Self-evaluative intrusive thoughts impede successful searching on the Internet

This study examined the association between self-evaluative intrusive thoughts and performance in an Internet search task. Participants performed an information search on the Internet, completed the Cognitive Interference Questionnaire [CIQ; Journal of Consulting & Clinical Psychology, 46 (1978), 102], and then responded to a self-assessment questionnaire on their search performance. Participants reported fewer self-evaluative than other task-related intrusive thoughts; however, higher levels of self-evaluative intrusions were predictive of poorer search performance. Participants who experienced more self-evaluative intrusive thoughts were also less satisfied with their search performance. Other task-related thoughts were unrelated to measures of search performance or participant satisfaction with their searches. These results are discussed in the context of information processing and self-regulatory models of cognitive interference and performance and provide one explanation for how concerns with self-evaluation can undermine performance in Internet search tasks.

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