The effects of state and trait self-focused attention on sexual arousal in sexually functional and dysfunctional women

This study examined the effects of state self-focused attention on sexual arousal and trait self-consciousness on sexual arousal and function in sexually functional (n=16) and dysfunctional (n=16) women. Self-focused attention was induced using a 50% reflectant television screen in one of two counterbalanced sessions during which self-report and physiological sexual responses to erotic films were measured. Self-focused attention significantly decreased vaginal pulse amplitude (VPA) responses among sexually functional but not dysfunctional women, and substantially decreased correlations between self-report and VPA measures of sexual arousal. Self-focused attention did not significantly impact subjective sexual arousal in sexually functional or dysfunctional women. Trait private self-consciousness was positively related to sexual desire, orgasm, compatibility, contentment and sexual satisfaction. Public self-consciousness was correlated with sexual pain. The findings are discussed in terms of Masters and Johnson's [Masters, W. H. & Johnson, V. E. (1970). Human sexual inadequacy. Boston: Little, Brown) concepts of "spectatoring" and "sensate focus."     

Self-focused attention and the experience of alcoholic intoxication

The present study investigates the relationship between self-focused attention and the experience of emotional and bodily concomitants of alcoholic intoxication. It was hypothesized that self-focused attention would amplify salient mood and bodily concomitants of intoxication after alcohol intake and counteract these concomitants after placebo treatment. Self-focused attention was assessed by measures of private body consciousness, private self-consciousness, and of self-awareness. Since alcohol intake did not influence mood, it was not possible to test our main-hypothesis linking self-focused attention with the experience of mood concomitants of intoxication. As to bodily concomitants of intoxication a strong effect of alcohol intake was disclosed. Further analysis revealed the predicted relationship between self-awareness and private body consciousness on one hand and the experience of bodily concomitants of intoxication, on the other. The relationship between private body consciousness and experience of bodily concomitants of intoxication was moderated by the amount of experience with alcohol. No significant relationship between private self-consciousness and experience of bodily concomitants of intoxication was found.     

Depression and self-focused attention

Recent research on self-focused attention has indicated effects that parallel several cognitive and affective phenomena associated with depression. Specifically, discrepancies between perceived real and ideal self, increased affective response, self-attribution for negative events, and accurate self-reports occur both in depression and as a result of self-focused attention. A study is reported that investigated the relationship between depression and a measure of private self-consciousness, a dispositional measure of the tendency to attend to one's inner thoughts and feelings. As predicted, a reliable positive relationship was found. The potential role of self-focused attention in maintaining and exacerbating depression was discussed.The order of authorship was determined randomly.     

Looking at me,appreciating you: Self-focused attention distinguishes between gratitude and indebtedness

We provide evidence that self-focused attention (both dispositional and situationally induced) affects the evaluation of a benefactor. Specifically, self-focused attention distinguishes between gratitude and indebtedness. In Study 1, gratitude correlated negatively with dispositional public self-focused attention and social anxiety, whereas indebtedness correlated positively with public self-focused attention and social anxiety. In Study 2, participants recalled a recent benefit under either high self-focused attention, induced via a mirror, or low self-focused attention. Highly self-focused individuals recalled increased indebtedness, but not gratitude, toward a benefactor, relative to those in the control condition. Self-focused individuals also felt less commitment and closeness to the benefactor. The implications for the link between self-focus and social emotions (and thus social life) are discussed.     

Self-focused attention, gender, gender role, and vulnerability to negative affect

Research has independently shown that both gender and self-focused attention are linked to depression. In this article, we report a series of studies investigating the relation between these variables. Using a standard self-focusing manipulation, Study 1 suggested that women evidence a greater propensity to self-focus than men. We replicated these findings in Study 2. In Study 3, we conducted an experiment to determine if sex role in conjunction with experimentally increased self-focused attention would lead to more emotional distress after a negative event had occurred. Results suggested that feminine individuals who received a self-focusing manipulation responded with greater levels of self-focused attention and negative affect than did any other group. We interpreted findings in terms of a tendency to self-focus that might prime feminine people to experience depression, or alternately, as a lack of self-focusing that may insulate masculine individuals from the experience of depression.     

