TY  -  JOUR
AU  -  Pompili, Maurizio
AU  -  Iliceto, Paolo
AU  -  Luciano, Debora
AU  -  Innamorati, Marco
AU  -  Serafini, Gianluca
AU  -  Del Casale, Antonio
AU  -  Tatarelli, Roberto
AU  -  Girardi, Paolo
AU  -  Lester, David
T1  -  Higher hopelessness and suicide risk predict lower self-deception among psychiatric patients and non-clinical individuals
PY  -  2011
Y1  -  2011-01-01
DO  -  10.1708/549.6537
JO  -  Rivista di Psichiatria
JA  -  Riv Psichiatr
VL  -  46
IS  -  1
SP  -  24
EP  -  30
PB  -  Il Pensiero Scientifico Editore
SN  -  2038-2502
Y2  -  2026/03/14
UR  -  http://dx.doi.org/10.1708/549.6537
N2  -  SUMMARY. The present study was designed to explore psychopathological correlates of self-deception in clinical and non-clinical individuals to ascertain whether self-deception was associated with higher hopelessness, a proxy of suicide risk. The patients were 58 consecutive psychiatric patients (30 men, 28 women) admitted to the Sant’Andrea Hospital’s psychiatric ward in Rome. Controls were composed of a sample recruited from the general population (62 men and 80 women). All the participants completed the Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS), and the Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding-6 Form 40A (BIDR). More than 55% of the patients had BHS scores of 9 or higher indicating severe hopelessness, while only 32% of the control subjects reported scores of 9 or higher on the BHS (p<.01). Subjects with BHS scores of 9 or higher (compared to subjects with lower scores) had lower scores on the self-deceptive enhancement dimension of the BIDR, and were also more likely to be unemployed or retired. Self-deception may be a coping response to stressful live events. Disruption of such coping mechanism may indeed increase suicide risk as individuals do not want to face self-awareness and get close to a highly negative self.
ER  -