Dynamics of Trait and State Anxiety Indicators as a Marker of a Shift in Subjective Position Following Brief Intervention Targeting the Self-as-Context Component

The subject of this study is the theoretical interpretation of deictic shifting as a probable mechanism underlying the reduction of trait anxiety following an intervention focused on the Self-as-Context component of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. The object of the study is trait anxiety as a relatively stable psychological characteristic and its dynamics in response to a short-term psychological intervention. The article examines the possibility of interpreting the reduction in STAI-Trait not only as a decrease in anxiety symptoms, but also as a possible shift in the subject’s position toward inner experience. The theoretical analysis is based on data from a randomized controlled experiment with a waitlist group (N = 676) involving a seven-day online intervention. Measurements were conducted before the intervention, immediately after it, and again 4 weeks later. The central empirical basis for the proposed interpretation is the statistically significant divergence between the trajectories of STAI-Trait and STAI-State during the follow-up period. It is shown that this pattern is more consistent with the interpretation of deictic shifting than with the alternative explanations considered. The scientific novelty of the study lies in the proposed interpretive model linking the reduction in STAI-Trait to a possible change in the subject’s position toward anxious experience rather than only to a reduction in symptom severity. Additional implications concerning the possible insight-based nature of this process, the differential sensitivity of the applied scales to positional shift, and the significance of the temporal profile of change are treated as preliminary theoretical hypotheses requiring further empirical verification.