Self-rumination, self-reflection, and depression: Self-rumination counteracts the adaptive effect of self-reflection

Self-focused attention has adaptive and maladaptive aspects: self-reflection and self-rumination [Trapnell, P. D., & Campbell, J. D. (1999). Private self-consciousness and the Five-Factor Model of personality: distinguishing rumination from reflection. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76, 284-304]. Although reflection is thought to be associated with problem solving and the promotion of mental health, previous researches have shown that reflection does not always have an adaptive effect on depression. Authors have examined the causes behind this inconsistency by modeling the relationships among self-reflection, self-rumination, and depression. One hundred and eleven undergraduates (91 men and 20 women) participated in a two-time point assessment with a 3-week interval. Statistical analysis with structural equation modeling showed that self-reflection significantly predicted self-rumination, whereas self-rumination did not predict self-reflection. With regard to depression, self-reflection was associated with a lower level of depression; self-rumination, with a higher level of depression. The total effect of self-reflection on depression was almost zero. This result indicates that self-reflection per se has an adaptive effect, which is canceled out by the maladaptive effect of self-rumination, because reflectors are likely to ruminate and reflect simultaneously.     

Chronic occupational stressors, self-focused attention, and well-being: testing a cybernetic model of stress

By using a cybernetic approach to occupational stress, it was hypothesized that the relationship between chronic work stressors and strain would be stronger among individuals high in private self-consciousness than among individuals low in private self-consciousness. Moderated regression analyses, using a sample of 135 blue-collar workers, revealed strong support for this hypothesis. This finding is antithetical to prior research showing that self-focused attention may buffer the effect of acute life events (Mullen & Suls, 1982; Suls & Fletcher, 1985). The results of the present study in conjunction with prior research suggest that the type of stressor (acute vs. chronic) examined may be a boundary condition influencing the direction of Stressor X Self-Focused Attention interactions. Implications for future research and stress management are discussed.     

Effects of dispositional self-focus,appraisal and attention instructions on responses to a threatening stimulus

Abstract

Two studies are reported which explored the relationship between self-focused attention and anxiety. The first study tested the hypotheses that self-focused attention is associated with anxiety in threatening situations and that the relationship is mediated by negative appraisal processes. Study 1 showed no significant interaction between self-focus and negative appraisal on state-anxiety. However, self-focus was associated with increments in state-anxiety, high levels of worry and somatic symptom reports in a threatening situation. The relationship between self-focus and state-anxiety was mediated by somatic symptoms. Study 2 used cognitive and somatic self-attention instructions and external focus instructions to verify the hypothesis that self-focus on somatic arousal is associated with anxiety. It is concluded that specific self-focusing tendencies are associated with the elicitation and exacerbation of anxiety.     

Excessive self-focused attention and defensiveness among psychiatric patients: a vicious cycle?

The contribution of defensive coping to the phenomenon of excessive self-focused attention was studied in 20 depressed or anxious psychiatric outpatients comprising the negative affect group, 20 patients with psychotic disorders, and a control group of 21 patients of an orthopaedic clinic. Self-focused attention was assessed using the Self-reflectiveness and Internal State Awareness subfactors of the Private Self-consciousness Scale. In accordance with other research on self-focused attention, the negative affect group obtained higher scores on the Self-reflectiveness scale than the control group (t39=2.40, p<.03). To examine the relationship between self-focus and defensiveness, Weinberger, Schwartz, and Davidson's approach was employed, using median splits of short forms of the Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale and the Marlowe-Crowne scale to differentiate among four groups of subjects. The highest self-reflectiveness was found for those participants who were high in both defensiveness and anxiety. This group scored higher than the nondefensive high anxious group (t30= -2.31, p<.03). The heightened self-focused attention might result from automatically instigated states of self-focused attention and paradoxical effects of defensive efforts to avoid self-focus.     

Self-focused attention and negative affect: a meta-analysis

This meta-analysis synthesized 226 effect sizes reflecting the relation between self-focused attention and negative affect (depression, anxiety, negative mood). The results demonstrate the multifaceted nature of self-focused attention and elucidate major controversies in the field. Overall, self-focus was associated with negative affect. Several moderators qualified this relationship. Self-focus and negative affect were more strongly related in clinical and female-dominated samples. Rumination yielded stronger effect sizes than nonruminative self-focus. Self-focus on positive self-aspects and following a positive event were related to lower negative affect. Most important, an interaction between foci of self-attention and form of negative affect was found: Private self-focus was more strongly associated with depression and generalized anxiety, whereas public self-focus was more strongly associated with social anxiety.     

