Bibbey, Claire;
(2020)
The effect of compassion-focused imagery on paranoia, and trust-based cooperative decision-making in the general population.
Doctoral thesis (D.Clin.Psy), UCL (University College London).
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Abstract
The thesis examines compassion-focused imagery and paranoia, and is presented in three parts. Part one presents a conceptual introduction of existing research in the field of compassion-focused imagery and paranoia, in the clinical and the non-clinical (general) populations. A review of the literature found promising results for compassion-focused imagery in reducing paranoia and improving positive and negative affect. Furthermore, the review suggests that game theory paradigms, in particular the Prisoner’s Dilemma Game, provide useful and objective behavioural measures for paranoia. These paradigms present participants with a ‘real life’ interpersonal situation where they have to choose whether to cooperate or compete with the other player, providing key data regarding trust, paranoia, intentions and motivations. However, existing research investigating the impact compassionfocused imagery has on paranoia has not yet used game theory paradigms to measure paranoia. Part two presents an empirical paper investigating the effects of compassionfocused imagery on paranoia, affect, and trust-based cooperative decision-making on the Prisoner’s Dilemma Game in the general population, in comparison to relaxation imagery. Results suggest that compassion-focused imagery reduces paranoia and negative affect, with no impact on positive affect, or trust-based decision-making on the Prisoner’s Dilemma Game (participants choosing to cooperate with another player). Relaxation imagery was found to be comparable with compassion-focused imagery in reducing paranoia and negative affect. This could suggest that either type of mental imagery is beneficial in reducing paranoia and negative affect, although further work would be needed to establish equivalent effectiveness. Part three presents a critical appraisal reflecting upon the process and challenges of conducting doctoral research, with consideration given to the design, and the online nature of the study.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Qualification: | D.Clin.Psy |
| Title: | The effect of compassion-focused imagery on paranoia, and trust-based cooperative decision-making in the general population |
| Event: | UCL (University College London) |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © The Author 2020. Original content in this thesis is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Any third-party copyright material present remains the property of its respective owner(s) and is licensed under its existing terms. Access may initially be restricted at the author’s request. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10093244 |
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