Goal pursuing styles and the emergence of post-traumatic growth: a study with Hong Kong young adults under the ‘double hit’ of social movement and COVID

ABSTRACT

Between 2019 and 2020, Hong Kong faced a mental health crisis due to the Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill social movement and the COVID-19 pandemic. This study explored post-traumatic growth (PTG) in young adults in Hong Kong who experienced these challenges. We focused on two goal-pursuing styles, tenacious goal pursuit (TGP) and flexible goal adjustment (FGA), and their impact on cognitive processes related to PTG. Our findings revealed that high FGA, coupled with a greater perceived impact of the social movement, led to increased reflective rumination and subsequently higher levels of PTG. These results emphasize the significance of FGA and the perceived impact of the social movement in promoting constructive cognitive processes and PTG.

KEYWORDS:

• Post-traumatic growth
• rumination
• COVID
• social movement
• young adults

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s.)

Additional information

Funding

This project is a part of the Master thesis of the first author, and did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Notes on contributors

Lian Ying-Chun Pat

Lian Ying-chun Pat is currently a research assistant in the Department of Counselling and Psychology at Hong Kong Shue Yan University. Her research interests inclueds stress-coping processes and post-traumatic growth.

Bobo Hi-Po Lau

Dr. Bobo Hi-Po Lau is an Associate Professor in the Department of Counselling and Psychology and the Associate Director of the Mrs. Dorothy Koo & Dr. Ti Hua Koo Centre for Interdisciplinary Evidence-based Practices and Research at Hong Kong Shue Yan University. She is a trained research health psychologist with a focus on community mental health and stress-coping processes.