Implicit attributional style revisited: Evidence for a state-specific “self-decreasing” implicit attributional style in patients with persecutory delusions

Abstract

Introduction. Although evidence suggests a discrepancy between the implicit and explicit attributional style (AS) in persons with persecutory delusions, this line of research has also produced conflicting findings. Thus, the aim of this study was to explain inconsistent results in implicit AS by introducing a modified assessment of implicit AS, which offered three attributional loci (internal, personal, and situational) instead of two (internal and external) as in previous studies and by investigating the associations between implicit AS, implicit self-esteem, explicit AS, and explicit self-esteem. Methods. Patients with acute persecutory delusions, patients with remitted persecutory delusions, and nonclinical controls were assessed in their implicit and explicit AS and implicit and explicit self-esteem. Results. Deluded patients presented an implicit “self-decreasing” AS compared to remitted patients and controls: They attributed negative events more towards themselves and positive events more towards situational factors, whereas their explicit self-serving AS was comparable to controls. Patients' implicit self-decreasing AS was associated with low implicit self-esteem. In addition, compared to remitted patients and controls, deluded patients presented low explicit and normal implicit self-esteem. Conclusions. The results shed light on the inconsistent findings in previous studies and indicate that persecutory delusions might be fed by implicit self-decreasing AS and an unstable self-esteem.