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Summary The growth and development of maize (Zea mays L.) are significantly impeded by prolonged exposure to high temperatures. Heat stress transcription factors (HSFs) play crucial roles in enabling plants to detect and respond to elevated temperatures. However, the genetic mechanisms underlying the responses of HSFs to heat stress in maize remain unclear. Thus, we aimed to investigate the role of ZmHSFA2B in regulating heat tolerance in maize. Here, we report that ZmHSFA2B has two splicing variants, ZmHSFA2B‐I and ZmHSFA2B‐II. ZmHSFA2B‐I encodes full‐length ZmHSFA2B (ZmHSFA2B‐I), whereas ZmHSFA2B‐II encodes a truncated ZmHSFA2B (ZmHSFA2B‐II). Overexpression of ZmHSFA2B‐I improved heat tolerance in maize and Arabidopsis thaliana, but it also resulted in growth retardation as a side effect. RNA‐sequencing and CUT&Tag analyses identified ZmMBR1 as a putative target of ZmHSFA2B‐I. Overexpression of ZmMBR1 also enhanced heat tolerance in Arabidopsis. ZmHSFA2B‐II was primarily synthesized in response to heat stress and competitively interacted with ZmHSFA2B‐I. This interaction consequently reduced the DNA‐binding activities of ZmHSFA2B‐I homodimers to the promoter of ZmMBR1. Subsequent investigations indicate that ZmHSFA2B‐II limits the transactivation and tempers the function of ZmHSFA2B‐I, thereby reducing the adverse effects of excessive ZmHSFA2B‐I accumulation. Based on these observations, we propose that the alternative splicing of ZmHSFA2B generates a self‐regulatory loop that fine‐tunes heat stress response in maize.

The self‐thinning rule in forest stands is fundamental to the development of density management strategies, as it determines the maximum stand density achievable for a given tree size. Accurate modeling of the maximum density line is crucial, but selecting representative data points for this purpose remains a challenge. Using 18 years of data from five Cunninghamia lanceolata plantations with varying initial planting densities, this study investigated whether relationships between mean tree basal area (g) and height (H) can reveal forest developmental stages and identify when stands begin self‐thinning and reach maximum density. Our results showed a significant linear relationship (p < 0.05) between g and H after self‐thinning was established, supporting the presence of self‐regulatory growth mechanisms. These findings enabled the development of a novel sample selection method for constructing more accurate maximum density line models, outperforming traditional methods that rely on arbitrary thresholds. Additionally, we derived formulas to describe total stand basal area (G1.0) during different growth stages, revealing positive correlations with mean height during early growth and negative correlations with mean diameter during self‐thinning. This research advances the understanding of self‐thinning dynamics and provides practical tools for improving density management in plantation forestry. The mean basal area and height showed a significant linear relationship during two growth stages (from canopy closure to prethinning, anaphase self‐thinning). The forest may have a self‐regulatory mechanism that ensures a relative balance of mean basal area and height.

Background Chronic pain conditions are complicated and challenging to live with. Capacity to adjust to such conditions may depend on the ability to self-regulate, that is, the ability to alter thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Self-regulation appears to rely on executive cognitive functions, and the current review, therefore, sought to draw attention to the impact of self-regulatory capacity and executive functions on chronic pain. Discussion Chronic pain conditions present with complex interactions of cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and physiological components for which self-regulatory ability is crucial. The ability to self-regulate varies, and self-regulatory strength appears to be a limited resource that can be fatigued. The many challenges of chronic pain conditions could, therefore, tax self-regulatory strength, leading to self-regulatory deficits. Conclusion The current review proposes a relationship among pain, self-regulatory capacity, self-regulatory demands, executive functions, and self-regulatory fatigue, suggesting that executive functions and self-regulatory deficits are indeed part of the etiology and maintenance of chronic pain conditions.

