Derailment amplifies stress-related declines in positive affect and is shaped by feedback valence and gender

Background: Emerging literature on derailment, or the perceived disruption in one’s sense of identity and life direction, has shown strong associations with affective functioning. However, less is known about the contexts in which derailment becomes affectively consequential. Across three studies, we examined whether derailment was associated with positive and negative affect across perceived, experimentally induced, and evaluative stress contexts. Methods: Study 1 used a cross-sectional undergraduate sample (N = 460). Study 2 used a modified Online Trier Social Stress Test to manipulate acute stress and measure post-task affect (N = 224). Study 3 placed participants in a high-stress evaluative task and randomly assigned them to receive positive, negative, or no performance-related feedback (N = 325). Results: In Study 1, the hypothesised linear interaction between derailment and perceived stress on affect was not significant. Exploratory models suggested a nonlinear association with lower positive affect, though no comparable pattern emerged for negative affect. Study 2 showed that acute stress moderated the association between derailment and post-task positive affect, but not negative affect. Study 3 showed that feedback valence shaped affect, but the hypothesised interaction between derailment and feedback valence was not supported. Conclusions: Derailment was most consistently related to diminished positive affect.