Dr. Alain Morin fully admits that he talks to himself.
“Of course I do,” said the Mount Royal University professor, who teaches classes in social cognition and theories of personality.
“I do all the time, so that’s probably why I developed an interest in this topic. I constantly engage in a conversation with myself and I assume that others do.”
Along with Mount Royal colleague Bob Uttl and research assistant Breanne Hamper, Morin conducted a study on inner speech — also known as self-talk — to find out just what people talk to themselves about (see sidebar).
Morin said that almost 97 per cent of people admit to talking to themselves whether it be out loud or through silent verbal thinking.
“It’s not a sign of being mentally insane or anything of that sort,” he said. “It’s actually very healthy because when you talk to yourself you plan, you solve problems, you engage in emotional release instead of keeping everything inside.”
Being positive is obviously better than negative self-talk, Morin added.
“If you say nasty things to others or to yourself, it’s likely going to lead to negative results,” said Morin, while noting that inner speech can sometimes become dysfunctional. “The only occasion when it’s going to be very problematic is if you hear voices and you think someone else is doing the talking.”
Data
- Preliminary results of the study – entitled “What Do People Talk to Themselves About?” – were presented in Halifax last June.
- Based on open-ended reports from more than 70 undergraduate students, the inner speech study determined that the most frequent topics of self-talk were external appearance, school and future/ideal self.
- The most frequently reported functions of inner speech were in regards to planning/tasks to do, self-motivating speech and problem solving/making decisions/debating.
- With more participants and a better recording system, Morin said the study has been expanded and hopes that the results will eventually be published in a scientific journal.
