Interpersonal self‐support and attentional bias on negative and positive interpersonal information

Abstract

Interpersonal self-support is an indigenous Chinese personality concept. It represents the idealized notion of the kind of personality traits that help individuals deal with interpersonal problems and develop and maintain the harmonic and appropriate social relationships required in China's collectivistic and interdependent culture. It also was assumed to be a protective personality factor with regard to mental health and was found to be negatively related to psychosomatic symptoms. In the current study, cognitive processing of interpersonal information is assumed to be an underlying mechanism that connects interpersonal self-support with interpersonal relationships and mental health. To test this hypothesis, we conducted two experiments to investigate whether attentional bias on positive and negative interpersonal information was related to high and low interpersonal self-support. A spatial cueing task and the emotional Stroop task were administered to two samples of high and low interpersonal self-support Chinese undergraduate students to measure attentional bias. The results from both experiments suggested that high interpersonal self-support students had an attentional bias toward positive interpersonal information, while low interpersonal self-support students preferentially attended to negative interpersonal information. Study 1 indicated that attentional bias toward positive interpersonal information was easily engaged in the high interpersonal self-support group, while attentional bias toward negative interpersonal information was both easy to engage and difficult to disengage in the low interpersonal self-support students. These results support our hypotheses that high interpersonal self-support people engage in positive processing of interpersonal information, whereas low interpersonal self-support people engage in negative processing of interpersonal information. The differential balance between positive and negative processing on interpersonal information may explain why interpersonal self-support predicts both mental health and interpersonal relationships. In addition, the relational schema may explain why interpersonal self-support is associated with an attentional bias toward interpersonal information.

Longitudinal relationships among interpersonal openness trait, hostile attribution bias, and displaced aggressive behaviour: Big Five treated as covariates

“…First, high interpersonal openness makes people perceive interpersonal information positively, which may deter hostile attribution bias. Second, high interpersonal openness refers to less hostility (Fan et al, 2018; Xia et al, 2013), and individuals with less hostility are inclined to make fewer hostile attributions to the behaviour or intentions of others (Yeager et al, 2013). Third, people with high interpersonal openness experience fewer negative emotions that trigger hostile attribution bias (Orobio de Castro et al, 2003).…”

“…Interpersonal openness refers to the tendency to accept other individuals positively. It is one of five dimensions of interpersonal self‐support, along with interpersonal independence, interpersonal initiative, interpersonal responsibility, and interpersonal flexibility (Xia et al, 2013; Xia, Shi, et al, 2014; Xia, Xu, et al, 2014). These traits mirror the ideal interpersonal characteristics emphasised in Chinese culture, and they are based on personality trait theory (Xia, 2010).…”

“…According to interpersonal self‐support theory, a positive relational schema is the main cognitive basis for developing interpersonal openness, and interpersonal openness influences individuals' cognition to interpersonal information through activating positive relational schema (Xia et al, 2013). As a result, prior studies have suggested that high interpersonal openness may activate positive relational schemas and make people prone to focusing on positive interpersonal information (Shen et al, 2016).…”

“…DAB occurred when or after people were provoked by someone or something, which could be regarded as a specific kind of reactive aggression. Second, high interpersonal openness could prime positive relationship schemas (Xia et al, 2013) and refers to less hostility (Fan et al, 2018). High interpersonal openness makes individuals generate fewer negative interpersonal cognitions and emotions, such as anger rumination and revenge.…”

Cognitive vulnerabilities to anxiety symptoms among Chinese adolescents: A 3‐year longitudinal study

“…Regarding attentional bias, one study examined relationships between interpersonal self-support, referred to as the kind of personality traits that help individuals deal with interpersonal problems and develop and maintain the harmonic and appropriate social relationships, and attentional bias (Xia et al, 2013). The study results showed that Chinese students with strong interpersonal self-supporting personality showed an attentional bias toward positive information, while low interpersonal self-supporting personality participants tended to focus on negative information (Xia et al, 2013). The researchers suggested that such positive attentional bias among students who are high in self-supporting interpersonal personality may reflect the impact of collectivistic and interdependent culture in China.…”