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Dysphoria and the perception of incongruent communications

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Abstract

Dysphoric, other-psychological-problems control subjects, and normal controls were presented a videotaped counseling vignette that portrayed a counselor behaving in either a genuine (congruent) or a nongenuine (incongruent) manner. Ratings of genuineness by dysphoric subjects did not discriminate between the counselor portrayals, whereas the ratings by control subjects did. In addition, in the congruent counselor condition, dysphoric subjects saw less genuineness than did normal subjects. In the incongruent condition, dysphoric subjects perceived the counselor as more genuine than did normal subjects. The results are discussed in relation to interpersonal and cognitive models of depression.

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This research was supported by National Institute of Mental Health Grant MH-40308-02, Jack E. Hokanson, principal investigator.

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Hollander, G.R., Hokanson, J.E. Dysphoria and the perception of incongruent communications. Cogn Ther Res 12, 577–589 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01205011

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