Topic summary
Inner voice
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Intrapersonal communication.
Positive and negative self-talk
Self-talk differs from inner dialogue in that it only involves one voice and not an internal exchange between several voices. A common distinction is between positive and negative self-talk based on the evaluative attitude that is expressed. For negative self-talk, the inner voice focuses on bad aspects of the self, often in an excessively critical way. It can take the form of telling oneself that "I'm never going to be able to do this" or "I'm no good at this". Negative self-talk can already develop during childhood based on feedback from others, particularly parents.