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Related Experiment Videos

Mental habits: metacognitive reflection on negative self-thinking.

Bas Verplanken1, Oddgeir Friborg, Catharina E Wang

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of Tromsø, Norway. b.verplanken@bath.ac.uk

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
|March 14, 2007
PubMed
Summary

Negative self-thinking habit, distinct from content, predicts low self-esteem and later anxiety/depression. Metacognitive reflection on this habit is key to self-evaluation.

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Area of Science:

  • Psychology
  • Cognitive Science
  • Mental Health

Background:

  • Negative self-thoughts are common but their habitual nature is understudied.
  • Distinguishing between negative self-thoughts (content) and the habit of thinking them (process) is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate negative self-thinking as a distinct mental habit.
  • To assess the metacognitive properties of negative self-thinking.
  • To examine the relationship between negative self-thinking habit and self-esteem, cognitive biases, and mental health outcomes.

Main Methods:

  • Eight studies were conducted, employing a metacognitive instrument (Habit Index of Negative Thinking; HINT) to measure the habit.
  • Negative self-thinking habit was assessed on dimensions of frequency, intention, awareness, controllability, and self-descriptiveness.

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  • The study controlled for negative cognitive content and used measures like the name letter effect.

    • Main Results:

    • Negative self-thinking habit was found to be distinct from rumination and mindfulness.
    • The habit predicted both explicit and implicit low self-esteem.
    • It attenuated positivity bias in self-relevant stimuli processing and predicted future anxiety and depressive symptoms.

    Conclusions:

    • Negative self-thinking can be conceptualized and measured as a distinct mental habit.
    • Metacognitive reflection on this habit is important for understanding self-evaluative processes.
    • The habit has significant implications for mental health, predicting future psychological distress.