title: Comparative analysis of integrative self-knowledge, mindfulness, and private self-consciousness in predicting responses to stress in Iran.
abstract: Previous research has established that awareness of self-experience is a stress resistance resource. The present study conducted an analysis of measures that record different aspects of self-awareness (private self-consciousness, mindfulness, and integrative self-knowledge) to explain this stress-resistance effect in a sample of Iranian university students (N = 186). These students responded to Mindfulness Attention Awareness, Private Self-Consciousness, Integrative Self-Knowledge, and Perceived Stress Scales just before the stress of a 20-day final examination period, and they then responded to Symptom Checklist and Vitality measures at four-day intervals during the final examinations. Prior to final examinations, the three self-awareness variables correlated positively with each other and negatively with perceived stress. Regression analyses of the data obtained during final examinations identified mindfulness to be a better operationalization of this stress-resistance resource than private self-consciousness. Specifically, mindfulness but not private self-consciousness was a positive predictor of vitality and a negative predictor of symptoms. Hierarchical regression analyses also demonstrated that mindfulness and integrative self-knowledge both explained resistance to physical symptoms, while integrative self-knowledge functioned as a protective factor toward one's vitality. These data confirm the positive impact that self-awareness has during stress and highlight the importance of considering both mindfulness and integrative self-knowledge in understanding stress-resistance processes.
authors: University of Tehran, Iran.
authors: Nima
authors: N
authors: Ghorbani
authors: Christopher J L
authors: CJ
authors: Cunningham
authors: P J
authors: PJ
authors: Watson
mesh_terms: D001364:Awareness; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran; D008297:Male; D055500:Resilience, Psychological; D012649:Self Concept; D019455:Self Psychology; D012647:Self-Assessment; D013001:Somatoform Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications*; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology; D055815:Young Adult