Self-consciousness,role discrepancy,and depressive affect

Abstract

Two studies were conducted to test the hypothesis that depressive affect is a joint function of private self-consciousness and the extent to which an individual's self-concept is discrepant from the requirements of a significant role. In the first study, the role of college student was empirically defined using a technique developed by Burke and Tully (1977). As predicted, the discrepancy between this role definition and subjects' self-ratings was a more significant predictor of depressive affect among high than low private self-conscious individuals. In the second study, measurements were taken at two time periods that were spaced six weeks apart. In a replication of the results of Study 1, the discrepancy between the role definition and subjects' self-ratings was a more significant predictor of depressive affect at Time 1 among high than low self-conscious individuals. In addition, discrepancy at Time 1 was a significant predictor of depression at Time 2 among high but not low self-conscious individuals. On the other hand, depression at Time 1 was unrelated to discrepancy at Time 2 among high self-conscious subjects. On the basis of these results, it is concluded that high private self-consciousness combined with role-identity discrepancy is associated with increased risk of depression. Finally, additional analyses suggested that depression may itself function to increase subsequent self-consciousness.     

Self-focused attention in schizophrenic patients with and without auditory hallucinations and normal subjects: A comparative study

Self-focused attention has been implicated in a number of psychiatric disorders, but little research has examined this in schizophrenic subjects. In this study, a sample of schizophrenic patients experiencing auditory hallucinations, schizophrenic patients not experiencing auditory hallucinations and normal controls were asked to complete the private self-consciousness subscale of the Self Consciousness Scale. It was found that patients experiencing auditory hallucinations exhibited significantly higher levels of self-focus than those not experiencing hallucinations, although they did not differ from normal subjects. It was also shown that level of self-focus predicted whether or not subjects experienced hallucinations. These results, and their implications, are discussed with reference to the literature.     

Self-discrepancy and chronic social self-consciousness: Unique and interactive effects of gender and real–ought discrepancy

Drawing on theories of self-discrepancy and self-focused attention, two studies tested the associations between self-discrepancy and chronic social self-consciousness (CSSC), a trait-like view of the self as a social object. In Study 1, hierarchical regression analyses demonstrated that real/own-ought/other discrepancy was uniquely associated with CSSC independent of impression management, neuroticism, and real/own-ideal/own discrepancy among women but not men. In Study 2, the unique relation between real/own-ought/other discrepancy and CSSC was replicated in a larger sample of women after controlling several robust competing variables including the importance of physical appearance. Discussion considers real/own-ought/other discrepancy as a unique psychological predictor of taking a chronic view of the self as a social object among women.     

Effects of Self-Consciousness and Social Anxiety on Self-Disclosure among Unacquainted Individuals: An Application of the Social Relations Model

Recent research has demonstrated a positive relationship between private self-consciousness and the tendency to self-disclose. These studies have relied exclusively upon self-reports of disclosure. In the present study, Kenny's Social Relations Model (Kenny & La Voie, 1984) was employed to examine the relationship between a subject's self-reports and others' reports of a subject's level of self-disclosure and the relationship of these reports to private self-consciousness, as well as the other traits measured by the self-consciousness scale: public self-consciousness and social anxiety. Unacquainted college women (N = 102) participated in one-on-one interactions in a round-robin design. Subject's self-reports of disclosure and their levels of private self-consciousness correlated positively. The partners' reports of an individual's disclosure, however, were not related to the individual's level of private self-consciousness. The discrepancy between these correlations emphasizes the necessity to ground research in personal relationships on interacting pairs and not only on the self-reports of one member. Future research that would explore this difference is discussed. The examination of the self- and partner reports and subjects' levels of public self-consciousness and social anxiety demonstrated that these two traits significantly influence the acquaintance process. Public self-consciousness related positively to subjects' beliefs that they had created consistent impressions upon their partners. Social anxiety correlated negatively with partners' reports of a subject's dyadic involvement and openness.     

