David Zuroff

McGill University | McGill · Department of Psychology

Self-Determination Theory (SDT) is a broad theory of psychological growth and wellness that has revolutionized how we think about human motivation and the driving forces behind personality development. SDT focuses on people’s basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness and how social environments that support these needs fos...

The current study examined the associations among self-criticism, perceptions of autonomy support, and depression prior to and during the onset of the Covid pandemic. 283 students at a large Canadian university participated in a goal related study, and completed questionnaires assessing personality, autonomy support, and depressive symptoms startin...

Based on self-determination theory (SDT), we examined mediational models connecting autonomy support and self-criticism to negative affect (NA), positive affect (PA), and goal progress (GP) via autonomous and controlled motivation. Separate measures were obtained within eight domains (e.g., academic performance and intimate relationships) for 346 u...

Based on Self-Determination Theory (SDT), we examined mediational models connecting autonomy support and self-criticism to negative affect [NA], positive affect [PA], and goal progress [GP] via autonomous and controlled motivation. Separate measures were obtained within eight domains (e.g., academic performance and intimate relationships) for 346 u...

Research suggests that endogenous opioids play a key role in the creation and maintenance of attachment bonds. Opioids acting at the μ-opioid receptor mediate reward and analgesia and are thus thought to underlie feelings of comfort and warmth experienced in the presence of close others. Disruption of μ-opioidergic activity increases separation dis...

The personality trait of self-criticism has been linked to many life difficulties, including psychiatric disorders (Blatt, 2004). One process by which self-criticism gives rise to dysphoria is through stress generation; self-critical individuals interpret and act upon their environments in ways that increase their experiences of hassles and stresso...

Research on risk and resilience variables such as self-criticism and self-compassion typically assumes that they are broad traits reflecting highly cross-situationally consistent dispositions. However, contemporary personality science conceptualizes contextual variability as a universal feature of personality characteristics, complementary to but n...

Intensive longitudinal research designs are increasingly used to study personality processes. The resulting data can be highly informative in ways that other data cannot, but these data also pose statistical challenges. Most often a multilevel or mixed effects modeling approach is adopted, which is appropriate but may not be optimal. Surprisingly l...

The aim of this study was to test the multilevel multidimensional finite mixture item response model of the Forms of Self-Criticising/Attacking and Self-Reassuring Scale (FSCRS) to cluster respondents and countries from 13 samples ( N = 7,714) and from 12 countries. The practical goal was to learn how many discrete classes there are on the level of...

Introduction: This study examined whether motivation moderated the relation between self-criticism and depression over one year in a sample of adults receiving cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT). Methods: Participants (N = 38) completed measures of pre-treatment self-criticism (Time 1), autonomous/controlled motivation for engaging in CBT at the begi...

Objective This study examined how perfectionism and efficacy impacted the maintenance of daily coping and affect in depression over six months. Method Forty‐six depressed patients (69.6% female, mean age = 41.11 years) completed measures of perfectionism dimensions (self‐critical, personal standards), efficacy, and depressive severity at Time 1. P...

Introduction: Interpersonal spin is an indicator of intraindividual variability in social behavior. Spin is positively related to Neuroticism and is maladaptive, with well-documented deleterious effects on social functioning. The perceptual processes associated with spin and how spin emerges are less well-understood. The present research examines...

Given the significance of close relationships for human survival, it is thought that biological mechanisms evolved to support their initiation and maintenance. The neuropeptide oxytocin is one such candidate identified in non-human animal research. We investigated whether variation in CD38, a gene involved in oxytocin secretion and attachment behav...

Adopting a self-determination theory perspective, this 3-wave longitudinal study explores the role of perfectionism in goal pursuit and the experience of depressive symptoms. The findings highlight the role of goal-related autonomy in mediating the opposite effects of self-critical and personal standards perfectionism on goal progress and depressiv...

Many modern theories of affect recognize two fundamental underlying affective dimensions, although the precise dimensions vary. Alongside positive (PA) and negative (NA) affect, social safeness, a warm soothing affect associated with caring and attachment processes, has been proposed as a third fundamental affective dimension (Gilbert et al., 2008)...

The purpose of this study was to examine the measurement invariance of the Forms of Self-Criticising/Attacking & Self-Reassuring Scale (FSCRS) in terms of Item Response Theory differential test functioning in thirteen distinct samples (N = 7714) from twelve different countries. We assessed differential test functioning for the three FSCRS subscales...

