Self-Talk: An Interdisciplinary Review and Transdisciplinary Model

Abstract

The present work synthesises the self-talk literature and constructs a transdisciplinary self-talk model to guide future research across all academic disciplines that engage with self-talk. A comprehensive research review was conducted, including 559 self-talk articles published between 1978 and 2020. These articles were divided into 6 research categories: (a) inner dialogue, (b) mixed spontaneous and goal-directed organic self-talk, (c) goal-directed self-talk, (d) spontaneous self-talk, (e) educational self-talk interventions, and (f) strategic self-talk interventions. Following this, critical details were extracted from a subsample of 100 articles to create an interdisciplinary synthesis of the self-talk literature. Based on the synthesis, a self-talk model was created that places spontaneous and goal-directed organic self-talk as well as educational and strategic self-talk interventions in relation to variables within their nomological network, including external factors (e.g. task difficulty), descriptive states and traits (e.g. emotions), behaviour and performance, metacognition, and psychological skills (e.g. concentration).

Self-talk as a mediator in the relationship between perfectionism and body image: a study of Polish women with overweight and obesity in the process of losing weight

“…Self-talk is a multidimensional construct (Latinjak et al, 2023). The literature highlights the wide range of possible functions performed by ST. Mischel et al (1996) claimed that ST plays a role in inhibiting impulses, guiding courses of actions and monitoring progress toward goals.…”

Cognitive Functioning in Youth with Anxiety Disorders: A Systematic Review

“…Research on cognition in youth with anxiety often focuses on the content of thoughts or the internal monologue (often referred to as "self-talk"; Latinjak et al, 2023;Treadwell & Kendall, 1996), which often focuses on threat, failure, or hostility (Schniering & Rapee, 2002. Intolerance of uncertainty, where negative cognitions about the unknown trigger a fear response, is another common focus of cognitive content research (e.g., Cowie et al, 2018;Kendall et al, 2020).…”