Separating the General and Content-Specific Components of Self-Reported Propensity for Mind-Wandering

IF 1.2 4区心理学 Q4 PSYCHOLOGY, SOCIAL

Journal of Individual Differences Pub Date : 2023-06-23 DOI:10.1027/1614-0001/a000402

Marek Kowalczyk, M. Kłonowska, Agata Mikietyńska

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Abstract: People differ in the propensity to mind-wander, that is, the tendency to slip into thinking about something else than the task at hand or the happenings in the immediate environment. Research indicates that mind-wandering tends to be associated with negative emotional states and that it declines with increasing age in adulthood. A question arises whether these relationships are true of mind-wandering in general, independently of its content and affective tone, or just particular kinds of off-task thinking. Participants ( N = 218) aged 18–84 years filled out the Task-Unrelated Thoughts Questionnaire (TUTQ), a multidimensional instrument for measuring individual tendencies in mind-wandering, and several scales related to affective functioning. A bifactor model for the TUTQ was employed, encompassing a general factor and three orthogonal specific factors that referred to affectively different modes of off-task thinking. The scores on the general factor decreased with increasing age of the respondents, dispositional positive affect, and satisfaction with life, whereas they increased with increasing negative affect and emotional reactivity. Age and affect-related variables, including individual tendencies in emotion regulation, also predicted, selectively, the specific factors. Although methodologically and theoretically challenging, the bifactor model seems to be a promising tool for representing and exploring individual variability in mind-wandering.

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将自我报告的思维漫游倾向的一般成分和内容特定成分分离

摘要：人们有不同的走神倾向，也就是说，倾向于陷入对手头任务或眼前环境中发生的事情之外的其他事情的思考。研究表明，走神往往与负面情绪状态有关，并且在成年后随着年龄的增长而下降。一个问题出现了，这些关系是否适用于一般的走神，独立于其内容和情感基调，或者只是特定类型的非任务思维。年龄在18-84岁之间的参与者（N=218）填写了任务无关思想问卷（TUTQ），这是一种测量个体走神倾向的多维工具，以及与情感功能相关的几个量表。TUTQ采用了一个双因子模型，包括一个一般因素和三个正交的特定因素，这些因素涉及不同的非任务思维模式。一般因素的得分随着受访者年龄、性格积极影响和生活满意度的增加而下降，而随着消极影响和情绪反应的增加而增加。年龄和影响相关的变量，包括情绪调节中的个体倾向，也选择性地预测了特定因素。尽管在方法和理论上都具有挑战性，但双因子模型似乎是一种很有前途的工具，可以用来表示和探索走神中的个体可变性。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Journal of Individual Differences PSYCHOLOGY, SOCIAL-

CiteScore

2.70

自引率

0.00%

发文量

期刊介绍： Researchers, teachers, and students interested in all areas of individual differences (e.g., gender, temperament, personality, intelligence) and their assessment in human and animal research will find the Journal of Individual Differences useful. The Journal of Individual Differences publishes manuscripts dealing with individual differences in behavior, emotion, cognition, and their developmental aspects. This includes human as well as animal research. The Journal of Individual Differences is conceptualized to bring together researchers working in different areas ranging from, for example, molecular genetics to theories of complex behavior.