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An analogue study of attributional complexity, theory of mind deficits and paranoia
Author(s) -
Taylor Jayne L.,
Kinderman Peter
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
british journal of psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.536
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 2044-8295
pISSN - 0007-1269
DOI - 10.1348/000712602162481
Subject(s) - paranoia , psychology , theory of mind , attribution , mentalization , cognition , attribution bias , cognitive psychology , social cognition , social psychology , developmental psychology , neuroscience , psychotherapist
Recent research suggests that the tendency of paranoid individuals to attribute negative events to external personal factors and positive events to internal factors may be associated with difficulties in understanding the mental states of others, referred to as theory of mind (ToM). The present study aimed to investigate the relationship of these factors with attributional complexity and motivation. In an analogue sample, a relative ToM impairment was associated with an increased tendency to attribute negative events to external personal factors but not with differences in attributional complexity. This indicates that paranoid tendencies and mentalizing deficits are not associated with attributional simplicity, but may be related to schematic patterns of cognition.