Although numerous studies have addressed the impact of the COVID-19 lock-downs on psychological distress, scarce data is available relating to the role of Present-Hedonistic (PH) time perspective and gender differences in the development of depressive symptoms and stress during the period of strict social distancing. We hypothesized that gender would moderate the relationship between PH and depressiveness or stress levels, such that PH would negatively correlate with psychological distress in women but correlate positively in men. The present study was online and questionnaire-based. N = 230 participants aged 15–73 from the general population took part in the study. The results of moderation analysis allowed for full acceptance of the hypothesis for depression as a factor, but for stress the hypothesis was only partially confirmed, since the relationship between PH time perspective and stress was not significant for men (although it was positive, as expected). The findings are pioneering in terms of including PH time perspective in predicting psychological distress during the COVID-19 lock-down and have potentially significant implications for practicing clinicians, who could include the development of more adaptive time perspectives and balance them in their therapeutic work with people experiencing lock-down-related distress.

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Despite the vast body of studies within self-determination theory, the impact of factors which influence performance in experimental paradigm is still underresearched. The aim of the two studies presented in this paper was to investigate the impact of basic psychological needs on performance with the simultaneous presence of external incentives. Study 1 tested whether the satisfaction of competence and relatedness during task performance (while external incentives were present) can impact individual’s performance. Study 2, on the other hand, investigated whether the basic psychological needs and provision of external incentives can impact an individual’s performance. Moreover, in both studies the mechanisms behind the need–performance relationship was checked. Our results showed that out of the three basic needs, competence had the strongest positive impact on performance, which was partially mediated by the subjective evaluation of the levels of difficulty and intrinsic motivation. The weak relationship between relatedness and task performance was fully mediated by the level of intrinsic motivation.