Relations among Self-Talk, Self-Consciousness, and Self-Knowledge

The aim of this study was to examine the relations among self-talk, self-consciousness, and self-knowledge through an exploratory principal component analysis and to test the hypothesis that only the functional and reflective aspects of self-consciousness contribute to self-knowledge. A self-report questionnaire including 6 scales assessing different aspects of self-talk, self-consciousness, and self-knowledge was administered to 203 German undergraduate university students. A principal component analysis of the scales yielded a two-factor solution, supporting the distinction between functional and dysfunctional self-consciousness. In a stepwise multiple regression analysis, only functional self-consciousness was a significant predictor of self-knowledge. Limitations of the present measures of inner speech are addressed.