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Test of the dual‐belief system in women with and without phobic fear of spiders: a pilot study
Author(s) -
Pössel Patrick,
Holzhay Anja
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
clinical psychology and psychotherapy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.315
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1099-0879
pISSN - 1063-3995
DOI - 10.1002/cpp.493
Subject(s) - psychology , stimulus (psychology) , situational ethics , anxiety , developmental psychology , social psychology , phobias , clinical psychology , cognitive psychology , psychiatry
This study tests the so‐called dual‐belief systems. According to this concept, patients with phobia foster two conflicting peripheral beliefs (situational dependent) about the fear‐inducing stimulus. The existence of such conflicting beliefs can only be explained by so‐called bridging core beliefs. These bridging core beliefs are situation independent and integrate the contradictions of the peripheral beliefs. To test the existence of bridging core beliefs, 60 women with and without spider phobia were interviewed during exposition to phobic and neutral stimuli. Women with phobic anxiety reported more phobic emotions, thoughts, and peripheral beliefs during exposure to a phobic stimulus than during exposure to a neutral stimulus. In core beliefs no differences between the two conditions were found. In the non‐phobic control group, no differences were found for the conditions in any of the dependent variables. All together, these data provide support for the existence of dual‐belief systems as well as bridging core beliefs. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.