Table 1.
Content variables.
| Content rating | Question | Scale |
|---|---|---|
| Self-relevance | I consider this thought to be highly self-relevant. | 0 to 10, from strongly disagree to strongly agree |
| Frequency | Lately, it seems that this thought has been on my mind a great deal. | 0 to 10, from strongly disagree to strongly agree |
| Importance/value | The topic of this thought is of great value or importance to me. | 0 to 10, from strongly disagree to strongly agree |
| Centrality | This thought contributes to my sense of self-identity. | 0 to 10, from strongly disagree to strongly agree |
| Valence | My own emotions pertaining to this thought are … | 0 to 10, from very negative to very positive |
| Intensity | The intensity of my emotions pertaining to this thought are … | 0 to 10, from not intense at all to very intense |
| Goal-orientation | This thought involves/involved reaching a particular goal of mine. | 0 to 10, from strongly disagree to strongly agree |
| Social-orientation | I consider this thought to involve/concern other people (i.e., an upcoming date, vacation with friends). | 0 to 10, from strongly disagree to strongly agree |
| Detail/specificity | I would characterize this thought as being tied to a highly detailed and specific event. | 0 to 10, from strongly disagree to strongly agree |
| Imagery | When I experience this thought, my mental imagery is … | 1 = Perfectly clear and as vivid as normal vision, 2 = Clear and reasonably vivid, 3 = Moderately clear and vivid, 4 = Vague and dim, 5 = No imagery at all, you only “know” that you were thinking of something |
| Perspective | When I experience this thought, I develop a mental image in which … | 1 = I “see” things from my own perspective (like I would in the real world), 2 = I “see” myself from another perspective, 3 = neither |
| Duration of topic | This thought concerns an event or a topic that lasted or will likely last … | 1 = many years, 2 = many months, 3 = a month, 4 = multiple days, 5 = an entire day, 6 = minutes to hours |
| Temporal orientation | This event took/will take place… | 1 = more than 3 years ago, 2 = within the past 3 years, 3 = within the past 365 days (a year’s time), 4 = within the past 30 days (a month’s time), 5 = within the past 7 days (a week’s time), 6 = yesterday, 7 = earlier today, 8 = later today, 9 = tomorrow, 10 = within the next 7 days (a week’s time), 11 = within the next 30 days (a month’s time), 12 = within the next 365 days (a year’s time), 13 = within the next 3 years, 14 = more than 3 years from now. |
| Certainty | I am certain that the event has taken or will take place for me | 0 to 10, from strongly disagree to strongly agree |
The question assessing temporal orientation and certainty were only answered for thoughts that pertained to a specific event.