NEGATIVE SELF-EVALUATIONS AMONG DYSPHORIC COLLEGE-STUDENTS - A DIFFERENCE IN DEGREE OR KIND

The tendency to engage in globally negative self-evaluations (i.e., ov ergeneralization) is quite prevalent in depression but the precise nat ure of this tendency is little understood. This research examined whet her the self-evaluations of dysphoric individuals differed in ''degree '' or ''kind'' from those of nondysphoric individuals. Dysphoric and n ondysphoric students imagined themselves in various hypothetical situa tions and rated how they would evaluate themselves an 49 trait dimensi ons that varied in globality. Subjects also rated how depressed or hap py each situation would make them feel. Subjects then estimated how th ey would feel and evaluate themselves 3 days after the original negati ve events. Results showed that the self-evaluations of dysphoric and n ondysphoric subjects differed in both degree and kind. That is, dyspho ric subjects rated themselves more negatively than nondysphorics acros s both global and specific traits, but this negativity was particularl y pronounced for global traits. Moreover; supporting the position that globally negative self-evaluations influence the persistence of a dep ressive episode, globally negative thinking by dysphoric subjects pred icted their estimated mood 3 days after the imagined negative events, as well as predicting their actual recovery from depression over the c ourse of a 5-week period. Results are discussed as supporting Teasdale 's (1988) differential activation hypothesis regarding the onset and p ersistence of depression.