Asthma-specific cognitions,self-focused attention,and fear of negative evaluation in adolescents and young adults diagnosed with childhood-onset asthma

The present study examined the impact of asthma-specific thought intrusion (TI) and thought suppression (TS) on two cognitive-affective variables (self-focused attention and fear of negative evaluation) among adolescents and young adults (AYAs) diagnosed with childhood-onset asthma. Participants were 290 AYAs who completed assessment questionnaires and participated in a written exercise electronically. Asthma-TI and TS were reported by participants following participation in a writing assignment. Asthma-TI was associated with increased private, public, and social anxiety self-focused attention, and greater fear of negative evaluation. Interestingly, asthma-TS was not associated with these same outcome variables. Findings suggest illness-specific cognitions are associated with cognitive-affective variables and it may be important to assess for illness-specific intrusive thoughts following asthma-focused medical appointments. Additionally, findings suggest the importance of assessing asthma-TI and TS separately in order to better understand thoughts about health and psychological functioning.     

The influence of cognitive load on self-presentation: can cognitive busyness help as well as harm social performance?

Extra cognitive loads can hinder challenging self-presentations by usurping needed cognitive resources but also may sometimes improve them by shifting attention away from negative self-preoccupation. In Study 1, extraverts and introverts participated in an interview in which they presented themselves as either extraverted or introverted. Congruent self-presentations, which should be cognitively nondemanding, were unaffected by a cognitive busyness manipulation (rehearsing an 8-digit number). However, incongruent self-presentations were affected by busyness. Busyness decreased the effectiveness of extraverts who tried to appear introverted but increased the effectiveness of introverts who tried to appear extraverted. Study 2 found that introverts, who also tend to be socially anxious, reported less public self-consciousness and fewer negative self-focused thoughts when they were busy than when they were not busy.     

Not self-focused attention but negative beliefs affect poor social performance in social anxiety: An investigation of pathways in the social anxiety-social rejection relationship

Patients with social anxiety disorder (SAD) not only fear negative evaluation but are indeed less likeable than people without SAD. Previous research shows social performance to mediate this social anxiety-social rejection relationship. This study studied two pathways hypothesized to lead to poor social performance in social anxiety: increased self-focused attention and negative beliefs. State social anxiety was experimentally manipulated in high and low-blushing-fearful individuals by letting half of the participants believe that they blushed intensely during a 5 min getting-acquainted interaction with two confederates. Participants rated their state social anxiety, self-focused attention, and level of negative beliefs. Two confederates and two video-observers rated subsequently likeability (i.e., social rejection) and social performance of the participants. In both groups, the social anxiety-social rejection relationship was present. Although state social anxiety was related to heightened self-focused attention and negative beliefs, only negative beliefs were associated with relatively poor social performance. In contrast to current SAD models, self-focused attention did not play a key-role in poor social performance but seemed to function as a by-product of state social anxiety. Beliefs of being negatively evaluated seem to elicit changes in behavioral repertoire resulting in a poor social performance and subsequent rejection.     

The effects of self-focused attention, performance demand, and dispositional sexual self-consciousness on sexual arousal of sexually functional and dysfunctional men

Sexually functional (N=26) and sexually dysfunctional heterosexual men with psychogenic erectile disorder (N=23) viewed two sexually explicit videos. Performance demand was manipulated through verbal instruction that a substantial genital response was to be expected from the videos. Self-focused attention was manipulated by introducing a camera pointed at the participant. Dispositional self-consciousness was assessed by questionnaire. Performance demand was found to independently inhibit the genital response. No main effect of self-focus was found. Self-focus inhibited genital response in men scoring high on general and sexual self-consciousness traits, whereas it enhanced penile tumescence in low self-conscious men. Inhibition effects were found in both volunteers and patients. No interaction effects of performance demand and self-focus were found. Subjective sexual arousal in sexually functional men was highest in the self-focus condition. In sexually dysfunctional men, subjective sexual response proved dependent on locus of attention as well as presentation order.     

高中生羞怯与学校适应:一个有调节的中介模型

目的:探讨羞怯对高中生学校适应的影响机制。方法:采用中学生羞怯量表、学校适应问卷、核心自我评价量表、自我关注量表对山东省1770名高中生进行调查。结果:①羞怯不仅能直接负向预测高中生的学校适应,还能通过核心自我评价进而影响其学校适应; ②自我关注在中介模型的后半路径起到调节作用。