Shalev Idit
Laboratory for Embodiment and Self-Regulation, Department of Psychology, Ariel University, Ariel, Israel.
Front Psychiatry. 2021 Jun 11;12:631758. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.631758. eCollection 2021.
The global dissemination of COVID-19 creates confusion and ambiguity in nearly every aspect of life, including fear of contagion, heightened awareness of the mortality of self and family members, lack of power, and distrust of experts and decision-makers. In this stressful situation, the question arises as to what mechanisms distinguish between adaptive and maladaptive self-regulation. The theory of Motivated Cue-Integration (MCI) is a novel theory of self-regulation that provides a new perspective on the effect of COVID-19 on self-regulation deficiency as an example of psychological distress. Inspired by predictive coding, social cognition, embodied cognition, and experiential approach, MCI suggests that self-regulation is based on interaction between (1) high-level values and goals, (2) low-level interoceptive and exteroceptive signals, and (3) trust in epistemic authority or a significant other. Motivated Cue-Integration posits that individuals create meaning by making moment-to-moment predictions that affect their interpretation of the experience of ambiguity influenced by their relationship with epistemic authority. According to MCI, deficiency in self-regulation during COVID-19 could result either from over-sensitivity or under-sensitivity to low-level interoceptive and exteroceptive cues; rigidity or ambiguity of high-level goals, poor integration between the two levels of processing as well as distrust in epistemic authority. According to MCI, variations of these deficiencies may occur in various clinical phenomena such as alexithymia and somatization, as well as in social phenomena such as goal radicalization. Based on this reasoning, MCI claims that the mentalization of the relationship between interoceptive cues, exteroceptive cues, goals, and psychological needs of the person, as well as the improvement of confidence in epistemic authority, can promote adaptive self-regulation. Psychological intervention can foster trust in epistemic authority, increase the mentalization of interoceptive and exteroceptive cues, and their association with adaptive goals. As such, the integration of these elements in a way that facilitates incentives pathways and insight fosters a more integrated subjective experience, higher clarity of emotion, and positive internal dialogue which promotes action tendency.
新冠病毒病（COVID-19）的全球传播在生活的几乎各个方面都造成了混乱和不确定性，包括对感染的恐惧、对自身及家庭成员死亡率的更高认识、无力感以及对专家和决策者的不信任。在这种压力情境下，出现了一个问题，即哪些机制区分适应性自我调节和适应不良性自我调节。动机性线索整合理论（MCI）是一种新颖的自我调节理论，它为COVID-19对作为心理困扰示例的自我调节缺陷的影响提供了新视角。受预测编码、社会认知、具身认知和体验方法的启发，MCI表明自我调节基于以下三者之间的相互作用：（1）高级价值观和目标；（2）低级内感受和外感受信号；（3）对认知权威或重要他人的信任。动机性线索整合假定个体通过进行时刻预测来创造意义，这些预测会影响他们对受其与认知权威关系影响的模糊体验的解释。根据MCI，COVID-19期间自我调节的缺陷可能源于对低级内感受和外感受线索过度敏感或敏感不足；高级目标的僵化或模糊、两个处理水平之间整合不佳以及对认知权威的不信任。根据MCI，这些缺陷的变化可能出现在各种临床现象中，如述情障碍和躯体化，以及社会现象中，如目标激进化。基于此推理，MCI声称对个体的内感受线索、外感受线索、目标和心理需求之间关系的心理化，以及对认知权威信心的提高，可以促进适应性自我调节。心理干预可以增强对认知权威的信任，增加对内感受和外感受线索的心理化，以及它们与适应性目标的关联。因此，以促进激励途径和洞察力的方式整合这些要素，会培养出更整合的主观体验、更高的情绪清晰度以及促进行动倾向的积极内部对话。