Transitioning to university may be especially difficult for students who expect perfection from themselves. Self-critical perfectionism has consistently been linked to poor mental health. The current study compares a diathesis-stress and a downward-spiral model to determine why self-critical perfectionism is detrimental for mental health during thi...

Intensive longitudinal research designs are increasingly used to study personality processes. The resulting data can be highly informative in ways that other data cannot, but these data also pose statistical challenges. Most often a multilevel or mixed effects modeling approach is adopted which is appropriate but may not be optimal. Surprisingly li...

Transitioning to university may be especially difficult for students who expect perfection from themselves. Self-critical perfectionism has consistently been linked to poor mental health. The current study compares a diathesis-stress and a downward spiral model, to determine why self-critical perfectionism is detrimental for mental health during th...

There is considerable evidence that self-criticism plays a major role in the vulnerability to and recovery from psychopathology. Methods to measure this process, and its change over time, are therefore important for research in psychopathology and well-being. This study examined the factor structure of a widely used measure, the Forms of Self-Criti...

Objective To validate the Autonomous and Controlled Motivation for Treatment Questionnaire (ACMTQ) for use in women with an eating disorder (ED). Method Data were available for 463 individuals. We assessed factor structure, internal reliability, test–retest reliability, convergent/divergent validity, and incremental predictive validity. Results O...

The full-text of the article is available here https://rdcu.be/WX1o There is considerable evidence that self-criticism plays a major role in the vulnerability to and recovery from psychopathology. Methods to measure this process, and its change over time, are therefore important for research in psychopathology and wellbeing. This study examined th...

Previous studies have shown that self-critical and personal standards forms of perfectionism are associated with progress on personal goals in opposite ways. The present study used a 5-wave prospective longitudinal design to examine what motivational factors account for the finding that self-critical perfectionism has been reliably associated with...

This study of depressed outpatients (N = 43) examined daily stress-sadness reactivity and the cortisol awakening response (CAR) as moderators of the relationship between self-critical (SC) perfectionism and depression over one year. Participants completed perfectionism measures at baseline (Time 1), daily diaries and salivary sampling six months la...

This study of depressed outpatients (N = 43) examined daily stress-sadness reactivity and the cortisol awakening response (CAR) as moderators of the relationship between self-critical (SC) perfectionism and depression over one year. Participants completed perfectionism measures at baseline (Time 1), daily diaries and salivary sampling six months la...

Differences between therapists in the average outcomes their patients achieve are well documented, and researchers have begun to try to explain such differences (Baldwin & Imel, 2013). Guided by Self-Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000), we examined the effects on outcome of differences between therapists in their patients’ average levels of au...

Objective: We examined the influence of attachment orientation on the accuracy of perception of negative affect in close relationships. We hypothesized that tracking accuracy of perceiving negative affect (1) would be lower among perceivers and targets with higher attachment avoidance, and (2) would be lowest when both the target and perceiver wer...

Social mentality theory suggests that the ability to be reassuring and compassionate to oneself relies on the activation of care-seeking and caregiving mentalities. In this experimental study, college students were randomly assigned to recall memories of care-seeking, caregiving, a combination of care-seeking and caregiving, having fun (active cont...

Major depressive disorder is characterized by emotional dysfunction, but mood states in daily life are not well understood. This study examined complex explanatory models of daily stress and coping mechanisms that trigger and maintain daily negative affect and (lower) positive affect in depression. Sixty-three depressed patients completed perfectio...

Self-criticism and dependency are personality constructs that confer risk for a wide range of psychopathological and negative psychosocial outcomes. Self-criticism is characterized by a poor sense of self-worth, fear of failure, a sense of guilt, and excessive concerns about social status. Dependency is characterized by a sense of self-worth that i...

Social mentality theory suggests that the ability to be reassuring and compassionate to oneself relies on evolved systems of care-seeking and caregiving with others. Using a daily diary methodology and multilevel modelling, the present study examined between-persons and within-person effects of received social support and given social support on se...

We propose and test a model in which two social rank behaviors: Dominant-leadership and coalition-building, mediate the relations between secure attachment, job performance, and job promotion. The results of survey data collected from 131 engineers at three time points spanning on twenty nine months indicate that higher secure attachment predicts m...

The current longitudinal study examined whether the personality vulnerabilities of self-criticism and dependency prospectively predicted stress generation in Chinese adolescents. Participants included 1,116 adolescents (588 girls and 528 boys), aged 15 to 18 years from rural, urban and ultra-urban mainland China. Participants completed self-report...

