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Understanding Psychological Flexibility: A Multimethod Exploration of Pursuing Valued Goals Despite the Presence of Distress

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Todd B Kashdan at George Mason University
Todd B Kashdan
David Disabato at Kent State University
David Disabato
Fallon Goodman at George Washington University
Fallon Goodman
James Doorley at Harvard Medical School
James Doorley
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Abstract

Psychological flexibility (PF), defined as the ability to pursue valued life aims despite the presence of distress, is a fundamental contributor to health (Kashdan & Rottenberg, 2010). Existing measures of PF have failed to consider the valued goals that give context for why people are willing to manage distress. Using 4 independent samples and 3 follow-up samples, we examined the role of PF in well-being, emotional experience and regulation, resilience, goal pursuit, and daily functioning. We describe the development and psychometric properties of the Personalized Psychological Flexibility Index (PPFI), which captures tendencies to avoid, accept, and harness discomfort during valued goal pursuit. Correlational, laboratory, and experience-sampling methods show that the PPFI measures a trait-like individual difference dimension that is related to a variety of well-being and healthy personality constructs. Unlike existing measures of PF, the PPFI was shown to be distinct from negative emotionality. Beyond trait measures, the PPFI is associated with effective daily goals and life strivings pursuit and adaptive emotional and regulatory responses to stressful life events. By adopting our measurement index, PF may be better integrated into mainstream theory and research on adaptive human functioning.
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Understanding Psychological Flexibility: A Multimethod Exploration of
Pursuing Valued Goals Despite the Presence of Distress
Todd B. Kashdan and David J. Disabato
George Mason University
Fallon R. Goodman
University of South Florida
James D. Doorley and Patrick E. McKnight
George Mason University
Psychological flexibility (PF), defined as the ability to pursue valued life aims despite the presence of
distress, is a fundamental contributor to health (Kashdan & Rottenberg, 2010). Existing measures of PF
have failed to consider the valued goals that give context for why people are willing to manage distress.
Using 4 independent samples and 3 follow-up samples, we examined the role of PF in well-being,
emotional experience and regulation, resilience, goal pursuit, and daily functioning. We describe the
development and psychometric properties of the Personalized Psychological Flexibility Index (PPFI),
which captures tendencies to avoid, accept, and harness discomfort during valued goal pursuit. Corre-
lational, laboratory, and experience-sampling methods show that the PPFI measures a trait-like individual
difference dimension that is related to a variety of well-being and healthy personality constructs. Unlike
existing measures of PF, the PPFI was shown to be distinct from negative emotionality. Beyond trait
measures, the PPFI is associated with effective daily goals and life strivings pursuit and adaptive
emotional and regulatory responses to stressful life events. By adopting our measurement index, PF may
be better integrated into mainstream theory and research on adaptive human functioning.
Public Significance Statement
Psychological flexibility is defined as the pursuit of valued life aims despite the presence of distress,
but existing measures fail to account for the personalized nature of these aims. We created and
validated the Personalized Psychological Flexibility Index to measure 3 ways of managing distress
(avoiding, accepting, and harnessing) that arises during the pursuit of personally meaningful goals.
Our scale offers an improvement in the measurement of psychological flexibility in basic research
and clinical trials.
Keywords: psychological flexibility, resilience, well-being, emotion regulation, purpose in life
Supplemental materials: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pas0000834.supp
Rather than seeking to eradicate symptoms (even those deemed
“pathological”), modern clinical interventions are more interested
in targeting mechanisms that influence healthy life choices (e.g.,
Hofmann & Hayes, 2019). Strategies that increase the probability
of healthy life choices include making room for unpleasant emo-
tions, memories, or physical sensations (e.g., with mindfulness),
extending compassion to parts of the self that are undesirable or
difficult to love (e.g., with self-compassion), and creating distance
from intrusive thoughts that impair functioning (e.g., with cogni-
tive defusion). When applied haphazardly, such strategies are
insufficient for building a satisfying, meaningful life. Rather than
indiscriminately remaining in contact with the present moment, for
example, theory and research suggest that it is more useful to
employ regulatory strategies that are matched to the demands of a
situation and service specific goals (e.g., Aldao, Sheppes, & Gross,
2015;Bonanno & Burton, 2013). Ideally, these goals are consistent
with core values.
Psychological flexibility (PF) can be succinctly defined as the
pursuit of valued goals despite the presence of distress (Hayes,
Strosahl, & Wilson, 2011;Kashdan & Rottenberg, 2010). Instru-
mental approaches to emotion regulation such as harnessing pain-
ful emotions in the pursuit of valued goals are deployed less often
This article was published Online First July 2, 2020.
