Year: 2019
Type: article
Abstract: Four experiments examined whether reactions to mental imagery can be reduced by the mindfulness component of decentering, i.e. the insight that experiences are impermanent mental states.In Experiment 1, participants vividly imagined an unpleasant autobiographical event (1a, 1b) or a rewarding food (1c).When instructed to adopt a decentering perspective in comparison to an immersed perspective during imagery, participants experienced less negative affect and fewer cravings to eat.In Experiment 2, participants were exposed to an attractive or a neutral food, and we assessed salivation and eating-related imagery.While imagery did not differ between groups, the attractive food elicited less salivation in decentering relative to control participants.We suggest that decentering can make one's imagery of consuming a food and of reliving of negative experiences less compelling, and thus reduce affective responses to both unpleasant and rewarding imagery, even if the imagery itself is kept active in mind.
Source: Motivation Science
DOI: 10.1037/mot0000137
Language: English
Subfield: Clinical Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2939989772