Learning the Futility of the Thought Suppression Enterprise in Normal Experience and in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
DSpace/Manakin Repository
Learning the Futility of the Thought Suppression Enterprise in Normal Experience and in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
| Title: | Learning the Futility of the Thought Suppression Enterprise in Normal Experience and in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder |
| Author: |
Najmi, Sadia; Reese, Hannah Elizabeth; Wilhem, Sabine; Fama, Jeanne Marie; Beck, Celeste; Wegner, Daniel M.
Note: Order does not necessarily reflect citation order of authors. |
| Citation: | Najmi, Sadia, Hannah Reese, Sabine Wilhelm, Jeanne Fama, Celeste Beck and Daniel M. Wegner. 2010. Learning the Futility of the Thought Suppression Enterprise in Normal Experience and in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy 38(1): 1-14. |
| Full Text & Related Files: |
Najmi_LearningFutility.doc (128Kb; Microsoft Word) 
Najmi_LearningFutility.pdf (188.6Kb; PDF) 
|
| Abstract: | The belief that we can control our thoughts is not inevitably adaptive, particularly when it fuels mental control activities that have ironic unintended consequences. The conviction that the mind can and should be controlled can prompt people to suppress unwanted thoughts, and so can set the stage for the intrusive return of those very thoughts. An important question is whether or not these beliefs about the control of thoughts can be reduced experimentally. One possibility is that behavioral experiments aimed at revealing the ironic return of suppressed thoughts might create a lesson that could reduce unrealistic beliefs about the control of thoughts. Aims: The present research assessed the influence of the thought suppression demonstration on beliefs about the control of thoughts in a non-clinical sample, and among individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Method: In Study 1, we assessed the effect of the thought suppression demonstration on beliefs about the control of thoughts among low and high obsessive individuals in the non-clinical population (N = 62). In Study 2, we conducted a similar study with individuals with OCD (N = 29). Results: Results suggest that high obsessive individuals in the non-clinical population are able to learn the futility of suppression through the thought suppression demonstration and to alter their faulty beliefs about the control of thoughts; however, for individuals with OCD, the demonstration may be insufficient for altering underlying beliefs. Conclusions: For individuals with OCD, the connection between suppressing a neutral thought in the suppression demonstration and suppressing a personally relevant obsession may need to be stated explicitly in order to affect their obsessive beliefs. |
| Published Version: | doi:10.1017/S1352465809990439 |
| Other Sources: |
http://scholar.harvard.edu/dwegner/files/najmi_et_al_2010.pdf
http://www.wjh.harvard.edu/~wegner/pdfs/Najmi%20et%20al%20%202010.pdf |
| Terms of Use: | This article is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Open Access Policy Articles, as set forth at http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of-use#OAP |
| Citable link to this page: | http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:8979491 |
This item appears in the following Collection(s)
-
FAS Scholarly Articles [5133]
Peer reviewed scholarly articles from the Faculty of Arts and Sciences of Harvard University
Contact administrator regarding this item (to report mistakes or request changes)
