State conscientiousness and perceptions of duties and intellectual demands in daily life: A continuous-time modeling approach

Abstract

In this study, we employed continuous-time dynamic modeling to investigate the evolving interplay between students' state conscientiousness and their perceptions of situation characteristics related to duties and intellectual demands. A week-long experience sampling study (ESM) was conducted using a mobile application, yielding 4694 reports from 185 undergraduate students (87.6 % female, mean age 20.2 years) responding to prompts five times daily. Results indicated that higher perceived levels of duty and intellectual demands were concurrently associated with higher state conscientiousness. Increases in state conscientiousness predicted subsequent reductions from the initial increase in perceived duties, possibly reflecting a sense of self-efficacy after acting conscientiously that lowered the perceived burden of subsequent duties. On the other hand, increases in perceived levels of duty and intellectual demands predicted subsequent reductions from the initially elevated state conscientiousness. Increased duty and intellectual demands may temporarily strain self-regulatory resources needed to meet momentary demands, making it difficult to engage in highly conscientious behavior on a sustained basis. The negative cross-effects underscore the importance of appropriate resource management for students, particularly in situations where they are expected to pursue multiple goals and tasks or engage in intellectually demanding activities.