Current Research in Psychological Science

Boundary Blurring and Recovery Difficulty in After-Hours Work Messaging

2026-07-22T10:08:15+08:00

After-hours work messaging has become a common part of everyday employment, yet its effects are not limited to the time spent reading or replying to messages. Work-related contact during evenings, weekends, and leave periods can weaken the boundary between work and private life and keep employees mentally connected to unfinished tasks. This paper examines how after-hours messaging creates recovery difficulty through response pressure, constant availability, repeated attention shifts, and the expectation that employees should remain reachable. It argues that even brief or unanswered messages may interfere with psychological detachment when employees continue to monitor their phones or anticipate further demands. The discussion also considers how job position, managerial practice, workload, and personal boundary preferences shape employees’ experiences. Three cases are used to support the analysis: the Beijing “invisible overtime” case, the French Rentokil Initial case, and Volkswagen’s restriction on after-hours email delivery. Together, they show that the problem involves actual work, the obligation to remain available, and the organizational design of communication systems. The paper maintains that effective boundary protection requires clearer response rules, limited expectations of availability, and greater organizational responsibility for protecting non-work time.

An Analysis of the Formation Mechanism of Attachment Anxiety in Cold Wars within Intimate Relationships

2026-07-23T17:09:38+08:00

Cold wars in intimate relationships involve silence, emotional distance, and avoidance, which can heighten attachment anxiety. This paper explores how emotional withdrawal leads to threat perception, negative interpretation, rumination, and reassurance-seeking, reinforcing a pursuit-withdrawal cycle. It also outlines factors that intensify this pattern and suggests strategies such as clear communication, emotional regulation, and stronger boundaries to reduce anxiety.

Parental Expectations, Guilt, and Autonomy in Young Adults’ Life Choices

2026-07-22T10:20:29+08:00

Young adults are often expected to make independent choices about education, career, marriage, residence, and lifestyle, yet these decisions remain closely connected to family relationships. Parental expectations may be expressed through advice, concern, comparison, disappointment, or references to sacrifice and responsibility. Over time, these expectations can become internal standards that shape how young adults judge their own choices. This paper examines how parental concern develops into personal obligation and how guilt narrows the range of life options that feel acceptable. It focuses on anticipated guilt, compliance, resistance, and indecision, and distinguishes guilt linked to real family responsibilities from guilt produced mainly by disagreement or emotional pressure. The paper argues that autonomy should not be understood as rejecting parental influence or breaking family ties. A more realistic form of autonomy involves recognising parental concerns, examining inherited standards, tolerating disagreement, and accepting responsibility for the consequences of one’s own decisions. Financial dependence, family duty, and emotional attachment can make this process difficult, but they do not remove the need for personal judgment. Young adults can remain connected to their families while gradually learning to separate care from obedience and parental disappointment from moral failure.

The Relationship Between Self-Acceptance and Social Anxiety Among College Students and Strategies for Adjustment

2026-10-22T11:30:59+08:00

Social interaction is an important part of college students’ daily lives. College students need to communicate with classmates, teachers, roommates, friends, and other social groups. However, some students experience strong tension, worry, embarrassment, or avoidance when facing social situations. Social anxiety can affect interpersonal communication, participation in group activities, academic life, and psychological well-being. Self-acceptance is closely related to how individuals understand and evaluate themselves. A person with a higher level of self-acceptance is more likely to recognize both personal strengths and weaknesses without excessive self-denial. A person with a lower level of self-acceptance may be more sensitive to personal shortcomings and more concerned about how others evaluate them. Existing studies have found a significant negative relationship between self-acceptance and social anxiety among college students. Fear of negative evaluation is also closely related to both variables and may provide an important psychological link between self-acceptance and social anxiety. Based on existing research, this paper discusses the meaning and characteristics of self-acceptance and social anxiety, explains their relationship among college students, and examines the role of fear of negative evaluation, self-esteem, interpersonal difficulties, and social support in this relationship. The paper argues that improving self-acceptance should not be understood as simply encouraging students to think positively about themselves. More useful adjustment should help students recognize themselves realistically, reduce excessive self-evaluation, face ordinary social mistakes, and gradually increase positive social experiences. Individual adjustment, peer support, classroom activities, and university psychological services can be combined to reduce social anxiety and improve students’ interpersonal adaptation.