Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) presents a pressing mind-body conundrum: why does the infliction of physical pain alleviate psychological suffering? We suggest that NSSI might arise, in part, from a difference in intuitive Dualism. We hypothesize that the tacit mind-body divide typically guides the conscious differentiation of physical and psychological pain.
If, in NSSI, the mind-body divide is attenuated, psychological pain would be harder to recognize and differentiate from physical pain. Here, we evaluate this prediction in an exploratory online study of mind-body intuitions among individuals with NSSI engagement (N = 47) and Controls (N = 52). Results show that people with more severe lifetime NSSI view the psyche as more physical—more likely to persist by duplicating one’s body and desist upon the body’s demise.
Furthermore, among participants with more severe NSSI, those who manifested a weaker mind-body divide were less likely to endorse established NSSI functions as explanations for their self-injury. Our results cannot determine whether intuitive Dualism plays a causal role in NSSI or NSSI motivations. Nonetheless, in this exploratory online sample, the mind–body judgments of people with more severe lifetime NSSI suggested stronger Physicalist intuitions.
Thus, individual differences in intuitive Dualism could shed light on NSSI, and potentially, psychopathology more broadly. Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is the deliberate, self-infliction of damage to bodily tissue without suicidal intent, by acts such as cutting, burning, or hitting1. NSSI is worrisome because it injures the body and increases risk for future death by suicide1.
It is a highly prevalent behavior, affecting one in five adolescents globally2,3. NSSI further presents a mind-body conundrum. When asked to explain why they engage in NSSI, many people mention that NSSI improves affect1.
These affective benefits are puzzling. Logic would suggest that physical pain ought to exacerbate suffering. Why, then, does the self-infliction of bodily pain alleviate psychological anguish?
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