Psychological flexibility, psychological inflexibility, psychological well-being and emotion regulation: A study on university students

The aim of this study is to examine the relationship of psychological well-being with psychological inflexibility, psychological flexibility and emotion regulation sub-dimensions among university students. The study group consisted of a total of 639 students, 518 female (81.1%) and 121 male (18.9%), studying in different universities in Turkey during the 2023-2024 academic year. "Psychological Flexibility Scale", 'Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II', 'Emotion Regulation Scale', 'Psychological Well-Being Scale' and personal information form were used as data collection tools. The data of the study were analyzed with SPSS 26 program. Pearson Correlation Analysis, t-test for independent groups, One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and hierarchical regression analysis methods were used in the analysis of the research. According to the analyses, there is a positive relationship between psychological flexibility and emotion regulation sub-dimension reappraisal, between psychological flexibility and psychological well-being, between psychological well-being and emotion regulation sub-dimension reappraisal, between psychological inflexibility and emotion regulation sub-dimension suppression. There is a negative significant relationship between psychological flexibility and psychological inflexibility, between psychological flexibility and emotion regulation sub-dimension suppression, between psychological well-being and psychological inflexibility, between psychological well-being and emotion regulation sub-dimension suppression. No significant relationship was found between psychological inflexibility and emotion regulation sub-dimension reappraisal. According to the hierarchical regression analysis: partial mediation effect of reappraisal sub-dimension on the effect of psychological flexibility on psychological well-being, partial mediation effect of suppression sub-dimension on the effect of psychological inflexibility on psychological well-being was observed. The results obtained were discussed within the framework of the literature and suggestions were made.