From defense to reconstruction: The hostility-meaning dual-path model of how observing others’ adversity influences self-negative disclosure

Objective: This study explored the mechanism by which observing peers adverse experiences influences distress disclosure of negative information through two progressive studies.Methods: Study 1 (N=218) constructed a moderated mediation model to analyze the relationships among stress, self-esteem, hostility traits, and disclosure. Study 2 (N=536) employed a situational experiment to test a chain mediation effect of "stressmeaning in lifedistress disclosure," supplemented by multigroup analysis of path coefficient differences.Results: Study 1 showed stress directly inhibited disclosure (=-0.37, p<0.001) but indirectly promoted it via reduced self-esteem, with hostility traits significantly moderating stresss negative effect on self-esteem (=0.12, p<0.05). Study 2 confirmed the chain mediation effect under adverse circumstance perception, with significant path coefficient variations across groups.Limitations: The moderating effects of cultural values on the mechanism of adverse circumstance perception were not examined in this study.Conclusions: This research first uncovered the adaptive function of downward comparison and the mediating boundary of meaning reconstruction, expanding social comparison theorys application scenarios. It provides a dual-path model for psychological interventions in failure education, based on stress transformation and meaning construction. Future studies are recommended to investigate cultural value moderations.