| Literature DB >> 29896140 |
Abstract
Self-focused attention refers to awareness of self-referent, internally generated information. It can be categorized into dysfunctional (i.e., self-rumination) and functional (self-reflection) aspects. According to theory on cognitive resource limitations (e.g., Moreno, 2006), there is a difference in cognitive resource allocation between these two aspects of self-focused attention. We propose a new task, self-relevant word (SRW) enumeration, that can aid in behaviorally identifying individuals' use of self-rumination and self-reflection. The present study has two purposes: to determine the association between self-focus and SRW enumeration, and to examine the effect of dysfunctional SRW enumeration on repetitive negative thinking. One hundred forty-six undergraduate students participated in this study. They completed a measure of state anxiety twice, before and after imagining a social failure situation. They also completed the SRW enumeration task, Repetitive Thinking Questionnaire, Short Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale, and Rumination-Reflection Questionnaire. A correlational analysis indicated a significant positive correlation between self-reflection and the number of SRWs. Furthermore, individuals high in self-reflection had a tendency to pay more attention to problems than did those high in self-rumination. A significant positive correlation was found between self-rumination and the strength of self-relevance of negative SRWs. Through a path analysis, we found a significant positive effect of the self-relevance of negative SRWs on repetitive negative thinking. Notably, however, the model that excluded self-rumination as an explanatory variable showed a better fit to the data than did the model that included it. In summary, SRW enumeration might enable selective and independent detection of the degree of self-reflection and self-rumination, and therefore should be examined in future research in order to design new behavioral procedures.Entities:
Keywords: limited resources; repetitive negative thinking; self-control; self-focused attention; self-relevant word
Year: 2018 PMID: 29896140 PMCID: PMC5987036 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00819
Source DB: PubMed Journal: Front Psychol ISSN: 1664-1078
Descriptive statistics and internal consistency.
| Pre-STAI-S | 2.12 | 0.29 | 0.92 | 0.60 | 2.92 |
| Post-STAI-S | 2.35 | 0.39 | 0.94 | 0.47 | 2.59 |
| Increment in STAI-S | 0.23 | 0.53 | – | 1.21 | 6.16 |
| SRWnum | 4.08 | 8.07 | – | 2.17 | 9.75 |
| Negative SRWnum | 2.86 | 2.00 | – | 1.46 | 5.79 |
| SRWstr | 4.07 | 0.77 | – | -1.06 | 4.14 |
| Negative SRWstr | 4.09 | 0.85 | – | -1.07 | 3.86 |
| Repetitive Thinking Questionnaire | 2.84 | 0.82 | 0.90 | -0.04 | 2.24 |
| Shot fear of negative evaluation scale | 3.61 | 0.80 | 0.93 | -0.53 | 2.24 |
| Self-rumination | 3.61 | 0.64 | 0.91 | -0.45 | 2.61 |
| Self-reflection | 3.37 | 0.57 | 0.88 | 0.11 | 2.34 |
Correlation matrix.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Pre-STAI-S | – | |||||||||
| 2. Post-STAI-S | 0.58*** | – | ||||||||
| 3. Increment in STAI-S | -0.33*** | 0.57*** | – | |||||||
| 4. SRWstr | 0.03 | 0.19* | 0.20 | – | ||||||
| 5. Negative SRWnum | 0.09 | 0.20* | 0.14 | -0.10 | – | |||||
| 6. Negative SRWstr | 0.09 | 0.27* | 0.22** | 0.78*** | 0.06 | – | ||||
| 7. Repetitive Thinking Questionnaire | 0.38*** | 0.46*** | 0.16 | 0.13 | 0.05 | 0.21* | – | |||
| 8. Short fear of negative evaluation | 0.35*** | 0.38*** | 0.09 | 0.04 | 0.12 | 0.16 | 0.39*** | – | ||
| 9. Self-rumination | 0.39*** | 0.46*** | 0.13 | 0.12 | 0.07 | 0.21* | 0.48*** | 0.66*** | – | |
| 10. Self-reflection | 0.03 | 0.17* | 0.17 | -0.06 | 0.13 | 0.04 | 0.15 | 0.21* | 0.39*** | – |
| 11. SRWnum | 0.12 | 0.06 | -0.02 | -0.16* | 0.71*** | -0.01 | 0.04 | 0.02 | 0.02 | 0.20* |