The Mirror of Mind: Visualizing Mental Representations of Self Through Reverse Correlation

Frontiers in Psychology

article

Kibum Moon¹  SoJeong Kim¹  Jinwon Kim¹  Hackjin Kim¹  Young-gun Ko¹ 

[1] Department of Psychology, Korea University

关键词: self-image;    self-perception;    facial images;    visual representations;    classification images;    self-esteem;    social anxiety;    extraversion;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01149

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

The reverse correlation (RC) method has been widely used, because it allows visualization of mental representations without a priori assumptions about relevant dimensions. We employed the RC method to visualize mental representations of self and examined their relationships with traits related to self-image. For this purpose, 110 participants (70 women) performed a two-image forced choice RC task to generate a classification image of self (self-CI). Participants perceived their self-CIs as bearing a stronger resemblance to themselves than did CIs of others (filler-CIs). Valence ratings of participants who performed the RC task (RC sample) and of 30 independent raters both showed positive correlations with self-esteem, explicit self-evaluation, and extraversion. Moreover, valence ratings of independent raters were negatively correlated with social anxiety symptoms. On the other hand, valence ratings of the RC sample and independent raters were not correlated with depression symptoms, trait anxiety, or social desirability. The results imply that mental representations of self can be properly visualized by using the RC method.

【 授权许可】

CC BY