Investigation of the relation between difficulties in positive and negative emotion regulation and personal growth initiative in university students

The aim of this study is to examine the relation between the difficulties in positive and negative emotion regulation and personal growth initiative among university students and to contribute to the literature within the framework of the findings obtained. The research was applied to 173 participants studying in Haliç University in the spring term of 2020. 140 (80.9%) of the students participating in the study are female and 33 (19.1%) are male. Volunteer participants were given a personal information form, difficulties in the regulation of positive Emotions (DERS-Positive), the difficulties in emotion regulation scale (DERS), and the personal growth initiative scale (PGIS). The data were analyzed using SPSS program; frequency analysis, compare means and correlation analysis were applied. In the analyzes made, it was observed that the gender factor was not effective on the DERS, DERS-positive and PGIS scores, and the age variable was effective on the DERS and DERS–positive and not the PGIS. In the research, it was found that as age progresses, there is more difficulty in both regulating positive and negative emotions. When the relationship between personal growth initiative and emotion regulation difficulties was examined, a moderate negative relationship was found between DERS and PGIS, and a weak negative relationship was found between DERS-positive and PGIS. According to these results, as the difficulties experienced in the regulation of negative emotions increase, actions taken by individuals towards self-improvement decrease, although a similar relationship was found between regulation of positive emotions and growth mindset, it is weaker than the relationship between regulation of negative emotions and growth mindset.