The Accuracy Properties of the Reflective Thinking Index in Polish Language Narratives

Barbara Gawda

doi:10.18290/rpsych2024.0010

Published : 2024-07-31

Vol. 27 No. 2 (2024)

The Accuracy Properties of the Reflective Thinking Index in Polish Language Narratives

Barbara Gawda

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6783-1779

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18290/rpsych2024.0010

Abstract

The assessment of the Reflective Thinking Index in narratives is considered as an insights indicator of the person constructing a story. The aim of this study was to verify the index validity. 553 adults took part in the study. The respondents wrote a story about their close relationship and filled in questionnaires measuring the state and trait anxiety, depression, and personality disorder traits. In the narratives, all the phrases constituting the Reflective Thinking Index components were counted using a computerized method. Then, a cluster analysis was performed using the k-means method to distinguish types of people with specific index values. Next, it was checked whether the identified subtypes of the index allow differentiating people with an optimistic vision of the situation, high vs low levels of anxiety state/trait, high vs low levels of depressive mood, and various personality disorder traits. To demonstrate index sensitivity, specificity, and precision, ROC curves were analyzed. The results indicate that the Reflective Thinking Index varies depending on the level of state/trait anxiety, optimistic vision of the situation, depressiveness, and education level. High Reflective Thinking is associated with average sensitivity, low specificity, and average precision in the prediction of an optimistic situation vision. The low Reflective Thinking Index is characterized by average sensitivity, low specificity, and average precision in the prediction of state/trait anxiety. The obtained accuracy properties of the Reflective Thinking Index suggest some caution in its application and interpretation.

Keywords:

reflective thinking index, narratives, insight, accuracy of the index

Details

References

Statistics

Authors

Download files

pdf

Altmetric indicators

Cited by / Share

Licence

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

References

Boals, A., & Klein, K. (2005). Word use in emotional narratives about failed romantic relationships and subsequent mental health. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 24(3), 252–268. https://doi.org/10.1177/0261927X05278386

Boyd, R. L., Ashokkumar, A., Seraj, S., & Pennebaker, J. W. (2022). The development and psychometric properties of LIWC-22. University of Texas at Austin. https://www.liwc.app

Boyd, R. L., Blackburn, K. G., & Pennebaker, J. W. (2020). The narrative arc: Revealing core narrative structures through text analysis. Science Advances, 6(32), Article eaba2196. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aba2196

Cohn, M. A., Mehl, M. R., & Pennebaker, J. W. (2004). Linguistic markers of psychological change surrounding September 11, 2001. Psychological Science, 15(10), 687–693. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0956-7976.2004.00741.x

Diamond, A. (2013). Executive functions. Annual Review of Psychology, 64, 135–168. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-113011-143750

First, M. B., Gibbon, M., Spitzer, R. L., Williams, J. B. W., Benjamin, L. S., Zawadzki, B., & Praglowska, E. (2010). Ustrukturalizowany Wywiad Kliniczny do Badania Zaburzeń Osobowości z osi II DSM-4 [The Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-4 Axis II Disorders – SCID-II]. Pracownia Testów Psychologicznych PTP.

Gawda, B. (2007). Lęk osobowościowy a bogactwo narracji o uczuciach – hipoteza o wpływie lęku na rozwój reprezentacji afektywnych [Trait anxiety and richness of narratives about emotions – hypothesis about impact of anxiety on development of affective representations]. Psychologia Rozwojowa, 12(4), 65–75.

Gawda, B. (2011). Skrypty miłości, nienawiści i lęku u osób antyspołecznych [Scripts of love, hate, and anxiety in antisocial persons]. Wydawnictwo Difin.

Gawda, B. (2018). Psychologia pisma. Poznawcza teoria związku psychika-pismo [The psychology of handwriting: Cognitive theory of relationship between psyche and handwriting]. Wydawnictwo Naukowe Scholar.

Gawda, B. (2022). The differentiation of narrative styles in individuals with high Psychopathic deviate. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 51(1), 75–92. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10936-021-09824-w

Gawda, B., & Czubak-Paluch, K. (2021). Przejawy nadziei w narracjach więźniów o bliskich związkach. Resocjalizacyjne aspekty nadziei [The indices of hope in prisoners’ narratives of close relationships. Rehabilitation aspects of hope]. Resocjalizacja Polska, 21, 345–362. https://doi.org/10.22432/pjsr.2021.21.20

Gawda, B., & Szepietowska, E. (2016). Trait anxiety modulates brain activity during performance of verbal fluency tasks. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 10, Article 10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2016.00010

Hartley, C. A., & Phelps, E. A. (2010). Changing fear: The neurocircuitry of emotion regulation. Neuropsychopharmacology, 35, 136–146. https://doi.org/10.1038/npp.2009.121

Hartley, C. A., & Phelps, E. A. (2012). Anxiety and decision making. Biological Psychiatry, 72(2), 113–118. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2011.12.027

Kosacka, K. (2019). Język i parajęzyk wypowiedzi o emocjach. Podmiotowe uwarunkowania [Language and paralanguage of utterances about emotions. Personal determinants]. Wydawnictwo UMCS.

