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The role of performance beliefs in the difference between self-report and behavioural measures of attentional control and their relationship with anxiety

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Abstract
While empirical findings closely link poor attentional control with elevated anxiety, this relationship is more consistently evident and stronger when attentional control is measured through self-report than through behaviour. One possible explanation for these diverging findings is that people lack insight into their attentional control capabilities, and people with elevated anxiety hold more negative beliefs about their level of attentional control, resulting in lower self-reported levels of attentional control. In two studies, participants (N = 78 and N = 207) completed the attentional control scale, the attentional network test (ANT), a questionnaire measuring beliefs about attentional control in the ANT, and a measure of anxiety. In both studies, no significant associations were present between beliefs about attentional control in the ANT and participants' performance on the ANT, suggesting a lack of insight in attentional control capabilities. Both studies further demonstrated that only beliefs about attentional control but not performance in the ANT were related to self-reported attentional control and anxiety. We thus show that evidence supporting the relationship between self-reported attentional control and anxiety is driven by biased beliefs about ability to control attention in people with heightened anxiety, and not by behavioural indices of attentional control.
Keywords
Attentional control, Attentional control theory, Anxiety, Negative self-beliefs, COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE, SCIENCE, SCALE, SYMPTOMS, VALIDITY

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MLA
Van Bockstaele, Bram, et al. “The Role of Performance Beliefs in the Difference between Self-Report and Behavioural Measures of Attentional Control and Their Relationship with Anxiety.” PERSONALITY AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES, vol. 204, 2023, doi:10.1016/j.paid.2022.112047.
APA
Van Bockstaele, B., Greenwell-Barnden, J., Todd, J., Clarke, P. J. F., MacLeod, C., & Notebaert, L. (2023). The role of performance beliefs in the difference between self-report and behavioural measures of attentional control and their relationship with anxiety. PERSONALITY AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES, 204. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2022.112047
Chicago author-date
Van Bockstaele, Bram, Jayden Greenwell-Barnden, Jemma Todd, Patrick J. F. Clarke, Colin MacLeod, and Lies Notebaert. 2023. “The Role of Performance Beliefs in the Difference between Self-Report and Behavioural Measures of Attentional Control and Their Relationship with Anxiety.” PERSONALITY AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 204. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2022.112047.
Chicago author-date (all authors)
Van Bockstaele, Bram, Jayden Greenwell-Barnden, Jemma Todd, Patrick J. F. Clarke, Colin MacLeod, and Lies Notebaert. 2023. “The Role of Performance Beliefs in the Difference between Self-Report and Behavioural Measures of Attentional Control and Their Relationship with Anxiety.” PERSONALITY AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 204. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2022.112047.
Vancouver
1.
Van Bockstaele B, Greenwell-Barnden J, Todd J, Clarke PJF, MacLeod C, Notebaert L. The role of performance beliefs in the difference between self-report and behavioural measures of attentional control and their relationship with anxiety. PERSONALITY AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES. 2023;204.
IEEE
[1]
B. Van Bockstaele, J. Greenwell-Barnden, J. Todd, P. J. F. Clarke, C. MacLeod, and L. Notebaert, “The role of performance beliefs in the difference between self-report and behavioural measures of attentional control and their relationship with anxiety,” PERSONALITY AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES, vol. 204, 2023.
@article{01J5NE4ZCMA70ZBDRGQPD46H52,
  abstract     = {{While empirical findings closely link poor attentional control with elevated anxiety, this relationship is more consistently evident and stronger when attentional control is measured through self-report than through behaviour. One possible explanation for these diverging findings is that people lack insight into their attentional control capabilities, and people with elevated anxiety hold more negative beliefs about their level of attentional control, resulting in lower self-reported levels of attentional control. In two studies, participants (N = 78 and N = 207) completed the attentional control scale, the attentional network test (ANT), a questionnaire measuring beliefs about attentional control in the ANT, and a measure of anxiety. In both studies, no significant associations were present between beliefs about attentional control in the ANT and participants' performance on the ANT, suggesting a lack of insight in attentional control capabilities. Both studies further demonstrated that only beliefs about attentional control but not performance in the ANT were related to self-reported attentional control and anxiety. We thus show that evidence supporting the relationship between self-reported attentional control and anxiety is driven by biased beliefs about ability to control attention in people with heightened anxiety, and not by behavioural indices of attentional control.}},
  articleno    = {{112047}},
  author       = {{Van Bockstaele, Bram and  Greenwell-Barnden, Jayden and  Todd, Jemma and  Clarke, Patrick J. F. and  MacLeod, Colin and  Notebaert, Lies}},
  issn         = {{0191-8869}},
  journal      = {{PERSONALITY AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES}},
  keywords     = {{Attentional control,Attentional control theory,Anxiety,Negative self-beliefs,COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE,SCIENCE,SCALE,SYMPTOMS,VALIDITY}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{7}},
  title        = {{The role of performance beliefs in the difference between self-report and behavioural measures of attentional control and their relationship with anxiety}},
  url          = {{http://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2022.112047}},
  volume       = {{204}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}

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