Dominant behavior has been related to lower quality romantic relationships. The present study examined two processes through which dominant behavior affects the quality of romantic relationships: (1) the extent to which the partner’s dominance increases the person’s negative affect by thwarting the person’s sense of autonomy and (2) the degree to w...

We examined whether intrapersonal variability in perception of partner’s behavior, perception spin, was: (1) related to partner’s intrapersonal variability in behavior, behavioral spin, (2) a characteristic of perception that generalized across various target others, and (3) associated with biases in perception of negative affect. Ninety-three coup...

Self-criticism has been shown to be a vulnerability factor that can lead to and maintain depression. We examined the moderating effect of fear of receiving compassion from others on the positive association between self-criticism and depression. Self-report measures were administered to four separate samples (total N = 701) varying in age (students...

The extent to which patients experience their therapists as providing empathy, positive regard and genuineness (the Rogerian Conditions) is an important predictor of outcome in the psychotherapy of depression (Zuroff & Blatt, 2006). Using data from 157 depressed outpatients treated by 27 therapists in the cognitive-behavior therapy, interpersonal t...

Objective: We explored the effect of autonomous and controlled motivation on outcomes for patients undergoing inpatient treatment for Anorexia Nervosa (AN). Method: Data on 80 patients with AN were available for the start of treatment, and for 49 at end of treatment. Patients completed measures of autonomous and controlled motivation, eating dis...

The aim of this study was to test social mentality theory, which views self-compassion/reassurance as a form of intrapersonal relating in which the interpersonal mentalities of care-seeking and caregiving are activated. Self-report measures of motivations, cognitions, and behaviors related to seeking and receiving care from others were administered...

We examined self-compassion as a predictor of depressive symptoms in children and adolescents using a two time-point design. In addition, the factor structure, reliability, and validity of a version of the Self-Compassion Scale (Neff, 2003) revised for children were assessed. Self-criticism and self-esteem were also tested as predictors of depressi...

High intrapersonal variability has frequently been found to be related to poor personal and interpersonal outcomes. Little research has examined processes by which intrapersonal variability influences outcomes. This study explored the relation of intrapersonal variability in negative affect (negative affect flux) to accuracy and bias in the percept...

This study of depressed outpatients (N=47) examined self-criticism (SC) and personal standards (PS) dimensions of perfectionism as moderators of the relation between chronic stress and depression over 1year. Participants completed personality measures (SC, PS, neuroticism, conscientiousness) at baseline (Time 1), a chronic stress interview 6months...

According to Blatt and others (e.g., A. T. Beck), self-definition, or one's sense of self, and one's sense of relatedness to others represent core lifespan developmental tasks. This study examined the role of events pertaining to self-definition or relatedness in the development of personality traits from each domain (self-criticism and dependency)...

Blatt's ( 2004 , 2008 ) conceptualization of self-criticism is consistent with a state-trait model that postulates meaningful variation in self-criticism both between persons (traits) and within person (states). We tested the state-trait model in a 7-day diary study with 99 college student participants. Each evening they completed a 6-item measure...

Large fluctuations in a person's interpersonal behavior across situations and over time are thought to be associated with poor personal and interpersonal outcomes. This study examined 2 outcomes, relationship satisfaction and goal progress, that could be associated with individual differences in dispersion of interpersonal behavior (interpersonal s...

According to Blatt (2004; Blatt & Luyten, 2009) and others (e.g., Beck, Epstein, Harrison, & Emery, 1983), establishing positive self-definition and mature relatedness to others represent core lifespan developmental tasks. In a sample of emerging adults, this study examined the effects of the quality of one close friendship and changes in romantic...

This study examined how felt security in interpersonal situations with one's romantic partner mediated the effect of global (dispositional) attachment on relationship satisfaction. Felt security was measured using an event-contingent recording (ECR) methodology with a sample of 93 cohabiting couples who reported their social interactions with each...

We examined how increases in embarrassment in response to interpersonal perceptions may account for defensive behaviors such as submissiveness in Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD). Based on evolutionary theory and cognitive theory, we hypothesized that: (1) interpersonal perceptions indicating others' disapproval and rejection would be associated with...

The ratio of the length of the second finger, or digit, to the fourth finger (2D:4D) is influenced by fetal exposure to androgens; a smaller ratio indicates greater androgen exposure. We used event contingent recording to investigate the relation between the 2D:4D ratio and social behavior. Participants completed multiple records of their behavior...

