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Subtle Threats to Moral Self-Perceptions Trigger Obsessive–Compulsive Related Cognitions

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Abstract

Obsessive–compulsive (OC) symptoms are often associated with cognitive biases and can cause significant distress and impairment in daily functioning. In this study, we examine whether threat to moral self-perceptions can trigger cognitive biases linked with obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD). Participants were 124 non-clinical adults randomized to four conditions (negative-morality, negative-sports, positive-morality, and positive-sports) of the Subtle Priming Computerized Task. To examine the influence of subtle priming of morality-related information on OCD-related cognitive biases, participants completed the Obsessive Beliefs Questionnaire-20 (OBQ-20). Participants also completed the obsessive–compulsive inventory-revised, the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale and the Single-Item Self-Esteem Scale as baseline measures. Results revealed that subtle suggestions of incompetence in the morality self-domain were associated with stronger activation of OCD-related cognitive biases as measured by the OBQ-20. These effects were specific to negative information about the morality self-domain. Findings were not related to pre-existing variations in OC symptom levels, self-esteem, stress, anxiety, or depression. We suggest that self-sensitivities in the morality self-domain may be linked with the activation of cognitive biases related to OCD. Future research should explore these self-sensitivities in a clinical sample to further substantiate this phenomenon.

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Conflict of interest

All authors report no biomedical, financial or other conflict of interest with regards to the present manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Amitai Abramovitch

  2. Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA

    Amitai Abramovitch & Erin Altenburger

  3. School of Psychology, Interdisciplinary Center (IDC), Herzliya, Israel

    Guy Doron & Dar Sar-El

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  1. Amitai Abramovitch
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  2. Guy Doron
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  3. Dar Sar-El
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  4. Erin Altenburger
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Correspondence to Amitai Abramovitch.

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Abramovitch, A., Doron, G., Sar-El, D. et al. Subtle Threats to Moral Self-Perceptions Trigger Obsessive–Compulsive Related Cognitions. Cogn Ther Res 37, 1132–1139 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-013-9568-6

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