Abstract
Some personal drives correspond to extraordinary social roles. Given that behavioral strategies associated with such drives may conflict with those associated with ordinary roles, they could cause behavioral disorganization. To test whether they do so independent of the factors responsible for full-blown schizotypy and schizophrenia, these drives were assessed in the general population. Two hundred and nine healthy volunteers were individually presented with hundreds of names of social roles in experimental psychology conditions. The task of the participant was to decide whether or not (s)he would consider performing the role at any moment of his/her life. Schizotypal traits were measured with the schizotypal personality questionnaire (SPQ), and delusion-like ideations were assessed by the Peters et al. Delusion Inventory. Demographics and social desirability were controlled for. Participants accepting a greater percentage of extraordinary roles had higher SPQ scores. Among the three factors of the SPQ, disorganization was the one best predicted by those percentages. This correlation (r=0.40, P=7.2E−09) was significantly greater (Fisher Z-transform, P=0.003) than the correlation between the percentages of ordinary roles accepted and the SPQ scores (r=0.145, P=0.044). Reaction times revealed no suboptimal cognitive functioning in high accepters of extraordinary roles and further strengthened the drive hypothesis. Their acceptances of roles were done faster and their rejections took longer than those of low accepters (P=5E−12). Culturally embrained drives to do extraordinary roles could thus be an independent factor of the symptoms measured in the normality to schizophrenia continuum.
Highlights
IntroductionThere has been a large number of publications on mirror neurons and on how one imitates others, often subconsciously.[1,2,3] These works provide leads to understand how child and adult behaviors are acquired and automatically by witnessing others.[1] Our ability to perform various social roles is probably an example of the complexity of the behaviors that can be learned from seeing others enacting them
In recent years, there has been a large number of publications on mirror neurons and on how one imitates others, often subconsciously.[1,2,3] These works provide leads to understand how child and adult behaviors are acquired and automatically by witnessing others.[1]
Our aim was to run this test while checking whether the drive to perform extraordinary roles could be a factor of disorganization that differs from other factors found for DSM-diagnosed schizophrenia and schizotypal personality, such as genes and influence of early environment
Summary
There has been a large number of publications on mirror neurons and on how one imitates others, often subconsciously.[1,2,3] These works provide leads to understand how child and adult behaviors are acquired and automatically by witnessing others.[1] Our ability to perform various social roles is probably an example of the complexity of the behaviors that can be learned from seeing others enacting them. Additional sources in our environment, such as television, historical or fictional books, media, and internet, provide us with opportunities to learn about more extraordinary roles and to gain the schemas associated with them. Most importantly, embrained knowledge gained from those sources is associated to a sub- or over-threshold drive to act out those roles. Many children, adolescents, and young adults imitate extraordinary roles, allocating them to each other during live action role-performing games, mimicking superstars at karaoke sessions and super fighters in video games and martial art classes
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