How temporal experience of pleasure shapes the path from privacy needs to equanimity: A moderated serial mediation analysis

In increasingly crowded and demanding academic environments, maintaining psychological stability is essential for student well-being. This study examined how the need for privacy contributes to equanimity among Chinese university students through emotion regulation and state mindfulness, and whether this pathway is moderated by temporal experience of pleasure. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 1023 participants (M_age = 20.56), who completed validated self-report measures on privacy needs, emotion regulation, state mindfulness, temporal experience of pleasure and equanimity. Structural equation modeling revealed that the need for privacy predicted equanimity both directly and indirectly through emotion regulation and state mindfulness, which functioned as both parallel and sequential mediators. Furthermore, the relationship between emotion regulation and state mindfulness was significantly moderated by temporal experience of pleasure, such that the mediation pathway was stronger among individuals with higher temporal experience of pleasure. These findings indicate that the need for privacy is associated with equanimity and show that temporal experience of pleasure moderates the role of emotion regulation in fostering state mindfulness.