Personal Growth Initiative as a Psychological Armor
Mitigating the Effects of Gender Discrimination on Women Empowerment
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6191123 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Sadia Zaman (0000-0002-4645-6295, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Institute for Research in Social Communication , Bratislava , Slovakia), Irum Naqvi (0000-0001-9433-0251, Quaid-i-Azam University) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 36 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 1-25 |
| Publication date | 2025-09-09 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Human Affairs (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1210-3055 • E-ISSN: 1337-401X |
| Publisher | Walter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE) |
| DOI | 10.1515/humaff-2025-0058 |
| OpenAlex | W4414286277 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 48 |
Personal growth initiative may serve as an internal mechanism through which urban, educated women attain empowerment in environments marked by strong patriarchal structures and collectivist ideologies. This study examines the relationship between personal growth initiative – defined as a self-directed pursuit of psychological development – and perceived gender discrimination and gender role attitudes, aiming to explain changes in empowerment among urban, educated Pakistani women ( N = 621, 23–59 years; M = 30.65, SD = 6.68). A moderated mediation model was tested, wherein personal growth initiative was conceptualized as both a protective factor and a moderator in the indirect relationship between gender role attitudes and empowerment, via perceived gender discrimination. Modern gender role attitudes were negatively associated with heightened perceptions of gender discrimination, and positively associated with women empowerment. Higher levels of personal growth initiative weakened this negative association of gender discrimination and women empowerment, both directly and indirectly. The findings highlight personal growth initiative as a promising psychological resource that may help urban, educated Pakistani women. By focusing on internal agency and personal development, the study offers insights into how individual-level strengths can support empowerment within challenging sociocultural environments
Empowerment · Gender discrimination · Gender role · Moderated mediation · Moderation · Perception · Personal development · Sense of agency · Gender Diversity and Inequality · Gender Roles and Identity Studies · Youth Development and Social Support
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Keyes's model of mental health with personal growth initiative as a parsimonious predictor.
Development and psychometric evaluation of the Personal Growth Initiative Scale–II.
Methods for integrating moderation and mediation
Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis
Relative Deprivation
Perceiving Discrimination Against One’s Gender Group has Different Implications for Well-Being in Women and Men
Gender roles and their influence on life prospects for women in urban Karachi, Pak0istan
Addressing Moderated Mediation Hypotheses
Perceived discrimination and health
Personal Growth Initiative
Derogation, Discrimination, and (Dis)Satisfaction With Jobs in Science
Antecedents and Consequences of Perceived Personal Gender Discrimination
An examination of self-compassion in relation to positive psychological functioning and personality traits
Taking aim on empowerment research
Agentic personality characteristics and coping
Perceived discrimination experiences and mental health of Latina/o american persons
Perceived discrimination and psychological well-being in the USA and South Africa
The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research
The Denial of Personal Discrimination
The Payoff from Women's Rights
Family Employment Status and Gender Role Attitudes
Interpreting Islam and Women's Rights
The Performance of RMSEA in Models With Small Degrees of Freedom
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |