Controlling coaching style is a key predictor of athletes’ fear of failure, but the mediating mechanisms underlying this relationship require further exploration. Based on the self-determination theory (SDT) and the hierarchical model of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation (HMIEM), this study investigated the effect of a controlling coaching style on athletes’ fear of failure, as well as the chain mediating effects of basic psychological needs and sport commitment. A questionnaire survey of 252 active athletes was administrated using scales for fear of failure, controlling coaching style, sport commitment, and basic psychological needs. The results indicated that a controlling coaching style was negatively correlated with basic psychological needs and indirectly affected athletes’ fear of failure via basic psychological needs and constrained commitment. The chain mediating effect of basic psychological needs on enthusiastic commitment was not significant, but it was for constrained commitment. In conclusion, the impact of a controlling coaching style on athletes’ fear of failure via basic psychological needs is manifested through the strengthening of constrained commitment rather than the weakening of enthusiastic commitment. These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of why and how a controlling coaching style influences athletes’ fear of failure. Coaches should seek more scientific and effective ways to instruct their athletes.

Upward social comparison on Social Network Sites (SNS) might be positively related to online compulsive buying; however, there is little understanding of the mechanism of this relationship. In this study, we explored the effect of upward social comparison on SNS on online compulsive buying, and whether this effect is mediated by materialism and envy. A total of 568 Chinese undergraduates (mean age = 19.58 years, SD = 1.43) were recruited to complete a survey that included Upward social comparison on SNS Scale, Materialism Scale, Envy Scale, and Online compulsive buying Scale. The results revealed that upward social comparison was positively linked to online compulsive buying. Additionally, materialism and envy completely mediated this relationship. Our findings suggest that upward social comparison has a positive influence on college students’ online compulsive buying and that this influence is formed through a combination of cognitive factors (materialism) and affective factors (envy). This discovery not only clarifies the underlying mechanism but also proposes a potential way of alleviating online compulsive buying.

ObjectiveNumerous studies have demonstrated that religious belief is associated with prosocial behavior. However, how do they maintain cooperation in societies with a predominating atheist population, such as China? Different primings (explicit, subliminal, implicit) and a quasi-experiment are used to examine the link between communist authority and prosocial behaviors among college students in China.Materials and methodsIn Study 1 (N = 398), the subjects’ communist authority in the university lab was primed by a communist-authority video. In Study 2 (N = 296), we compared the priming effects of communist authority and religion on prosocial intention. Study 3 (N = 311) investigated the priming effect of communist authority on prosocial behaviors by employing a scrambled sentence task in the university lab. A quasi-experiment was conducted in Study 4 (N = 313).ResultsResults showed that communist-authority, a reminder of secular authorities, increased prosociality among college students. And empathy moderated the relationship between secular authorities and prosociality in Study 3 and Study 4.DiscussionCommunist authority, a secular authority prime, has a positive effect on promoting prosocial behaviors. These results provided a feasible yet novel way to reveal the mechanism of the relationship between secular authorities and prosociality in China.