Third-person self-talk facilitates emotion regulation without engaging cognitive control: Converging evidence from ERP and fMRI

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Jason S. Moser, Michigan State University; Adrienne Dougherty, University Michigan Ann Arbor; Whitney I. Mattson, University Michigan Ann Arbor; Benjamin Katz, University Michigan Ann Arbor; Tim Moran, Emory University; Darwin Guevarra, University Michigan Ann Arbor; Holly Shablack, University Michigan Ann Arbor; Ozlem Ayduk, University of California; John Jonides, University Michigan Ann Arbor; Marc G. Berman, University of Chicago; Ethan Kross, University Michigan Ann Arbor
• Language: English
• Date: 2017-12-01
• Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © 2017 The Author(s).
• License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-04047-3
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Scientific Reports
• ISSN: 2045-2322
• Volume: 7
• Issue: 1
• Grant/Funding Information: This research was supported by funds provided by Michigan State University and the National Institutes of Health (HD065879) to JM and both funds provided by the University of Michigan and a grant provided by the John Templeton Foundation (#349798, #348747) to EK.
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Public Health; Psychology, Behavioral

Abstract

Does silently talking to yourself in the third-person constitute a relatively effortless form of self control? We hypothesized that it does under the premise that third-person self-talk leads people to think about the self similar to how they think about others, which provides them with the psychological distance needed to facilitate self control. We tested this prediction by asking participants to reflect on feelings elicited by viewing aversive images (Study 1) and recalling negative autobiographical memories (Study 2) using either "I" or their name while measuring neural activity via ERPs (Study 1) and fMRI (Study 2). Study 1 demonstrated that third-person self-talk reduced an ERP marker of self-referential emotional reactivity (i.e., late positive potential) within the first second of viewing aversive images without enhancing an ERP marker of cognitive control (i.e., stimulus preceding negativity). Conceptually replicating these results, Study 2 demonstrated that third-person self-talk was linked with reduced levels of activation in an a priori defined fMRI marker of self-referential processing (i.e., medial prefrontal cortex) when participants reflected on negative memories without eliciting increased levels of activity in a priori defined fMRI markers of cognitive control. Together, these results suggest that third-person self-talk may constitute a relatively effortless form of self-control.