A multilevel moderated mediational model of the daily relationships between hassles, exhaustion, ego-resiliency and resulting emotional inertia

Negative emotional inertia refers to the degree of which a current emotional state can be predicted by a previous emotional state and it represents a relevant marker of psychological maladjustment. The current study tested a theoretical model in which the dynamic impact of daily hassles on negative emotional inertia is mediated by exhaustion, and moderated by individuals’ level of ego-resiliency. Participants were 173 sophomore students (60% females) who completed two diaries per day (every morning and evening) for 18 days. In line with our predictions, the results suggest that ego-resiliency is a key personal resource that might be able to buffer the detrimental effects of daily stressors on individuals’ negative emotional inertia. In addition, our study introduced exhaustion as a potential antecedent of inertia of negative emotions. Overall, our results support the value of exhaustion as the mediator, and of ego resiliency as the moderator, of the longitudinal relation between daily hassles and emotional inertia.