Assessing the accuracy of self-reported self-talk

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Cognitive Science

Background:

• Assessing inner experiences like self-talk is challenging due to subjectivity.
• The Self-Talk Scale (STS) is a common self-report measure for self-talk frequency.
• Previous research has not validated the accuracy of STS self-reports.

Purpose of the Study:

• To directly examine the measurement accuracy of self-talk frequency and functions using the STS.
• To validate self-reported self-talk through multiple empirical methods.

Main Methods:

• Compared STS responses from 6 weeks prior to recent self-talk-precipitating events.
• Utilized experience sampling to correlate STS scores with weekly self-talk reports.
• Assessed agreement between self-reported STS scores and ratings from significant others.

Main Results:

• Overall STS scores, especially for self-critical and self-reinforcing self-talk, correlated with context-specific self-talk reports.
• High STS scorers reported more frequent self-talk during recent events than low scorers.
• Friends showed less agreement than strangers in self-other self-talk ratings.

Conclusions:

• The findings support the validity of the STS for measuring self-talk frequency and specific types.
• The study provides empirical evidence for the accuracy of self-reported self-talk.
• Results offer implications for improving the measurement of inner speech and subjective experiences.