Abstract
Mental contamination has been described as a feeling of internal dirtiness, without the presence of a physical contaminant, and is a feature of many common mental health problems such as OCD and PTSD. A large body of research has been conducted into factors which might predict the propensity for development of mental contamination experiences. However, to date, existing research has only been able to explain modest amounts of variance in mental contamination sensitivity. This study therefore assessed whether Fear of Self, Self-Ambivalence and Moral Identity predict variance in mental contamination experiences. Participants completed self-report measures before and after an imagery exercise designed to induce mental contamination. A total of 156 participants were included in the final sample. Findings from this study suggest that Self-Ambivalence, Fear of Self and Moral Identity are all significant predictors of mental contamination sensitivity. Theoretical implications and suggestions for future research are discussed, alongside implications and considerations for cognitive therapy of OCD and related conditions.