During the COVID-19 pandemic, cultivating self-transcendence—connecting with the true self, others, and something larger—offers a promising path to personal growth and mental health. The paper explains self-transcendence using Frankl's model and Wong's extension, reviews relevant literature, and presents the Self-Transcendence Measure-Brief (STM-B) along with its psychometric history. Empirical evidence indicates that self-transcendence served as a buffer against pandemic suffering, suggesting that fostering this quality can help overcome mental health crises in difficult times.
A six-week mindfulness-based psychoeducational intervention reduced social media burnout and improved subjective well-being among adolescents. Thirty-two high school students in Türkiye were randomly assigned to either the intervention or a control group. The intervention included weekly sessions on present-moment awareness, digital detox strategies, emotional regulation, and self-compassion. Self-report measures showed significant improvements in the experimental group, with reduced burnout and enhanced well-being sustained at a 30-day follow-up. The findings suggest that school-based mindfulness programs can foster psychological resilience and digital well-being in adolescents.
Stress negatively predicts mental well-being among Turkish university students. Self-transcendence and coping flexibility act as mediators in this relationship, and coping flexibility moderates the effect of stress on both self-transcendence and mental well-being. When coping flexibility is high, the negative associations between stress and self-transcendence and between stress and mental well-being are stronger. The findings suggest that self-transcendence and coping flexibility play important roles in promoting mental well-being and countering stress in a university setting.
Childhood psychological maltreatment is linked to poorer mental well-being in Turkish university students, partly because it reduces mindful awareness and self-transcendence. In a sample of 422 emerging adults aged 18–29, psychological maltreatment was directly associated with lower levels of these two qualities and indirectly associated with worse mental well-being through them. The findings suggest that promoting mindful awareness and self-transcendence could help buffer the negative effects of psychological maltreatment on mental health.