High Self-Awareness Decreases Depressive Symptoms (and Increases Depressive Symptoms)

This study consists of a longitudinal survey that was conducted on 93 Japanese students to determine the effects of self-insight on future depressive symptoms, with self-complexity as a mediator. Researchers defined self-insight as how well an individual understands his/her feelings, thoughts and behaviours. High-self insight is associated with satisfaction in life and psychological well-being. Self-insight can either increase or decrease depressive symptoms, depending on whether the person has a positive or negative self-complexity. Positive self-complexity is defined as the in-depth knowledge one has about their desirable personality traits, and negative self-complexity is the knowledge that one has about their undesirable traits.

Results show that those with high self-insight and negative self-complexity were more prone to depressive symptoms after stressful experiences, compared to those with high self-insight and low negative self-complex. The knowledge obtained from this study can be used to improve psychological treatments, by understanding that self complexity mediates the effects self-insight has on psychological adjustment.

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Source:

• Nakajimaa, M., Takanob, K. &Tannoa, Y. (2018) Contradicting effects of self-insight: Self-insight can conditionally contribute to increased depressive symptoms. Personality and Individual Differences, 120:127-132. Retrieved from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0191886917305366.