Kross, E., & Ayduk, O. (2008). Facilitating adaptive emotional analysis: Distinguishing distanced-analysis of depressive experiences from immersed-analysis and distraction. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 34(7), 924–938. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167208315938

Miyake, A., Friedman, N. P., Emerson, M. J., Witzki, A. H., Howerter, A., & Wager, T. D. (2000). The unity and diversity of executive functions and their contributions to complex “Frontal Lobe” tasks: A latent variable analysis. Cognitive Psychology, 41(1), 49–100. https://doi.org/10.1006/cogp.1999.0734

Obuchowski, K. (2004). Kody umysłu i emocje [Mental codes and emotions]. Wyższa Szkoła Humanistyczno-Ekonomiczna.

Pająk, K., & Trzebiński, J. (2014). Escaping the world: Linguistic indicators of suicide attempts in poets. Journal of Loss and Trauma: International Perspectives on Stress & Coping, 19(5), 389–402. https://doi.org/10.1080/15325024.2013.794663

Pennebaker, J. W., Booth, R. E., & Francis, M. E. (2007). Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count: LIWC2007: Operator’s Manual. LIWC.net. http://www.gruberpeplab.com/teaching/psych231_fall2013/documents/231_Pennebaker2007.pdf

Pennebaker, J. W., Booth, R. J., Boyd, R. L., & Francis, M. E. (2015). Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count: LIWC2015. Pennebaker Conglomerates. https://liwc.app/static/documents/LIWC2015%20Manual%20-%20Operation.pdf

Pennebaker, J. W., Chung, C. K., Frazee, J., Lavergne, G. M., & Beaver, D. I. (2014). When small words foretell academic success: The case of college admissions essays. PLoS ONE, 9(12), Article e115844. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0115844

Pennebaker, J. W., Francis, M. E., & Booth, R. J. (2001). Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC): LIWC 2001. Erlbaum Publishers.

Pennebaker, J. W., & Lay, T. C. (2002). Language use and personality during crises: Analyses of Mayor Rudolph Giuliani’s press conferences. Journal of Research in Personality, 36(3), 271–282. https://doi.org/10.1006/JRPE.2002.2349

Pennebaker, J. W., Mayne, T. J., & Francis, M. E. (1997). Linguistic predictors of adaptive bereavement. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 72(4), 863–871. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.72.4.863

Pennebaker, J. W., Mehl, M. R., & Niederhoffer, K. G. (2003). Psychological aspects of natural language use: Our words, our selves. Annual Review of Psychology, 54(1), 547–577. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.54.101601.145041

Pennebaker, J. W., Slatcher, R. B., & Chung, C. K. (2005). Linguistic markers of psychological state through media interviews: John Kerry and John Edwards in 2004, Al Gore in 2000. Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy, 5(1), 197–204. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1530-2415.2005.00065.x

Pennebaker, J. W., & Stone, L. (2003). Words of wisdom: Language use over the life span. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85(2), 291–301. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.85.2.291

Seraj, S., Blackburn, K. G., & Pennebaker, J. W. (2021). Language left behind on social media exposes the emotional and cognitive costs of a romantic breakup. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(7), Article e2017154118. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2017154118

Sosnowski, T., Wrześniewski, K., Jaworowska, A., & Fecenec, D. (2006). STAI-Inwentarz Stanu i Cechy Lęku STAI. Polska adaptacja [Manual for STAI]. Pracownia Testów Psychologicznych.

Szepietowska, E. M., & Gawda, B. (2011). Ścieżkami fluencji werbalnej [Following the paths of verbal fluency]. UMCS.

Tausczik, Y. R., & Pennebaker, J. W. (2010). The psychological meaning of words: LIWC and 32 computerized text analysis methods. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 29(1), 24–54. https://doi.org/10.1177/0261927X09351676

Vine, V., Boyd, R. L., & Pennebaker, J. W. (2020). Natural emotion vocabularies as windows on distress and well-being. Nature Communications, 11, Article 4525. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-18349-0

Zawadzki, B., Popiel A., & Pragłowska, E. (2009). Charakterystyka psychometryczna polskiej adaptacji kwestionariusza depresji BDI-II Aarona T. Becka [Psychometric characteristics of the BDI-II Aaron T. Beck Inventory]. Psychologia-Etologia-Genetyka, 19, 71–95.

Zhao, N., Jiao, D., Bai, S., & Zhu, T. (2016). Evaluating the validity of simplified Chinese version of LIWC in detecting psychological expressions in short texts on social network services. PLoS ONE, 11(6), Article e0157947. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0157947