Prior research on citizenship behavior (CB) has mainly focused on its voluntary side—organizational citizenship behavior. Unfortunately, although compulsory behavior is a global organizational phenomenon, the involuntary side of CB—compulsory citizenship behavior (CCB), defined as employees' involuntary engagement in extra-role work activities that are beneficial to the organization (Vigoda-Gadot in J Theory Soc Behav 36(1): 77-93, 2006)—has long been neglected and very little is known about its potential negative consequences. Particularly, research on CCB–counterproductive work behavior (CWB) association is still in its nascent stage. Therefore, drawing on moral disengagement (MD) theory and social exchange theory, we firstly attempt to systematically investigate how and when CCB leads to CWB. Specifically, we see employee silence as a critical form of passive CWB and propose a moderated mediation model. In the model, CCB predicts silence through MD—a set of cognitive mechanisms that deactivate moral self-regulatory processes (Bandura in Social foundations of thought and action: a social cognitive theory, Prentice Hall, Englewood 1986), with the Chinese culture-specific concept of supervisor-subordinate guanxi (s-s guanxi), which captures the supervisor-subordinate non-work-related personal ties, acting as the contextual condition. Two-wave data collected from a sample of 293 employees in 17 manufacturing firms in China supported our hypotheses. The results revealed that the more employees experienced compulsory feelings caused by CCB, the more they morally disengaged and, in turn, resorted to avoidant or passive responses (i.e., silence) as a coping strategy. Further, s-s guanxi serves as a reverse moderator in that high s-s guanxi mitigates the destructive impact of CCB, makes employees less inclined to morally disengage, and thereby largely prevents them from practicing workplace silence behavior. Implications for theory and intervention strategies for practice are discussed. We also propose several promising avenues for future research.

Purpose Drawing from self-regulation theories, this study aims to present a model linking customer mistreatment to hotel employees’ displaced workplace deviance via self-regulatory depletion, with disposition-based mindfulness as a first‐stage moderator. Design/methodology/approach The authors conducted a multisource, multiwave investigation with 245 focal–coworker dyads at 14 full-service hotels in southern China. Descriptive statistics, confirmatory factor analysis and regression analysis were performed. Findings The results demonstrated the mediating role of self-regulatory depletion in provoking hotel employees’ displaced deviant reactions to customer mistreatment. Additionally, employees with high trait mindfulness are less vulnerable to self-regulatory depletion and, thus, less likely to exhibit displaced workplace deviance. Practical implications This study enables hospitality administrators to understand that organizations and their employees, whether directly mistreated by customers, are potential victims of such negative events. Hospitality organizations should enhance mindfulness-based interventions and provide more humane care for employees to maintain their self-regulatory abilities, thereby reducing displaced workplace deviance. Originality/value First, in contrast to studies focusing primarily on internal factors that trigger employees’ deviant responses, the research suggests that mistreatment by external customers is a potentially meaningful yet largely unexamined antecedent of workplace deviance. Second, this study moves beyond “self-gain” explanations, suggesting that employees display deviance not because of a malicious intent to harm the organization or its members but because they are incapable of controlling their undesirable behaviors. Third, the research highlights how mindfulness mitigates customer mistreatment and displaced workplace deviance relationships.

The new social context brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic has generated significant changes in the work of employees. Social distancing and isolation have imposed the adoption of teleworking in most cases. Teleworking existed before the COVID-19 pandemic, and was considered a facilitator of job flexibility, thus increasing employees' autonomy in their work. This paper aims to identify how teleworking, through its dimensions (teleworking autonomy and interaction reduction) influences self-regulatory capacity, professional isolation, task performance, contextual performance, and counterproductive work behaviours. The data were collected from 641 respondents, namely Romanian employees, who operated by teleworking. The theoretical model and relation between the constructs were tested with the aid of structural equation modelling in SmartPLS. The interaction reduction in the context of teleworking significantly, positively, and strongly influences professional isolation, and to a lesser extent, but significantly nonetheless, counterproductive work behaviour and employee self-regulatory capacity. The research originality lies in expanding the theoretical contributions regarding teleworking theory by proposing a new teleworking scale based on teleworking autonomy and interaction reduction. It also contributes to the development of Self-regulatory Theory and Social Exchange Theory. From a managerial perspective, it highlights the importance of the dimensions of teleworking for the employer, as well as the effects of teleworking on task performance and contextual performance in the COVID-19 pandemic, offering helpful solutions to employers in the identification of viable solutions for the improvement of employee outcomes, and for the reduction of counterproductive work behaviour.

This research examined alexithymia through the lens of personality as a dynamic regulatory system and focused on the ways in which two distinct self-regulatory modes, assessment and locomotion, are linked to alexithymia. Assessment involves the inclination to evaluate the value of something by weighing its strengths and weaknesses against other options leading to self-doubt and over-comparison. In contrast, locomotion reflects tendency to transition between states while investing psychological resources to actively pursue goals. Locomotion is associated with greater emotional intelligence, self-esteem and reduced counterfactual thinking. Two online subclinical studies ( N  = 224) tested multistep mediation models examining whether mindfulness and cognitive reappraisal would mediate the relationship between these self-regulatory modes and alexithymia. Assessment was positively associated with alexithymia, whereas locomotion showed a negative association. Mindfulness mediated both relationships, but reappraisal only mediated the assessment-alexithymia link. Locomotion may tap both mindfulness and the cognitive reappraisal associated with alexithymia whereas assessment may only implement cognitive reappraisal after mindfulness. Effects were found for both the global alexithymia score and the specific to DIF and DDF but not EOT, supporting the view of alexithymia as a failure in emotion representation. These findings underscore the benefit of motivation-based tailoring in alexithymia treatment.

