Püttcher, Maximilian (2025) Flexible Goal Tasking: The Moderating Role of Cognitive Flexibility in the Link Between Unfinished Tasks and Affective Rumination. Bachelor thesis, Psychology.
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Abstract
Unfinished tasks have been identified as a work-related stressor that is linked to affective rumination – persistent and intruding occurrences of repetitive, work-related thoughts that are consistently accompanied by negative affective experiences. Although research on the link between unfinished tasks and affective rumination has accumulated, empirical evidence on the contingencies underlying this association remains limited. In this study, we set out to address this gap and examine the role of cognitive flexibility. Cognitive flexibility refers to alternative thinking and adaptive behavior when confronted with stressors. Unfinished tasks may be perceived as an aversive goal discrepancy, which individuals with higher cognitive flexibility may manage more adaptively, thereby diminishing affective rumination. We conducted a cross-sectional online survey of 98 working adults from diverse nationalities and professions with validated measurement scales. Using multiple regression analysis, we replicated the positive association between unfinished tasks and affective rumination. However, we did not obtain evidence that cognitive flexibility moderates the relationship. An exploratory analysis indicated that cognitive flexibility weakened the association for respondents in English and strengthened it for respondents in Dutch. We contributed to the literature by establishing the association between unfinished tasks and affective rumination in a more demographically diverse sample than in previous studies and by being one of the first to examine the role of cognitive flexibility in relation to job stressors.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Bachelor) |
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| Supervisor name: | Weigelt, O. |
| Degree programme: | Psychology |
| Differentiation route: | None [Bachelor Psychology] |
| Date Deposited: | 04 Jul 2025 14:43 |
| Last Modified: | 04 Jul 2025 14:43 |
| URI: | http://gmwpublic.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/5300 |
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