Further evidence for the cognitive disruption and self-talk frequency hypothesis

Past research has shown support for a positive relationship between cognitive disruption and self-talk frequency in response to specific situations. In this paper, we report three studies that examine further the cognitive disruption and self-talk frequency hypothesis among college students. We sought to identify facets of decreased or increased cognitive disruption that should be associated with either less or more frequent self-talk.

In Study 1, participants (N = 262) completed measures of self-talk, weak sense of self, and mindful awareness. In Study 2, frequent and infrequent self-talk participants (N = 54) completed measures of dissociative tendencies and self-control. In Study 3, participants (N = 224) completed self-talk, positive and negative automatic thoughts, antisocial personality, and psychopathy measures.

Study 1 results showed that, as expected, individuals with a weaker sense of self and lower levels of mindful awareness reported higher frequencies of self-talk. Study 2 results showed that frequent self-talkers reported significantly more dissociative experiences and higher levels of self-control than infrequent self-talkers. Study 3 results showed that higher antisocial personality and psychopathy scores were significantly related to more frequent negative and self-critical self-talk.

These studies provide strong support for the hypothesis that instances of cognitive disruption are associated with an increased likelihood of self-talk in response to specific situations. We also showed that factors that should be associated with reduced cognitive disruption were associated with less frequent self-talk. We discuss the implications of these findings for future research in personality psychology.