Obsessive–compulsive (OC) symptoms are often associated with cognitive biases and can cause significant distress and impairment in daily functioning. In this study, we examine whether threat to moral self-perceptions can trigger cognitive biases linked with obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD). Participants were 124 non-clinical adults randomized to four conditions (negative-morality, negative-sports, positive-morality, and positive-sports) of the Subtle Priming Computerized Task. To examine the influence of subtle priming of morality-related information on OCD-related cognitive biases, participants completed the Obsessive Beliefs Questionnaire-20 (OBQ-20). Participants also completed the obsessive–compulsive inventory-revised, the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale and the Single-Item Self-Esteem Scale as baseline measures. Results revealed that subtle suggestions of incompetence in the morality self-domain were associated with stronger activation of OCD-related cognitive biases as measured by the OBQ-20. These effects were specific to negative information about the morality self-domain. Findings were not related to pre-existing variations in OC symptom levels, self-esteem, stress, anxiety, or depression. We suggest that self-sensitivities in the morality self-domain may be linked with the activation of cognitive biases related to OCD. Future research should explore these self-sensitivities in a clinical sample to further substantiate this phenomenon.
