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The defensive function of persecutory delusions. Evidence from attribution tasks
H M Lyon1, S Kaney, R P Bentall
1Hafed Las Community Mental Health Team, Llwar-y-Dref, Ynys Mon, Gwynedd.
Summary
Patients with persecutory delusions exhibit altered social reasoning, attributing negative events externally on obvious tests but internally on subtle tasks, unlike depressed and normal controls. This suggests delusions may defend against low self-esteem.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Psychiatry
- Social Cognition
Background:
- Social reasoning and attributional style are crucial for understanding mental health conditions.
- Persecutory delusions are characterized by abnormal social cognition.
- Attributional style differences between delusional, depressed, and normal individuals remain an area of investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate 'social' reasoning abnormalities in patients with persecutory delusions.
- To compare attributional styles in delusional, depressed, and normal individuals using transparent and opaque tasks.
- To explore the relationship between attributional style and self-esteem in delusions.
Main Methods:
- Utilized transparent (obvious) and opaque (unobvious) tests of attributional style.
- Included patients with persecutory delusions, matched depressed individuals, and normal controls.
- Assessed causal inferences and attributional style (internality/externality).
Main Results:
- Depressed and normal subjects showed similar causal inferences across both test types.
- Deluded subjects attributed negative outcomes externally on transparent tasks (Attributional Style Questionnaire).
- Deluded subjects attributed negative outcomes internally on opaque tasks (Pragmatic Inference Task), resembling the depressed group.
Conclusions:
- Findings suggest delusions involve a shift in attributional style depending on task explicitness (explicit vs. implicit judgments).
- The cognitive style observed in delusions supports the hypothesis that they serve as a defense mechanism.
- Delusions may function to protect against underlying feelings of low self-esteem.