Examining psychological well-being in terms of intolerance to uncertainty, self-handicapping and psychological flexibility

The aim of this study is to examine the psychological (mental) well-being levels of university students in emerging adulthood in terms of intolerance to uncertainty, self-handicapping, and psychological flexibility; and to test the mediating role of self-handicapping in the relationship between psychological flexibility and psychological well-being. The sample group of the research, which was conducted with the correlational research method, consists of a total of 312 emerging adults (235 women and 77 men) aged 18-26 years old (x̄= 21,55) who are continuing their university education in the 2022-2023 academic year. "Personal Information Form", "Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale (IU-12)", "Acceptance and Action Questionnaire II", "Self-Handicapping Scale" and "Warwick Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale" were used as data collection tools in the research, and the data were collected through online forms. Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient, Hierarchical Regression Analysis and Mediator Variable Analysis with Process Macro Model 4 were used to analyze the data. SPSS 25 package program and Process Macro plug-in for SPSS were used for analyses. According to the results of the analysis, it was determined that intolerance of uncertainty, which is evaluated in two sub-dimensions as inhibiting anxiety and anticipatory anxiety, is not a significant predictor of mental well-being. However, it was determined that psychological flexibility/rigidity and self-handicapping significantly predicted mental well-being and explained 29% of the total variance in the mental well-being variable. According to the mediation analysis, it was determined that the mediating effect of self-handicapping was significant in the relationship between psychological rigidity and mental well-being. It was examined whether the mental well-being levels of the participants differed in terms of demographic variables, and it was observed that there was no significant difference in the mental well-being levels of the individuals in terms of both age and gender. The findings were discussed in the light of studies in the literature.