Priming moral self-ambivalence heightens deliberative behaviour in self-ambivalent individuals

Background: Recent work on cognitive-behavioural models of obsessive-compulsive disorder has focused on the roles played by various aspects of self-perception. In particular, moral self-ambivalence has been found to be associated with obsessive-compulsive phenomena. Aims: In this study we used an experimental task to investigate whether artificially priming moral self-ambivalence would increase participants' deliberation on ethical problems, an index that might be analogous to obsessive-compulsive behaviour. Method: Non-clinical participants completed two online tasks designed to prime either moral self-ambivalence, general uncertainty, or neither. All participants then completed a task requiring them to consider solutions to moral dilemmas. We recorded the time participants took to respond to the dilemmas and the length of their responses; we then combined these variables to create a measure of deliberation. Results: Priming moral self-ambivalence led to increases in deliberation, but this was only significant among those participants who scored highly on a baseline measure of moral self-ambivalence. Priming general uncertainty had no significant effect upon deliberation. Conclusions: The results suggest that moral self-ambivalence may play a role in the maintenance of obsessive-compulsive behaviour. We propose that individuals who are morally self-ambivalent might respond to situations in which this ambivalence is made salient by exhibiting behaviour with obsessive-compulsive characteristics. These findings have implications for the incorporation of ideas about self-concept into theories of obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Self-esteem moderates affective reactions to briefly presented emotional faces

According to the sociometer hypothesis individuals with low self-esteem experience increased negative affect in response to negative social stimuli, even when these stimuli are not perceived consciously. Using an affective priming paradigm, the present study examined whether trait self-esteem would moderate mood following briefly presented facial expressions. Results from 43 undergraduates revealed that, after controlling for baseline mood, anxiety and depression, the degree of negative affect experienced by the participants following exposure to expressions of anger and disgust varied as a function of their self-esteem. Implications for individuals with low-self esteem and our understanding of the link between self-esteem and negative affect are discussed.