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Psychological Flexibility: Toward a Better Understanding of a Key Concept

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Abstract

Psychological flexibility is a key process in mental health, both in a psychopathological approach and from a quality of life and well-being perspective. The notion seems to suffer from a conceptual vagueness with multiple definitions, stemming from different conceptual propositions, with a frequent opposition between a “neuropsychological” approach or assessment and a “clinical and therapeutical” approach. The objective of this article is to propose a theoretical review of the literature, aiming at understanding the notion of psychological flexibility according to the different approaches. To do so, we propose a presentation of the notions, as well as perspectives to improve actual assessment, especially in its ecological aspects. Finally, we wish to underline the relevance of a convergence of measures by reflecting on the limits of current tools and proposing mixed ecological protocols between “objective” and “subjective” measures in a perspective of mutual enrichment, both theoretical and clinical.

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Data Availability

Data sharing not applicable to this article as no datasets were generated or analyzed during the current study.

Notes

  1. “Nevertheless, we are intrigued by the question of whether a person can ever have too much of this good thing” (Kashdan & Rottenberg, 2010).

  2. “Rigidity is not solely characterized by decreased flexibility in an individual’s behaviors and views. Rigid individuals show an important desire for restructuring their environments into more manageable forms with the aim of reducing their cognitive load” (p. 98)” (Morris & Mansell, 2018).

  3. This is in line with a review of the literature that indicated that expression of a personality trait could vary as a function of context (Mansell & Moris, 2018).

  4. “Please take a few moments to think of an important goal that you are working on. This goal can be in any area of your life, but it must be one and only one goal. Don’t choose too quickly. Take a few moments to think about it. After you choose the goal, please write it in the following blank”—PPFI.

  5. “Our view is that dynamic constructs require dynamic approaches. Shortcuts using static measurement approaches are perilous, and likely to lead to misunderstandings of flexibility’s antecedents, correlates, and consequences” (Kashdan & Rottenberg, 2010).

  6. “Besides moderational models, researchers can also extend lines of work using person-centric approaches to understand clusters or subsets of people that demonstrate flexibility but fail to show benefits” (Kashdan & Rottenberg, 2010).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Angers, France

    Roman Malo

  2. Department of Psychology, , Nantes University, Chemin de La Censive du Tertre, B.P. 81227 44312, Nantes Cedex 3, France

    Didier Acier

  3. Department of Addictology and Liaison Psychiatry, Nantes University Hospital Center (CHU), Nantes, France

    Samuel Bulteau

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  1. Roman Malo
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  2. Didier Acier
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  3. Samuel Bulteau
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Correspondence to Roman Malo.

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Malo, R., Acier, D. & Bulteau, S. Psychological Flexibility: Toward a Better Understanding of a Key Concept. Trends in Psychol. (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43076-022-00188-1

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