The Relationship Between Sensory Processing Sensitivity and Cognitive-Emotional Self-Regulation Mediated by Moral Characters

The aim of the present study was to determine the relationship between sensory processing sensitivity and cognitive-emotional self-regulation by mediating moral characters among students. The study participants were 293 students of different fields and levels of Shiraz University (Medical Sciences and the Ministry of Science) who were studying in the academic year 2018-2019. To measure the variables of study, three high personal sensitivity scales (sensory processing) of HSPS, ethical sources and CERQ-P cognitive adjustment scale were used and to evaluate the proposed research model, structural equation modeling (SEM) was applied by using AMOS software; intermediate relationships were also tested using the Bootstrap method. The results of the structural equation model showed that Cognitive aesthetic sensitivity directly (p <0.01, β = 0.67) and also through positive moral characters (p <0.01, β = 0.26), predict cognitive self-regulation, positive emotion. In other words, people who better understand the subtle differences in the environment try to change the amount and type of emotional experiences; they are also more successful at doing so. On the other hand, the ease of direct and positive stimulation (β = 0.31, β = 0.33) and the mediation of negative moral characters (0 = 0.01, β = 0.12) can predict cognitive-emotional and negative emotional self-regulation; in fact, people with low sensory thresholds are less likely to cope with stressful situations and misbehaviors, and use inconsistent emotional strategies. Finally, positive moral sources directly predict positive cognitive-emotional self-regulation (p <0.01, β = 0.30), and negative moral sources directly predict negative cognitive-emotional self-regulation (p <0.01, β = 0.38).