Alexithymia, memory of emotion, emotional awareness, and perfectionism.
The Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20; R. M. Bagby, J. D. A. Parker, & G. J. Taylor, 1994) is a self-assessment instrument designed to measure deficits in meta-emotional functioning (e.g., difficulties in identifying and describing emotions). Four studies were carried out to examine the association between the TAS-20 and (a) performance measures of meta-emotional functioning (memory of emotion and emotional awareness; Studies 1-2) and (b) measures of perfectionistic standards that may possibly be involved in the self-assessment of abilities-difficulties (Studies 3-4). The TAS-20 failed to correlate in the predicted direction with the performance measures but showed sizable correlations with measures of perfectionism. Moreover, perfectionism was found to predict TAS-20 scores independent of depression, anxiety, and somatic complaints. The results are discussed in terms of the TAS-20 measuring primarily certain aspects of meta-emotional self-efficacy.
Lundh
Lars-Gunnar
LG
Department of Psychology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden. Lars_Gunnar.Lundh@mh.se
Johnsson
Anders
A
Sundqvist
Karin
K
Olsson
Helen
H
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000523:psychology*; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology; D001364:Awareness; D003674:Defense Mechanisms; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011594:Psychometrics; D012928:Social Desirability