The Benefits of Self-Transcendence: Examining the Role of Values on Mental Health Among Adolescents Across Regions in China

Abstract

As one of the foundations of existential positive psychology, self-transcendence can bring positive intrapersonal and interpersonal outcomes, especially in the COVID-19 era in which people are suffering huge mental stress. Based on Schwartz's theory of human basic values, the current study combines variable-centered and person-centered approaches to examine the relationships between adolescents' values and mental health across two regions in China. The results generally showed that (1) both self-enhancement and conservation values were positively correlated with depression and loneliness, while both self-transcendence and openness to change values negatively correlated with depression and loneliness. The results also showed that (2) there were four value clusters (i.e., self-focus, other-focus, anxiety-free, undifferentiated), and, compared to adolescents in the self-focus and undifferentiated values cluster, all adolescents in the anxiety-free values cluster reported lower depression and loneliness, while all adolescents in the other-focus values cluster reported higher depression and loneliness. The differences between the two regional groups only emerged in depression. Specifically, adolescents in Shanghai have higher levels of depression than adolescents in Qingdao. This study provides some evidence for the new science of self-transcendence among adolescents and also sheds light on how we may improve the level of mental health during the COVID-19 era.

Awe Narratives: A Mindfulness Practice to Enhance Resilience and Wellbeing

“…STEs is central to one’s health ( Wong, 2016 ; Liu et al, 2021 ) and it can result in prosocial behavior, which is especially important during the COVID-19 pandemic ( Waters et al, 2021 ). Aside of it helping develop strong social connections, helping others have shown increases in personal happiness and having meaning in life ( Baumeister et al, 2013 ; Titova and Sheldon, 2021 ).…”

Harnessing the Spatial Foundation of Mind in Breaking Vicious Cycles in Anxiety, Insomnia, and Depression: The Future of Virtual Reality Therapy Applications

“…Such virtual environments should be “private” and impersonal enough to disassociate one from their personal life. Because our self-perceptions and personal lives are almost entirely contained in adjacent space, experiencing such massive spaces should have a self-transcendent effect, which is associated with positive mental health outcomes ( 91 , 92 ). It is this “transcendence” beyond the priors and problems of modern life that has a therapeutic quality, as the cycles and hyper-arousal is often incessant.…”

Interconnectedness Is Associated with a Greater Sense of Civic Duty and Collective Action Participation through Transcendental Awareness and Compassion during COVID-19

“…COVID-19 accelerates global leaders and citizens to reflect on the interdependent nature of all beings along the biopsychosocial, economic, political, and environmental spheres [ 5 , 6 ]. Under the threat of a “common enemy”, self-serving behaviors may be detrimental to the public and have been demonstrated to be associated with loneliness and depressive symptoms [ 7 , 8 ]. Governments across the globe also put forth various measures in containing the spread of the virus [ 9 ].…”

“…It includes any action that aims to improve the status, welfare, and state of affairs of an entire group or population, rather than that of one or a few individuals. The capacity to care for other people in the society and concern for social causes that may benefit fellow citizens in the society had been demonstrated to correlate with finding meaning in adversity and mental well-being, both pre-pandemic and during the pandemic [ 7 , 27 , 28 ]. In fact, a qualitative study posited that the sense of self-transcendence that has emerged amidst the pandemic could be conceptualized as “the expression of and the creation of a sense of relatedness to others” [ 29 ].…”