Publication Date
2024
Document Type
Dissertation/Thesis
First Advisor
Wu, Kevin D.
Degree Name
M.A. (Master of Arts)
Legacy Department
Department of Psychology
Abstract
The inference-based approach (IBA) is a cognitive model which proposes that obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) primarily develops and is maintained by unhealthy reasoning processes. One such unhealthy reasoning process identified by the IBA is inverse reasoning, in which conclusions about reality are drawn based on what could be true despite evidence indicating that a conclusion is not true. Research indicates that the IBA may be particularly relevant for OCD presentations involving lower levels of insight, including scrupulosity—obsessions and compulsions with religious or moral themes. Although the IBA is a model developed for OCD generally, no research has examined whether the IBA works as a model that specifically explains the development and maintenance of scrupulosity symptoms. Based on the hypothesis that inverse reasoning is the mechanism that elevates healthy religious beliefs to unhealthy levels, the present study aimed to experimentally induce higher levels of inverse reasoning to determine whether inverse reasoning has a causal effect on scrupulosity symptoms. Undergraduate student participants (N = 108) were randomly assigned to either an experimental (n = 57) or control (n = 51) condition. Both conditions completed a cognitive bias modification-interpretation (CBM-I) induction. The experimental condition was designed to induce higher levels of inverse reasoning whereas the control condition was designed not to effect inverse reasoning. Results indicated that the CBM-I did not successfully induce higher levels of inverse reasoning in the experimental condition; resultantly, no conclusions about the current study’s main hypotheses can be drawn. Once measurement and design issues have been addressed, the current study should be replicated in an independent sample to further investigate its hypotheses.
Recommended Citation
White, Anna M., "The Effect of Inverse Reasoning on Scrupulosity Symptoms" (2024). Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations. 8039.
https://huskiecommons.lib.niu.edu/allgraduate-thesesdissertations/8039
Extent
119 pages
Language
en
Publisher
Northern Illinois University
Rights Statement
In Copyright
Rights Statement 2
NIU theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors.
Media Type
Text
