Reverse correlation is an influential method for assessing mental representations. One benefit of reverse correlation is that the method may capture psychological content that individuals are unwilling to self-report due to social desirability concerns, particularly in domains like person perception or intergroup processes. To investigate the degree to which reverse correlation and self-report findings are aligned, 32 prior reverse correlation studies (totaling 148 analyses) were converted into comparable measures of self-report (total N = 3441). Despite only 13% of original studies containing a parallel self-report measure, 55% of research conclusions could be replicated using self-report, though effect sizes from the two methods were unrelated (r = −0.06). The two methods were more likely to reach the same conclusion for findings that were rated as more intuitive. Future uses of reverse correlation will benefit from greater consideration to when the method is most necessary and informative.

反向相关是评估心理表征的一种有影响力的方法。反向相关的一个好处是，该方法可以捕获个人由于社会期望问题而不愿自我报告的心理内容，特别是在个人感知或群体间过程等领域。为了调查反向相关和自我报告结果的一致程度，将 32 项先前的反向相关研究（总计 148 项分析）转换为可比较的自我报告测量（总 N = 3441 ）  。尽管只有 13% 的原始研究包含平行的自我报告措施，但 55% 的研究结论可以使用自我报告进行复制，尽管这两种方法的效果大小无关（r = −0.06)。对于被评为更直观的发现，这两种方法更有可能得出相同的结论。反向相关的未来使用将受益于更多地考虑何时该方法是最必要和最有用的。