Although cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is an effective treatment for depression, a substantial number of individuals experience relapse following treatment. It is possible that these individuals remain vulnerable due to personality characteristics such as self-critical perfectionism. This study examined the longitudinal association of depressi...

This paper reviews theory and research on the developmental origins of several widely studied personality vulnerabilities to psychopathology that represent the self-definitional (self-criticism, autonomy, and perfectionism) or relatedness (dependency and sociotropy) domains identified in Blatt's (2008), Blatt and Shichman's (1983), and Beck's (Beck...

Purpose: Although the transition to menopause represents a period of risk for depressive symptoms, there is little research into personality or trait-like factors that may confer vulnerability to depression during the transition to menopause. This study investigated whether the personality trait of self-criticism moderated the effects of irritabili...

The present study addressed a fundamental gap between research and clinical work by advancing complex explanatory conceptualizations of coping action patterns that trigger and maintain daily negative affect and (low) positive affect. One hundred ninety-six community adults completed measures of perfectionism, and then 6 months later completed quest...

This study examined how the personality traits of self-criticism and dependency moderated the effects of situational interpersonal cues on fear during interpersonal interactions among individuals with social anxiety disorder (SAD). We hypothesized that self-criticism would moderate the fear-inducing effects of situational self-consciousness and tha...

A sizeable body of research suggests that self-definition and relatedness represent two fundamental developmental streams across the lifespan (Blatt in Psychoanal Study Child 29:107–157, 1974; Blatt and Luyten in Dev Psychopathol 21:793–814, 2009). Adverse developmental experiences have been found to affect personality development leading to high l...

higher levels of the personality traits of self-criticism and neediness and lower levels of connectedness predict symptoms of psychopathology as well as inter-personal behaviors and outcomes. these personality characteristics may relate not only to mean levels of interpersonal behavior, but also to within-person vari-ability in behavior. this study...

Objectives. Numerous studies have shown that personality factors may increase or decrease individuals’ vulnerability to depression, but little research has examined the role of peer relationships in the development of these factors. Accordingly, this study examined the role of recalled parenting and peer experiences in the development of self-criti...

We examined how the amplification of 3 within-person processes (behavioral reactivity to interpersonal perceptions, affect reactivity to interpersonal perceptions, and behavioral reactivity to a person's own affect) accounts for greater quarrelsome behavior among individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD). Using an event-contingent reco...

Zuroff et al. (2007) showed that autonomous motivation, defined as the extent to which patients experience participation in treatment as a personally meaningful choice, predicted outcome in a study of 95 depressed outpatients who were randomly assigned to one of three 16-week manualized treatments. Further analyses were undertaken to test hypothese...

Little research has examined, prospectively, the role of unsupportive relationships and adverse experiences in the development of depressive styles. The current study examined the link between unsupportive relationships (lack of supportive adults, low emotional support from parents, low monitoring by parents) and adverse experiences (injury or illn...

Abstract Gilbert (2005) proposed that the capacity for self-compassion is integral to overcoming shame and psychopathology. We tested this model among 74 individuals with an eating disorder admitted to specialized treatment. Participants completed measures assessing self-compassion, fear of self-compassion, shame, and eating disorder symptoms at ad...

Dependency is a stable vulnerability factor for depression, and prior research has supported the role of parenting in its development. However, no research has examined the role of peer attachments in the development of dependency. In this study we examined the relationship between recalled parenting and peer attachments and current levels of relat...

This study examined whether the personality traits of self-criticism and dependency respectively moderated the effects of perceived inferiority and emotional insecurity on negative affect during interpersonal interactions in individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD). A sample of 38 patients with BPD and matched community comparison par...

This study tested Belsky's determinants of parenting, namely maternal characteristics, child characteristics, and contextual issues, namely the mother's perception of the husband as a father, husband, and person. Three hundred and seventy-nine mothers first investigated by Sears, Maccoby, and Levin completed a standardised interview to assess their...

Individuals with eating disorders are said to be highly ambivalent towards change and thus have difficulty maintaining a commitment to, and motivation for, treatment. Self-Determination Theory postulates that autonomous motivation for therapy exists when individuals view their participation as freely chosen. The present study was designed to ascert...