XTodd B. Kashdan and David J. Disabato, Department of Psychology,
George Mason University; Fallon R. Goodman, Department of Psychol-
ogy, University of South Florida; James D. Doorley and XPatrick E.
McKnight, Department of Psychology, George Mason University.
We are grateful to MarLa Lauber, Aslihan I
˙mamog
˘lu, Irene Regalario,
Ateeb Asim, Bradley Brown, and Sai Kanuri for assistance in participant
recruitment and interviews, and Kerry Kelso for feedback throughout much
of the research program.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Todd B.
Kashdan, Department of Psychology, George Mason University, Mail Stop
3F5, Fairfax, VA 22020. E-mail: tkashdan@gmu.edu
This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.
This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.
Psychological Assessment
© 2020 American Psychological Association 2020, Vol. 32, No. 9, 829– 850
ISSN: 1040-3590 http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pas0000834
829
... One of the interesting factors of PWB is psychological flexibility (PF), it refers to the ability to pursue valued life aims despite the presence of distress. This concept is crucial as it links an individual's capacity to handle life's challenges with their broader mental health and well-being, suggesting that those who are psychologically flexible are better able to maintain balance and satisfaction in their lives, even during difficult times (Kashdan et al., 2020). ...
... PF allows individuals to adaptively manage both positive and negative emotional states, leading to increased PWB (Kashdan et al., 2020). This adaptability is crucial as it helps individuals to remain balanced and composed even in the face of emotional upheavals, contributing to better mental health outcomes. ...
... Moreover, the capacity to pursue valued life aims despite distress, which is considered a core aspect of PF, has been linked with positive emotional regulation and goal achievement, further emphasizing its pivotal role in fostering PWB (Kashdan et al. 2020). Recent studies illustrate this by showing that personal values such as openness to change, which foster PF, are predictive of higher levels of unconditional self-acceptance. ...
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... "I engaged in activities that would distract me from feeling bad"). More recently, the Personalized Psychological Flexibility Index (Kashdan et al., 2020) assesses psychological flexibility in relation to a valued goal. However, these do not assess VC, and, in theory, these measures are only valid assessments of valued goals insofar as people understand what it is that they value. ...
... Therefore, it was important to establish that the VCQ was not saturated with negative affect, avoidance/acceptance, and VA. We therefore tested whether the single VC factor cross-loaded with these negative emotion measures using an EFA with an oblimin rotation, similar to the measurement validation study by Kashdan et al. (2020). As shown in Table 3, (i) the ELS-9 seems to be part VC, part Behavioral Activation, and part Note. ...
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Engaging in values-consistent behavior is a key outcome sought in several evidence-informed psychotherapies (e.g. "valued action" within Acceptance and Commitment Therapy). However, we cannot deliberately engage in valued action without first having value clarity (i.e., understanding the type of person we aspire to be, qua qualities of character). To date, there is no distinct English-language process or outcome measure evaluating value clarity. Here, we describe the development and validation of a novel, unidimensional measure of value clarity (the Value Clarity Questionnaire; VCQ). Study 1 describes the development of and the empirical refinement of the VCQ through a series of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Study 2 confirmed the VCQ's factor structure and internal consistency in a United Kingdom-representative sample. Study 3 demonstrated that the VCQ has good internal consistency over time, test-retest stability, and configural, metric, scalar, and strict invariance. Across the studies, value clarity was correlated with and predicted multiple aspects of flourishing including engaged living, depression, behavioral activation, assertiveness, productiveness, and energy levels, over and above known predictors. The results suggest that the VCQ is a reliable and valid measure that could be an especially useful proximal index of the effectiveness of targeted value clarification interventions. ARTICLE HISTORY
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... Specifically, they have identified eight fundamental characteristics of situations: Duty, Intellect, Adversity, Mating, pOsitivity, Negativity, Deception, and Sociality (DIAMONDS). This measure can be assessed with eight items (Rauthmann & Sherman, 2015), has been universally replicated (Lee et al., 2020), and has been successfully implemented in EMA studies to predict ER strategy use, behaviors, and interpersonal dynamics (e.g., Horstmann et al., 2021;Kashdan et al., 2020;Springstein & English, 2023b). For instance, Springstein and English (2023b) examined ER goals, context sensitivity using the DIAMONDS measure, and ER strategy use. ...
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