ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Personality and Social Psychology
This article is part of the Research TopicNon-Cognitive Skills: Advances in Construct Measurement and DevelopmentView all 4 articles
Further assessment of the non-cognitive adaptive resourcefulness model (NCAR) comprising mental toughness, resilience, and self-efficacy: relationships with emotional intelligence and chronic time pressure
Provisionally accepted
- 1Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, United Kingdom
- 2Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, United Kingdom
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Preceding research by synthesizing overlapping elements of mental toughness, optimal regulation, and self-efficacy identified Non-Cognitive Adaptive Resourcefulness (NCAR): a general, positive psychological energy that enables coping. Although validated by subsequent research, further investigation was needed to nomologically validate NCAR alongside allied non-cognitive skills and assess criterion validity against practical outcomes. To address this, the current study evaluated NCAR in relation to emotional intelligence (EI) and chronic time pressure (CTP). This study comprised 1007 UK respondents. Exploratory structural equation modelling (ESEM) successfully replicated the NCAR model and determined that EI was distinct. Specifically, EI shared regulatory components with NCAR but was distinguishable via its focus on emotion identification and understanding. Structural equation modelling revealed that NCAR significantly predicted Feeling Harried (FH), the subjective, stressful experience of being rushed, but showed mixed results for Cognitive Awareness (CA), the objective appraisal of time shortage. Overall, results demonstrated that NCAR emphasizes emotional and coping-related aspects of time perception (FH) while facilitating realistic appraisal of time constraints (CA).
Keywords: Chronic time pressure, Emotional Intelligence, Mental toughness, non-cognitive skills, Optimal regulation, self-efficacy
Received: 03 Oct 2025; Accepted: 11 Feb 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Denovan, Powell and Dagnall. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Neil Dagnall
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