Self Talk

Do you talk to yourself? Well, if you do, you are not alone. Ninety-six percent of us engage in an ongoing internal dialogue (Dolcos and Albarracin, 2014). And we do this for a reason. Research indicates that internal self-talk helps us regulate our thoughts, feelings, and actions. Positive self-talk can even lead to well-documented outcomes like increased self-esteem, decreased negative emotions, reduced anxiety, improved self-awareness, and improved cognitive functions (Vasel et al., 2016).

Remember how Mohammed Ali famously proclaimed himself "The Greatest?" He later admitted that he said, "I am the greatest even before I knew I was." And how about when LeBron James started referring to himself in the third person when he announced his move to Miami? Do these statements reflect self-promotion or ego, or are they effective strategies to enhance performance? Psychologists have known that self-talk, defined as a silent or vocalized dialogue, is critical in monitoring and controlling behavior. It is also essential to focus our attention and confidence (Shi, 2015).

So, how can this information help us? You may have noticed that you say, "you can do this," when you want to encourage yourself. There is research to support that statements like these really do influence your behavior. The reason this works is that as young children, we were conditioned by our parents and teachers to respond to "you" statements such as "You can do this" or "You are ready." When we use the word "you," we trigger positive attitudes and emotions to adopt a broader perspective. We benefit from social support without directly interacting with another person (Dolcos and Albarracin, 2014). It seems it also matters whether we use "I" or "you.” Recent research shows that using the second or third-person perspective instead of the first-person results in a more positive evaluation of an upcoming challenge (Kross et al., 2014).

A mindfulness practice helps us become aware of our internal dialogue. It gives us the ability to monitor self-talk and adjust. For example, you may tune in to your inner dialogue to identify self-critical statements. The process might be transforming statements such as "I should have done better" and replacing them with words like "I'm proud of what I've done." This can make a big difference in our performance and improve our well-being. When mindful, we know the internal script running in our head and notice how we are programming our thoughts and feelings (Ren et al., 2016). In short, our self-talk can either enhance our goals or sabotage them. What will you choose?

References

Dolcos, S., & Albarracin, D. (2014). The inner speech of behavioral regulation: Intentions and task performance strengthen when you talk to yourself as a You. European Journal of Social Psychology, 44(6), 636-642.

Kross, E., Bruehlman-Senecal, E., Park, J., Burson, A., Dougherty, A., Shablack, H., ... & Ayduk, O. (2014). Self-talk as a regulatory mechanism: how you do it matters. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 106(2), 304.

Ren, X., Wang, T., & Jarrold, C. (2016). Individual differences in frequency of inner speech: Differential relations with cognitive and non-cognitive factors. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 1675.

Shi, X., Brinthaupt, T. M., & McCree, M. (2015). The relationship of self-talk frequency to communication apprehension and public speaking anxiety. Personality and Individual Differences, 75, 125-129.

Vasel, M. Y., Farhadi, M., Paidar, M. R. Z., & Chegini, A. A. (2016). The Efficacy of Hypnotherapy for Ego Strengthening and Negative Self-Talk in Female Heads of Households. Sleep and Hypnosis, 18(4), 74-81.