Ricerc@Sapienza

Regulatory mode theory (Kru glanski et al., 2000) assumes the existence of two regulatory modes orientation: (1) assessment reflecting the propensity to evaluate goals and means and to find the best option; (2) locomotion concerning the tendency to move from a state to another. A relevant number of studies has examined the relationship between regulatory mode and organizational well-being. However, none of them allows any certain causal direction inference.

Past research has shown that hopelessness drastically reduces the quality of life. It follows that it could be particularly useful to improve our knowledge of the potential correlates of feelings of hopelessness. We propose a negative association between locomotion mode, or the self-regulation dimension concerned with movement from current state to future states, and hopelessness. We suggest, in two studies that higher locomotion is related to less hopelessness and results in higher levels of psychological well-being.

Individuals who have a strong locomotion orientation tend to be future-oriented and motivated to move from the present state toward a future state, making swift and steady progress toward their goals. The current study has assessed the conceptual possibility that such motivation leads locomotors to experience greater hopeful thinking, an active cognitive process that consists in planning the future and implementing these plans. The results of Study 1 lend preliminary support to this possibility.

Locomotion mode is the aspect of self-regulation that is concerned with initiating goal-related movement and maintaining it without interruption in order to effect change, whereas assessment mode is the aspect of self-regulation that is concerned with critical evaluation of alternative goals and means in order to make the right choices.

The present paper explored the idea that forgiveness of others may be related with the victims’ individual differences in three motivational factors, as described in the regulatory mode theory (Higgins et al. 2003) and in the need for cognitive closure theory (Kruglanski 2004): (1) individuals’ tendencies towards psychological motion (as captured in the locomotion construct); (2) individuals’ tendencies towards evaluation and comparison (as captured in the assessment construct); and (3) individuals’ sensitivity to epistemic uncertainty (as captured in the need for closure construct).

The present study examines the relationships between generalized problematic Internet use (GPIU) and two regulatory modes (RMs) namely Locomotion and Assessment. Through an on-line survey conducted on two hundred and forty six participants we found that Locomotion and Assessment regulatory orientations have opposite effects on the likelihood of developing GPIU, with the former reducing and the latter increasing it.

Over the last decades a decrease in mortality has paved the way for late onset pathologies such as cardiovascular, metabolic or neurodegenerative diseases. This evidence has led many researchers to shift their focus from researching ways to extend lifespan to finding ways to increase the number of years spent in good health; “healthspan” is indeed the emerging concept of such quest for ageing without chronic or disabling diseases and dysfunctions. Regular consumption of natural products might improve healthspan, although the mechanisms of action are still poorly understood.

The harmonic structure of walking relies on an irrational number called the golden ratio (φ): in healthy subjects, it coincides with the stride-to-stance ratio, and it is associated with a smooth gait modality. This smoothness is lost in people with Parkinson’s disease (PD), due to deficiencies in the execution of movements. However, external auditory cues seem to facilitate movement, by enabling the timing of muscle activation, and helping in initiating and modulating motor output.

Walking is a repeatable and cyclic locomotor act, presenting standardized biomechanical patterns within the gait cycle in healthy humans. Specifically, both stance and swing durations exhibit high reliability at comfortable speed, maintaining the same proportion between the twos with respect to different contextual features in forward walking. Recently, it was found that this proportion is close to the "golden ratio" (a well-known irrational number equal to 1.618…).