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Many people dislike the sound of their voices, especially when listening back to audio recordings (voice confrontation). Previous research reports that disliking the sound of one's voice is associated with elevated levels of social anxiety. The present study investigated the relationship between social anxiety and voice dislike and voice misrecognition among a bilingual population: Arabic (L1) and English (L2). Participants (N = 176) completed self‐report measures of social anxiety and own voice liking. Additionally, they performed a novel own voice recognition task, assessing their ability to recognise a recording of their voice, differentiating it from digitally altered versions of the same recording. Social anxiety symptomatology was associated with disliking the sound of one's voice, with a larger effect for L1 than L2. Social anxiety was also associated with own voice misrecognition, but only for L1. Highly negative evaluations about the sound of one's voice may represent a vulnerability for social anxiety disorder. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Much research on the treatment of paranoia has involved cognitive-behavioural interventions that address explicit social cognition processes. However, much of human cognition is preverbal or implicit, raising the possibility that such social judgements are implicated in paranoia. One type of implicit social cognition that has been investigated concerning paranoia is implicit self-esteem with some evidence that it may be possible to change implicit self-esteem using techniques based on conditioning theory. Therefore, the primary purpose of this research is to further evaluate the potential of this approach. At the same time, as a secondary purpose, we introduce a novel way of measuring social cognition that, we argue, has utility for investigating the psychological processes involved in paranoia. Method: We conducted two proof-of-concept studies of a novel brief intervention based on evaluative conditioning, targeting implicit cognition. The first study was conducted with a large non-clinical sample, while the second study included a small series of psychotic patients. As part of our proof-of-concept evaluation of the potential of evaluative conditioning, we attempted to probe for neurophysiological changes following the intervention using magnetoencephalography in an exploratory way in the clinical sample. Results: Our results revealed that both non-clinical and clinical participants in the experimental group showed a significant change in how they evaluated themselves in the social cognition task, which could be related to the perception of social information in a less threatening way. In addition, clinical participants in the experimental group showed changes in brain activity during the social cognition task, particularly in regions involved in emotional reactivity and mentalization processes. Discussion: Our results are encouraging, suggesting that implicit cognition is manipulable, that such manipulation affects underlying neurophysiological mechanisms, and that there may be an impact on paranoid symptoms. However, much more work is required to determine whether this approach can produce meaningful clinical change and be delivered in routine clinical settings. Finally, it is important to note that we are not claiming the clinical effectiveness of our intervention, which is in a very early stage of development. Our goal here is to demonstrate clinical possibilities that warrant further investigation [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evidence suggests that social identities, which provide purpose and a sense of belonging, enhance resilience against psychological strain and safeguard well‐being. This applies to first‐generation migrant populations facing adverse experiences, including prejudice and disconnection from previous identities during host country integration, negatively impacting their well‐being. The importance of social identity also extends to first‐generation migrant descendants, confronting dual‐identity challenges and experiencing exclusion and discrimination despite being native born. Building on the social identity approach to mental health, 20 semi‐structured interviews were conducted to investigate how migrants construct their social identities, their perspective on the challenges and changes they experience in relation to group memberships and ultimately, the influence this has on their psychological well‐being. Findings emphasize the significance of social identity continuity and gain pathways in first‐generation migrants' successful adjustment and psychological well‐being. For second‐generation migrants, dual‐identity development is especially difficult during adolescence due to social exclusion and discrimination in schools. Even in early adulthood, pressure to maintain heritage identity can lead to negative mental health outcomes over time. The current study contributes to and strengthens the social identity approach to migrant mental health and has wider implications for psychological interventions and policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Negative self-schemas have been implicated in both paranoia and depression. There is a lack of research on the structural characteristics of self-schemas, even though these characteristics might be stable risk factors. The present study explored organization of positive and negative self-schemas in currently non-depressed individuals with persistent delusional disorder (PD), currently depressed individuals with persistent delusional disorder (PDD), and nonpsychiatric controls (NC). Self-schema consolidation was measured via the Psychological Distance Scaling Task. Within the interpersonal domain, negative selfschemas were more densely organized in PDD compared to both PD and NC. Both patient groups had less interconnected positive interpersonal schemas than controls. Within the achievement domain, PDD demonstrated less consolidated positive achievement schemas than NC and greater interconnectedness among negative adjectives than PD. Central limitation includes a small sample size. The findings point to an existence of at least two self-schema organizations in paranoid individuals. [Project of the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Grant no. 179006]