Voices Inside Me: The Relationship Between Neuroticism and the Tendency to Engage in Internal Dialogue in the Context of Time Perspective

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between neuroticism, internal dialogues, and time perspective. Time perspective was examined as a moderator and mediator of the link between neuroticism and internal dialogues. One hundred and thirteen Polish people (aged 20 to 40 years) participated in this study. Our results suggest that in subjects with a high level of neuroticism, the Carpe Diem perspective functioned as a buffer, reducing the strength of the relationship between neuroticism and ruminative dialogues. Moreover, our findings provide evidence for the role of unbalanced time perspective in explaining the positive association between neuroticism and internal dialogues.

Additional information

Funding

The research was supported by the grant 2014/14/M/HS6/00910 (“Forms of the present time orientation”) from the National Science Centre (Poland).