This chapter traces the origins of the interpersonal circumplex model from the early writings of Harry Stack Sullivan and Timothy Leary to the pioneering work of Maurice Lorr, Jerry Wiggins, Leonard Horowitz, Robert Carson, Donald Kiesler, and Lorna Smith Benjamin. It introduces contextually sensitive approaches to interpersonal assessment, with a...

Drawing on recent neuroscience research, Gil-bert (2005, 2009a) suggested that vulnerability and psy-chopathology could be conceptualized and treated using a tripartite model of affect regulation which postulates three evolved systems oriented toward threats, resources, and affiliation, and respectively triggering negative affect (NA), activated po...

Increased serotonergic activity is often described as increasing the inhibition of behaviors. This study examined the more general hypothesis that increased serotonergic activity produces greater control over social behavior. Participants were drawn from two samples, individuals elevated on irritability and individuals unselected on personality cha...

An evolutionary psychology framework was used to develop a five-factor model of individual differences in the domain of social exchange that built on a prior two-factor model (Leybman, Zuroff, Fournier, Kelly, & Martin, 2011). Two studies examined the factor structure of the revised Social Exchange Styles Questionnaire (SESQ-II), the reliability an...

This study used multilevel structural equation modeling (MSEM; Preacher, Zyphur, & Zhang, 2010) to examine within-person processes that give rise to quarrelsome behavior in interactions between romantic partners. Based on Interpersonal Theory and Adult Attachment Theory, we hypothesized that a person's quarrelsome behavior would be predicted by (a)...

Personality constructs are typically conceptualized as central tendencies of the individual. We explore whether dynamic personality constructs that quantify the within-individual variability of behavior across situations and over time predict the closeness of social relationships. We focused on interpersonal spin, defined as the degree of dispersio...

In the current study we extended the research of Zuroff, Fournier, Patall, and Leybman (2010) who found that individuals differ in their use of dominant leadership (DL), coalition building (CB), and ruthless self-advancement (RSA) when trying to secure rank among peers. In this study we examined whether the interaction of leaders' and followers' so...

This study of university students (64 men, 99 women) examined the role of self-critical (SC) and personal standards (PS) higher order dimensions of perfectionism in daily self-esteem, attachment, and negative affect. Participants completed questionnaires at the end of the day for 7 consecutive days. Trait and situational influences were found in th...

Five separate studies examined the associations of self-criticism and self-oriented perfectionism with goal pursuit across a variety of domains. Although self-criticism has previously been shown to be related to diminished goal progress, a controversy remains regarding the potential association between aspects of "positive perfectionism," such as s...

Drawing on evolutionary psychology, social exchange styles were conceptualized in terms of two dimensions of individual differences in approaching exchange relationships: Benefit-seeking and cost-vigilance. In Study 1, a principal components analysis of the Social Exchange Styles Questionnaire (SESQ) in 156 undergraduates confirmed the presence of...

We examined the influences of attachment orientations on within-person changes in affect as a function of perceptions of the interaction partner's agreeable behavior in interactions involving a romantic partner and other kinds of partners. Working adults reported affect, perceptions of the other person's behavior, and the relationship with the othe...

Objectives: We examined the moderating role of depression recurrence on the relation between autonomous and controlled motivation and interpersonal therapy (IPT) treatment outcome. Design: The investigation was conducted in an out-patient mood disorders clinic of a large university-affiliated psychiatric hospital. The sample represents a subset...

Although much research has demonstrated a relationship between negative life events and depressive symptoms, relatively little research has examined the mechanisms that may mediate this relationship. The theories of Blatt (1974), Bowlby (1980), and Gilbert (1992) each propose proximal predictors of depression. In accordance with these theories, thi...

Self-compassion has been found to promote well-being but research has yet to examine whether training in self-compassion improves self-regulation (Gilbert, 2005, 2009; Neff, 2003). the present study sought to examine the impact and moderators of a self-compassion intervention on the self-regulation of cigarette smoking. one hundred and twenty-six s...

The therapeutic alliance consistently predicts positive psychotherapy outcomes. Thus, it is important to uncover factors that relate to alliance development. The goal of this study was to examine the association between patient interpersonal characteristics and alliance quality in interpersonal therapy for depression. Data derive from a subsample (...

The relationship between therapeutic outcome and a patient-reported measure of the Rogerian conditions of positive regard, empathy, and genuineness was decomposed into between-therapist effects and within-therapist effects using multilevel modeling. Data were available for 157 depressed outpatients treated by 27 therapists in the cognitive-behavior...