Ever Journey

Self-Talk & How We Shaped by our Internal Thoughts

Tamara Al-halaseh
Self-Talk & How We Shaped by our Internal Thoughts

The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.” – Marcus Aurelius

Everyone experiences internal thoughts, some schools of thought indicate we have around 50 000 thoughts a day and a lot of those thoughts are the same thoughts as the day before, and the majority of those thoughts are negative.

Are we shaped by our internal thoughts?

How can we use our thoughts to increase our performance, or alter our mood or behavior?

Does everyone experience internal thoughts or monologues?

Do our thinking patterns affect our self-image?

Is all negative thinking bad?

Origin

The importance of self-talk as a method thinking that has its origins in the ancient teachings of Buddha which expresses that we are as human beings as a result of our internal thoughts; and as a result we are shaped by these thoughts (Bhikku 1997. )1

Emotions & Behavior.

Our thoughts have implications that affect our emotions, motivation, and potential accomplishments. Research has shown majority of our self-talk is negative therefore our thoughts are working against us rather than for us (Helmstetter, 19822; Stranulis & Manning, 20023). These negative thoughts create feelings of anger, irritation, frustration, hopelessness, and disappointment.

Does Everyone experience an internal dialogue?

Everyday life is said to be filled with a constant stream of self-talk, which we define as inner speech that is self-directed and/or self-referential (Brinthaupt, Hein, & Kramer, 2009)4. Ninety-six percent of adult’s report engaging in an ongoing internal dialogue (Winsler, Feder, Way, & Manfra, 2006)5, and self-talk is reported in over 25% of sampled moments (Heavey & Hurlburt, 2008)6.

Does self-talk improve performance?

Based on the principle that what people say to themselves affects the way they behave (Ellis, 1976)7, sport research regarding the use and effectiveness of self-talk has received considerable attention in recent years and has found that in some way does affect our performance.

Self-Image

In a 2013 study 8, scientists studied anorexic women as they walked through their labs —the ladies turned their bodies sideways upon entering doorways, as if they were overweight and could not fit through the door. This is because the way we view ourselves — and the nature of our self-talk — can shape the entire physiology of our self-image and perspective.

Self-Talk & Anxiety

Conroy and Metzler (2004)9 explored the ways self-talk impacts cognitive anxiety in sports performance. They looked at state-specific self-talk- meaning the way athletes spoke to themselves. They measured these alongside expressions of situation-specific trait performance anxiety: fear of failure, fear of success and sport anxiety. They found the strongest results for self-talk associated with fear of failure and sports anxiety, essentially the athletes experienced higher anxiety when using negative self-talk.

Learning Improvements

Wrisberg (1993)10 found that self-talk can help to improve learning performance, by assisting with the concept of ‘chunking’ complex information, which has been proven in aiding recall, and carrying out complex tasks accurately.

Changed Behaviors

Todd, Oliver, and Harvey (2011)11 carried out a review of the literature and research surrounding self-talk , they found that positive self-talk interventions are effective in mediating cognitive and behavioral change.

Improved self-confidence

Approaching life with a positive self-talk approach can help to boost your self-confidence. Individuals who score highly for optimism and positive self-esteem are more likely to achieve their goals, score good grades and recover quickly from surgery (Lyubormisky, 2008)12.

Negative self-talk & Depression

Negative Self Talk has been widely linked with disorders such as depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, aggression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (Leung and Poon, 200113, Owens and Chard, 2001)14.

While ‘flipping’ self-talk to positive has also been shown to mediate some really great results with young people diagnosed with an anxiety disorder (Kendall and Treadwell, 2007)15.

Negative thoughts causing your brain not to think?

Researchers found that repetitive negative thinking may increase your risk for Alzheimer’s disease16.  Prolonged negative thinking diminishes your brain’s ability to think, reason, and form memories. Essentially draining your brain’s resources.

Not all negative thinking or self-talk is ‘bad’

A growing body of research suggests that negative thinking is also good and if strategically pursued, has positive impact too.

In her Research, Norem, Julie. (2001)17 found that Defensive Pessimism – is a strategy of imagining the worst-case scenario in any situation- can help individuals to do their best by preparing for the worst.  Pessimists perform more poorly when forced to think positively, since negative thinking is often an effective strategy for managing anxiety.