Purpose Generation Z (GenZers) significantly influences sustainability-related issues in emerging economies like India. Literature on sustainability suggests exploring ways to enhance their sustainable behavior, especially for food and clothing products, which have detrimental consequences despite being essential. Mindfulness is often proposed as a factor that could potentially influence sustainability. However, the empirical association between mindfulness and sustainable consumption behavior (SCB) and the underlying pathways remain underexplored. Therefore, this study aims to advance the empirical understanding of how GenZers’ trait mindfulness affects their SCB for food and clothing. Design/methodology/approach Based on a time-lagged study involving responses from 519 Indian GenZers (college students aged 18–24 years) the authors examined two models (one for SCB related to food and one for clothing) to explore the direct relationships and mediating factors between trait mindfulness and SCB. Findings GenZers with higher levels of trait mindfulness are more likely to influence their SCB for food and clothing. Besides, in both models, self-regulation, self-compassion and prosocialness mediate the association between trait mindfulness and SCB. Research limitations/implications Mindfulness and its intervening variables are promising for positively driving SCB for food and clothing. Marketers and policymakers can consider these findings to strategize and encourage sustainable consumption, particularly among GenZers. Originality/value This seminal study uses the reperceiving theory to empirically validate the relationship between GenZers’ trait mindfulness and SCB for food and clothing.

PurposeEntrepreneurial passion is constantly considered a core driver of the entrepreneurial process. In reality, however, many passionate entrepreneurs still fail to persist in their ventures. Whether entrepreneurial passion negatively affects entrepreneurial persistence is not well known. The current study explores how entrepreneurial passion inhibits entrepreneurial persistence based on self-regulation theory. The moderating role of the perceived entrepreneurial institutional environment on the relationship is further investigated.Design/methodology/approachThe study collected data from 200 entrepreneurs using a two-stage questionnaire. In the first stage, demographic information was obtained from the respondents, and their entrepreneurial passion, self-regulatory assessment mode and perceived entrepreneurial institutional environment were measured. Three months later, in the second stage, entrepreneurial persistence was evaluated.FindingsThe results show that entrepreneurial passion has a positive effect on self-regulatory assessment mode. Further, self-regulatory assessment mode negatively impacts entrepreneurial persistence and mediates the negative relationship between entrepreneurial passion and persistence. In addition, the greater the perceived level of the entrepreneurial institutional environment is, the weaker the positive association between entrepreneurial passion and self-regulatory assessment mode and the weaker the mediating effect of self-regulatory assessment mode on the relationship between entrepreneurial passion and entrepreneurial persistence and vice versa.Originality/valueThis paper clarifies the unknown negative effects of entrepreneurial passion, contributes to the theoretical relationship between the constructs of entrepreneurial passion and persistence and provides insights for decision-making by entrepreneurs, government and venture capital institutions.

There has been a recent interest in leveraging generative artificial intelligence, large language models, to assist secondary school learners in improving their engagement and conceptual understanding (CU) of challenging concepts in chemistry. However, most of these studies have focused only on academic achievement. The influence of affective factors when integrating large language models has largely been ignored. The study investigated the effects of self-efficacy (SE), motivation and satisfaction on learner engagement and CU when ChatGPT was integrated into chemistry lessons. The self-regulatory learning (SRL) model was the theoretical framework used for the study. A cross-sectional survey design was employed in this quantitative study. Two schools in the Vhembe East District of Limpopo in South Africa participated in the study. A questionnaire was used in data collection after learners were exposed to intermolecular forces in physical sciences, and ChatGPT was integrated into their lessons. The sample size from the two schools was 240 learners. Structural equation modelling and path analysis were used to analyse the data. The study revealed that satisfaction significantly enhanced both engagement and perceived CU. In contrast, SE impacted perceived CU only, while motivation solely improved engagement. The study has implications for teachers integrating artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT in teaching chemistry. The findings extend our understanding of the practical implications of the SRL model when integrating ChatGPT into instructional practices.