An investigation of metacognition in schizotypy: Evidence of linkage with negative traits.

Although there is substantial research investigating metacognitive capacity in clinical manifestations of psychosis, few studies have explored whether similar deficits exist in schizotypy-a personality structure with positive, negative, and disorganized traits akin to those seen in chronic psychosis but at a less severe level. This study sought to investigate metacognitive capacity in people with schizotypy (n = 34) compared with nonschizotypy controls (n = 33). We hypothesized that metacognitive capacity would (a) predict schizotypy group membership, (b) be inversely related to disorganized and negative schizotypy traits, and (c) be positively related to social outcomes (e.g., perceived social support and social quality of life) that are deficient in schizophrenia. Contrary to our hypotheses, metacognitive capacity was not able to differentiate between our schizotypy and control groups. Further, metacognition did not significantly predict social quality of life; however, we found a significant relationship between two components of metacognition (decentration, awareness of others) and perceived social support. We also found a significant relationship between metacognitive capacity and negative schizotypy traits. Our findings did not evidence diminished metacognitive capacity in psychometric schizotypy and suggest a relationship between decentration, awareness of others, and negative schizotypy.