Research has shown that defensive pessimist performs just as well as strategic optimists, and both groups show performance decrements and increased anxiety when prevented to use their preferred strategies (Cantor, Norem 1989)18

Negativity encompasses things like critical thinking and caution, which heighten your senses and have the potential to improve your results. (Kashdan 2014)19

Some ways negative thoughts and emotions may be useful; according to Kashdan and Diener:

  • Guilt is a powerful motivator for personal growth and improvement and helps individuals regulate their behaviour and behave in ways that are consistent with their moral compass.
  • Fear provides needed restraint and protection when you are in a situation where physical or emotional harm are possible and helps you to avoid harm.
  • Selfishness and narcissism promote bravery.
  • Anger drives creativity and gets things done as well as giving you the courage to stick up for yourself and others.
  • Self-doubt motivates increases in performance with improved practice.
  • Boredom allows individuals to discover their interests and determine where to focus one’s efforts.
  • Frustration lets you know when you are making inadequate progress toward an important goal.
  • Anxiety can be helpful because without it, small issues can develop into serious threats.

Dr. Todd B. Kashdan argues that in low in moderation, in the right situations, negative emotions (anger, guilt, and anxiety) can be tremendously beneficial.

We can agree that as human’s we experience both positive and negative thoughts, as well as emotions; and there needs to be a balance in our internal thoughts and emotions to make us ‘whole’. We can reach a balance between the thoughts of our minds, and the actions of our behavior ultimately aiding us to live more peacefully and knowing when to seek help when our ‘thoughts’ take over our lives.

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References :

  1. Bhikku T 1997 , Yamakavagga Paris, translated from Pali
  2. What to Say When You Talk to Your Self Paperback – June 20, 2017 by Shad Helmstetter Ph.D
  3. Stanulis, R.N., Manning, B.H. The Teacher’s Role in Creating a Positive Verbal and Nonverbal Environment in the Early Childhood Classroom. Early Childhood Education Journal 30, 3–8 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1016581612865
  4. Brinthaupt TM, Hein MB, Kramer TE. The self-talk scale: Development, factor analysis, and validation. Journal of Personality Assessment. 2009;91:82–92.
  5. Winsler A, Feder A, Way EL, Manfra L. Maternal beliefs concerning young children’s private speech. Infant and Child Development. 2006;15:403–420. doi: 10.1002/icd.467
  6. Heavey CL, Hurlburt RT. The phenomena of inner experience. Consciousness and Cognition. 2008;17:798–810.
  7. Ellis, A. (1976). Reason and emotion in psychotherapy. New York: Lyle Stuart.
  8. Too Fat to Fit through the Door: First Evidence for Disturbed Body-Scaled Action in Anorexia Nervosa during Locomotion, Keizer, Smeets, Dikerman 2013
  9. Patterns of Self-Talk Associated With Different Forms of Competitive Anxiety Conroy, D. E., & Metzler, J. N. (2004). Patterns of Self-Talk Associated With Different Forms of Competitive Anxiety. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 26(1), 69–89.
  10. Anshel, Mark H., and Craig A. Wrisberg. “Reducing warm-up decrement in the performance of the tennis serve.” Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology 15.3 (1993): 290-303.
  11. Effects of self-talk: a systematic review. Tod D, Hardy J, Oliver E. Effects of self-talk: a systematic review. J Sport Exerc Psychol. 2011;33(5):666-687. doi:10.1123/jsep.33.5.666
  12. Lyubomirsky, S. (2008). The how of happiness: A scientific approach to getting the life you want. New York: Penguin Press.
  13. Dysfunctional schemas and cognitive distortions in psychopathology: A test of the specificity hypothesis. Leung, P. W. L., & Poon, M. W. L. (2001). Dysfunctional schemas and cognitive distortions in psychopathology: A test of the specificity hypothesis. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 42(6), 755–765.
  14. Cognitive distortions among women reporting childhood sexual abuse. Owens, G. P., & Chard, K. M. (2001). Cognitive distortions among women reporting childhood sexual abuse. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 16(2), 178–191. https://doi.org/10.1177/088626001016002006
  15. The role of self-statements as a mediator in treatment for youth with anxiety disorders. Kendall, P. C., & Treadwell, K. R. H. (2007). The role of self-statements as a mediator in treatment for youth with anxiety disorders. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 75(3), 380–389. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-006X.75.3.380
  16. Cognitive Debt and Alzheimer’s Disease Marchant, Natalie L. and Howard, Robert J. ‘Cognitive Debt and Alzheimer’s Disease’. 1 Jan. 2015 : 755 – 770.
  17. The Positive Psychology of Negative thinking , Julie Norem (Wessley College) and Edward C Chang 2002
  18. Defensive pessimism and stress and coping. Cantor, N., & Norem, J. K. (1989). Defensive pessimism and stress and coping. Social Cognition, 7(2), 92–112.
  19. The Upside of Your Dark Side: Why Being Your Whole Self–Not Just Your “Good” Self–Drives Success and Fulfillment Hardcover – September 25, 2014

By Tamara Al-halaseh