Abstract
Theorists have suggested that self-focused attention has adaptive and maladaptive aspects and have proposed self-rumination and self-reflection. Previous research on self-focus and mindfulness have shown that self-rumination increases depression and counteracts decentering which is the capacity to take a detached view of one’s thoughts and emotions. On the contrary, although self-reflection was defined as an adaptive type of self-focus, its contents or mode have not been examined, and the mechanism of its contribution to psychological adjustment is still not well understood. Hence, we explored the function of self-reflection in relation to decentering to elucidate its adaptivity. Two-hundred and forty-nine Japanese undergraduate students participated in our cross-sectional questionnaire study. Mediation analysis indicated that individuals with higher levels of self-reflection showed more decentering and less depressive symptoms while self-ruminative participants showed less decentering and more depressive symptoms. This result suggests that self-reflection involves decentered self-focused attention, and its adaptive function appears when self-reflection leads to increased decentering.
Highlights
Self-focused attention is theoretically necessary for self-regulation and can produce constructive outcomes such as emotion regulation and success in problem-solving (Carver & Scheier, 1990; Martin & Tesser, 1996)
Self-rumination was positively associated with depressive symptoms (r = .54, p < .001), self-reflection had no association with depressive symptoms (r = .10, p = .124)
The results showed that the indirect effect of self-reflection was significantly different from zero at p < .05 and the significant indirect effect of self-rumination, suggesting that individuals high in self-reflection show lower depressive symptoms via higher decentering while individuals high in self-rumination show higher depressive symptoms via lower decentering
Summary
Self-focused attention is theoretically necessary for self-regulation and can produce constructive outcomes such as emotion regulation and success in problem-solving (Carver & Scheier, 1990; Martin & Tesser, 1996). Mediating Role of Decentering in the Associations between Self-Reflection, Self-Rumination, and Depressive Symptoms. Previous studies showed links between self-rumination and unconstructive outcomes such as exacerbated depression (Takano & Tanno, 2009), decreased subjective happiness (Elliott & Coker, 2008), low levels of perspective taking (Joireman, Parrot, & Hammersla, 2002), and impaired interpersonal skills (Takano, Sakamoto, & Tanno, 2011). Previous research has indicated that self-reflection is associated with adaptive outcomes such as decreased depressive symptoms (Takano & Tanno, 2009), increased subjective happiness (Elliott & Coker, 2008), clear self-knowledge (Şimşek, Ceylandağ, & Akcan, 2013), and autonomous self-regulation (Thomsen, Tønnesvang, Schnieber, & Olesen, 2011). We explored the function of self-reflection in relation to decentering (Teasdale et al, 2002) to elucidate its adaptivity
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