title: Evidence for a cognitive bias of interpretation toward threat in individuals with a Type D personality.
abstract: Biological and behavioral mediators link Type D personality with a poor prognosis in heart disease. However, the mediator role of cognitive biases is still unknown. This study tested whether Type D individuals exhibit an interpretative bias for ambiguous social situations. For this aim we examined Type D and non-Type D individuals' evaluations of written social situations that varied in terms of situations' clarity (clear, ambiguous) and social judgment (neutral, negative). A convenience sample of 42 young, healthy adults rated each situation in relation to the difficulty of formulating a verbal response, anticipated distress, and perceived threat, and they completed the Type D personality scale (DS14; Denollet, 2005). Results showed an interpretation bias among Type D individuals, as they rated ambiguous or neutral situations as significantly more distressing compared to non-Type D individuals. Only clearly negative situations were rated similarly by Type D and non-Type D individuals. The discussion suggests that this interpretation bias in Type D individuals would increase their vulnerability to perceived stress.
authors.affiliation: Research Institute for Psychological Sciences, Université Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium. delphine.grynberg@uclouvain.be
authors.forename: Delphine
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Grynberg
authors.forename: Yori
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gidron
authors.forename: Johan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Denollet
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Luminet
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010551:Personality; D010555:Personality Inventory; D012938:Social Perception