E-ISSN : 2733-4538
The purpose of this study was to investigate the cognitive characteristics of somatization. In particular, the hypothesis that the inference of illness from common bodily symptoms can be related to somatization was examined. A word judgment task was administered to somatization patients and college students. The results showed that somatization patients inferred illness better than non-somatization group, when presented with the body-related stimulus. That is, the meaning related to body was activated easily and such information processing was not suppressed consciously in somatization patients. But the college students with somatization tendency did not show automatic inference bias about the bodily symptoms. Finally, the limitations of this study and suggestions for cognitive therapy and future study were discussed.