Abstract

The purpose of these studies was to investigate the cognitive characteristics of bodily sensations or symptoms in somatization patients. In Study 1-1, the results showed that somatization patients attributed common bodily symptoms to bodily abnormality and emotional causes rather than situational causes. The results of Study 1-2 showed that somatic attribution, emotional attribution, and somatosensory amplification were positively correlated with somatization score. And somatic attribution and emotional attribution were found to be good predictors of somatization in somatization patients. Study 2 confirmed the hypothesis that somatization patients are better at remembering experiences related somatic symptoms. The memory bias in the somatization patients suggested that the cognitive schema related to body-related experiences was well-structured. The results of these studies demonstrated that various cognitive characteristics should be considered in order to understand the process of somatization. It is, therefore, necessary not only to understand the psychological mechanisms of somatization but also of cognitive therapy. Finally, limitations of these studies and suggestions for future studies were discussed.