Heed Your Inner Voice

Without their inner voice, people act more impulsively

Talking to yourself might not be a bad thing, especially when it comes to exercising self-control.

New research published in this month’s edition of Acta Psychologica shows that using your inner voice plays an important role in controlling impulsive behaviour. “We give ourselves messages all the time with the intent of controlling ourselves…,” says Alexa Tullett, PhD candidate and lead author on the study.

The team performed a series of self-control tests on participants. In one example, participants performed a test on a computer. If they saw a particular symbol appear on the screen, they were told to press a button, and not to push it for other symbols. The test measured self-control because there were more ‘press’ than ‘don’t press’ trials, making pressing the button an impulsive response.

The team then included measures to block participants from using their ‘inner voice’ by telling them to repeat one word over and over as they performed the test. This prevented them from talking to themselves while doing the test. “We found people acted more impulsively when they couldn’t use their inner voice through the tasks,” in the words of Michael Inzlicht, an associate professor of psychology who supervised the study.

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