of daily experiences of life in recovery from an eating disorder.

High eating disorder (ED) relapse rates stress the need for clearer understanding around how recovery is experienced and maintained. Recent research endorses the concept of recovery as a process rather than an endpoint. This study aimed to investigate daily experiences of living in recovery from an ED. Fourteen participants who self-identified as recovered from a formally diagnosed ED were recruited online. A qualitative diary app was used for data collection. Participants completed written or audio open-ended diary entries every other day for 2weeks describing their experiences, thoughts, and feelings. Diaries were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Four themes were developed. 'Ever-present eating disordered thoughts' highlights how pervasive these thoughts remain for participants. 'Impact of social discourses' unpacks the challenges of maintaining recovery while surrounded by unhelpful social discourses about food and body image. 'Recovery is precarious' highlights how a combination of stressors can build up to threaten recovery. 'Finding balance in recovery' illustrates the many ways participants try to manage their recovery each day. The findings make it clear that living in recovery from an ED is a complex process that must be navigated daily. Recommendations for treatment and recovery support are discussed.

SENCOs’ lived experiences of working through the COVID-19 pandemic in Swedish upper secondary schools

ABSTRACT This article explores nine SENCOs’ lived experiences of the changes, challenges and opportunities which arose when working in Swedish upper secondary schools through the spring term of 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic. This article provides further insights into the particulars of the SENCOs’ line of work and also aims to say something about the existential aspects of the SENCO profession. The study draws on empirical material generated from semi-structured lifeworld interviews and open-ended diaries. The study design and analysis were conceived and performed using a lifeworld phenomenological approach and hermeneutics. The lived experiences of the SENCOs reveal that they took on new tasks during the pandemic and, at the same time, long-standing issues regarding their professional role seem to have been exacerbated. These findings give insights into the difficulties faced by SENCOs in claiming professional jurisdiction and ask whether SENCOs inadvertently contribute to this problem when driven by a sense of moral obligation towards students with special educational needs. This moral obligation might stand at the heart of what it means to be a SENCO, and is possibly thoroughly intertwined with SENCOs’ agency.

Renewable Energy in Wilderness Landscapes: Visitors’ Perspectives

Increasing the share of renewable energy in the energy mix is of crucial importance for climate change mitigation. However, as renewable energy development often changes the visual appearance of landscapes and might affect other industries relying on them, such as nature-based tourism, it therefore requires careful planning. This is especially true in Iceland, a country rich in renewable energy resources and a popular nature-based tourism destination. The present study investigated the potential impacts on tourism of the proposed Hverfisfljót hydropower plant by identifying the main attractions of the area as well as by analyzing visitors’ perceptions, preferences and attitudes, and the place meanings they assign to the landscape of the area. The data for the study were collected using onsite questionnaire surveys, interviews with visitors to the area, open-ended diaries, and participant observation. The results reveal that the area of the proposed power plant is perceived as wilderness by its visitors, who seek environmental settings related to the components of a wilderness experience. Visitors were highly satisfied with the present settings and preferred to protect the area from development to ensure the provision of currently available recreational opportunities. The results further show that the proposed Hverfisfljót hydropower plant would reduce the attractiveness of the area to its visitors, degrade their wilderness experience, and therefore strongly reduce their interest in visiting the area. Moreover, the participants perceived the already developed lowlands of the country as more suitable for renewable energy development than the undeveloped highland areas, which is in line with the principles of smart practices for renewable energy development.

Detecting well-being via computerized content analysis of brief diary entries.

Two studies evaluated the correspondence between self-reported well-being and codings of emotion and life content by the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC; Pennebaker, Booth, & Francis, 2011). Open-ended diary responses were collected from 206 participants daily for 3 weeks (Study 1) and from 139 participants twice a week for 8 weeks (Study 2). LIWC negative emotion consistently correlated with self-reported negative emotion. LIWC positive emotion correlated with self-reported positive emotion in Study 1 but not in Study 2. No correlations were observed with global life satisfaction. Using a co-occurrence coding method to combine LIWC emotion codings with life-content codings, we estimated the frequency of positive and negative events in 6 life domains (family, friends, academics, health, leisure, and money). Domain-specific event frequencies predicted self-reported satisfaction in all domains in Study 1 but not consistently in Study 2. We suggest that the correspondence between LIWC codings and self-reported well-being is affected by the number of writing samples collected per day as well as the target period (e.g., past day vs. past week) assessed by the self-report measure. Extensions and possible implications for the analyses of similar types of open-ended data (e.g., social media messages) are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved).

Natural occurrence of subjective aging experiences in community-dwelling older adults.

The subjective experience of aging is a relevant correlate of developmental outcomes. However, traditional approaches fall short of capturing the inherent multidimensionality of subjective aging experiences (SAEs). Based on the concept of Awareness of Age-Related Change (AARC; Diehl, M. K., & Wahl, H.-W. (2010). Awareness of age-related change: Examination of a (mostly) unexplored concept. Journals of Gerontology: Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 65, 340-350. doi:10.1093/geronb/gbp110), this study provides a description of SAEs that is facet rich, and based on their natural occurrence, analyzes interindividual differences and associations with well-being. Data came from 225 participants (70-88 years) of the ongoing BEWOHNT study. Open-ended diary entries about age-related experiences were collected for more than 14 days and coded according to AARC domains and subdomains. Seventy percent of all participants had SAEs about physical functioning. About half of the sample reported experiences in the domains interpersonal relations, social-emotional and social-cognitive functioning (COGN-EMOT), and lifestyle. Thirty percent experienced aging in terms of changes in cognitive functioning. Contents of SAEs varied by gender, age group, and functional status. SAEs about COGN-EMOT were most consistently related to affective components of subjective well-being. Our results demonstrate the benefits of an open-ended approach to a multidimensional understanding of SAEs. Content-related, social-cognitive and social-emotional changes more than functional age-related changes were most important for well-being.

Emotions and Emotion Regulation in a Female Couple Undergoing <i>in Vitro</i> Fertilization Treatment

Research indicates that women undergoing In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) experience intense unwanted emotions, and that these emotions may result in the decision to abandon treatment. This case-study explored stressors, emotional responses and emotion regulation strategies of a female couple undergoing IVF procedures over a ten-week period. A mixed-method approach involved participants completing a daily open-ended diary and self-report scales to assess emotions and emotion regulation in relation to partner and self. Diary results indicated both partners experienced frequent stressors resulting from the IVF process, stressors that were intensified by perceptual and financial factors. Participants experienced a range of intense pleasant (e.g., happy, excited) and unpleasant emotions (e.g., depressed, anxious), and sought to down-regulate unpleasant emotions using a range of cognitive, behavioral, and social strategies. Questionnaire data indicated complementary styles of emotion regulation that appeared to help sustain pleasant emotions and down-regulate unpleasant emotions. Future research should test the effectiveness of interventions to help manage unwanted emotional responses to IVF treatment and corresponding regulatory efforts.