Conceptual and Empirical Connections between Self-Processes

Dear Colleagues,

Self-processes interact in complex ways that are still poorly understood. For example, it has been repeatedly claimed that self-regulation requires self-reflection, yet the exact nature of this relationship remains elusive and empirical support is sparse. Similarly, a popular claim in the scientific literature is that Theory-of-Mind abilities (thinking about others’ mental states) require self-reflection (The “Simulation” view), yet the specific ways in which self-reflection may lead to Theory-or-Mind are numerous and still debated; further, empirical evidence for this relationship is mixed. Some actually suggest that Theory-of-Mind precedes self-reflection—not the other way. Another issue is the similarities and differences between self-reflection (i.e., introspection) and mindfulness. Yet another problem is the use of different terms all referring to the same construct—for example, the terms self-distancing, decentering, reperceiving, cognitive diffusion, and mindfulness tend to be used interchangeably, which creates unwanted confusion. This Special Issue seeks contributions from specialists who wish to share recent research results and/or theoretical considerations pertaining to various forms of self-directed attention and their interconnections.

Topics of interest include (but are not limited to):

• Self-reflection;
• Self-rumination;
• Self-distancing;
• Self-immersion;
• Self-concept clarity;
• Self-control/regulation;
• Mindfulness;
• Neural correlates of the above processes;
• Cognitive mechanisms and mediating/moderating variables underlying the
• above processes;
• Individual differences in the above processes;
• Well-being and negative emotional consequences of the above processes;
• Correlations and regression analyses pertaining to self-processes.

Prof. Dr. Alain Morin
Guest Editor

Famira Racy
Guest Editor Assistant

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Behavioral Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.