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Does magical thinking produce neutralising behaviour? an experimental investigation

Does magical thinking produce neutralising behaviour? an experimental investigation
Does magical thinking produce neutralising behaviour? an experimental investigation
Magical thinking is of relevance to obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), and has been most widely investigated inrelation to the cognitive bias known as thought-action fusion (TAF). This is seen as playing a role in the formation of fears about responsibility for harm. We suggest that magical thinking may also characterise some types of neutralising behaviour, which arise in response to those fears, and are a hallmark of the disorder. In an experimental study of 51 undergraduate students, we assessed whether the use of neutralising behaviours in response to an induction of fears of increasing likelihood for harm is related to a propensity for magical thinking. The 75.5% of participants demonstrated at least one form of neutralising behaviour in response to a TAF-induction task. Neutralising was associated with stronger and more persistent responses to the task, and with questionnaire measures of magical ideation. Those who neutralised did not report higher levels of OCD symptoms. It appears that neutralising is a common response in circumstances that provoke a sense of responsibility for harm. Its occurrence may be linked to magical thinking, however, the results from this experimental investigation suggested that this process may not be specific to OCD.
obsessive-compulsive, OCD, thought-action fusion, magical thinking, neutralising, rituals
0005-7967
1823-1833
Bocci, Laura
ebae70c2-d7ab-4b48-9608-208da69d9898
Gordon, P. Kenneth
0a010a8b-9103-4729-8af0-b94f6b033941
Bocci, Laura
ebae70c2-d7ab-4b48-9608-208da69d9898
Gordon, P. Kenneth
0a010a8b-9103-4729-8af0-b94f6b033941

Bocci, Laura and Gordon, P. Kenneth (2007) Does magical thinking produce neutralising behaviour? an experimental investigation. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 45 (8), 1823-1833. (doi:10.1016/j.brat.2007.02.003).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Magical thinking is of relevance to obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), and has been most widely investigated inrelation to the cognitive bias known as thought-action fusion (TAF). This is seen as playing a role in the formation of fears about responsibility for harm. We suggest that magical thinking may also characterise some types of neutralising behaviour, which arise in response to those fears, and are a hallmark of the disorder. In an experimental study of 51 undergraduate students, we assessed whether the use of neutralising behaviours in response to an induction of fears of increasing likelihood for harm is related to a propensity for magical thinking. The 75.5% of participants demonstrated at least one form of neutralising behaviour in response to a TAF-induction task. Neutralising was associated with stronger and more persistent responses to the task, and with questionnaire measures of magical ideation. Those who neutralised did not report higher levels of OCD symptoms. It appears that neutralising is a common response in circumstances that provoke a sense of responsibility for harm. Its occurrence may be linked to magical thinking, however, the results from this experimental investigation suggested that this process may not be specific to OCD.

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Published date: August 2007
Keywords: obsessive-compulsive, OCD, thought-action fusion, magical thinking, neutralising, rituals

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 49275
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/49275
ISSN: 0005-7967
PURE UUID: a8134cb3-eb31-4c62-923f-e0e91e3ab75d

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Date deposited: 29 Oct 2007
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 09:54

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Contributors

Author: Laura Bocci
Author: P. Kenneth Gordon

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