Attributional style, depression, and perceptions of consensus for events

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Clinical Psychology
• Social Psychology

Background:

• Depression is linked to distinct cognitive patterns.
• Attributional style, how individuals explain events, differs between depressed and nondepressed people.
• Implicit perceptions of social consensus may underlie these differences.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate differences in implicit perceptions of consensus between depressed and nondepressed individuals.
• To examine the relationship between consensus perception, attributional style, and depression.
• To determine if consensus perception predicts attributional style and depression.

Main Methods:

• Participants rated the frequency of positive, negative, and neutral events for themselves and the average college student.
• Measures of depression depth and attributional style were administered.
• Hierarchical regression and path analyses were used to analyze the data.

Main Results:

• Perceptions of consensus strongly correlated with attributional style for both positive and negative events.
• Self-ratings did not fully explain attributional style for negative events, unlike ratings of others.
• Consensus perception significantly mediated the link between attributional style and depression for negative events.

Conclusions:

• Implicit perceptions of social consensus are associated with attributional style.
• These perceptions play a significant role in the development and maintenance of depression, particularly through explanations for negative events.
• Understanding consensus perception offers insights into cognitive biases in depression.