Relationship Between Self-Referential Processing and Intrinsic Motivation in Patients with Schizophrenia / 대한정신분열병학회지

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: The close relationship between impaired self-referential processing and intrinsic motivation in schizophrenia has been suggested, but is not investigated yet. The purpose of this study was to explore the characteristics of self-referential processing and its relationship with intrinsic motivation in patients with schizophrenia. METHODS: Nineteen patients with schizophrenia and 24 healthy controls performed a self-referential processing task, in which a face (self, familiar other, or unfamiliar other) and three words (positive, neutral, and negative nouns) were presented. Participants were asked to indicate which word is relevant to the face. Intrinsic motivation and basic psychological needs affecting intrinsic motivation were assessed using self-reports. RESULTS: Compared to healthy controls, the relevance rating between self-face and neutral word was significantly lower in patients with schizophrenia (p=0.02). In patients with schizophrenia, it was negatively correlated with intrinsic motivation (r=-0.47, p=0.04) and competence (r=-0.47, p=0.05) which is known to influence intrinsic motivation. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that there is an impairment in self-referential processing in schizophrenia and it is associated with an impairment in intrinsic motivation. In particular, amotivation in patients with schizophrenia may represent a facet of selfdisorder.