Flipbook

CHAPTER 3 70 you describe this feeling in one word?” (e.g., disgust) “Can you rate the intensity of this feeling on a scale of 0 to 100?” The experimenter asked as many of the following questions as necessary to identify the catastrophic belief: “Which thought went through your head when you touched this object and felt … (e.g., disgusted)?”; “What might happen when you touch this object? And what would happen next?”; “What is the worst thing that might happen when you touch this object?”. After the participant had identified his or her threat belief (e.g., if I touch this object, I will get ill), the experimenter repeated it to the participant, and asked “How believable is this statement to you?”, and to rate this on a 0 ( not at all believable ) to 100 ( extremely believable ) scale. Experimental trials A detailed description of the procedure for the experimental trials can be found in van den Hout et al. (2011). Participants in the E+RP and E+SB condition touched the contaminant 20 times, and rated CFDD right after touching it and after a 30s delay. During this delay, participants in the E+SB condition cleaned their hands with a hygienic wipe, except at the final (20 th ) trial, when they did not use a wipe. Participants in the control condition waited for 20 min while reading a magazine or newspaper. After this, they touched the selected contaminant and rated CFDD. None of the participants in the E+RP and the control condition washed or cleaned themselves. Post-test measurement After the final experimental trial, the threat belief that participants had identified at the pre- test was repeated to them, and they were asked to rate how believable they though it was again. Participants were then asked to describe why they thought the degree to which they believed their threat belief had decreased/increased/stayed the same from the pre-test to the post-test. We did this to gain insight in the reasons for potential changes in these belief ratings. Participants were thanked, debriefed, and rewarded for their participation.