ArticlePsychology and psychotherapy2026
Activation of the inner critic increases speech illusions and negative emotional valence of perceived speech.
Article in Psychology and psychotherapy, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Activation of the inner critic increases speech illusions and negative emotional valence of perceived speech.Psychology and psychotherapy · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesResearch consistently reports an association between auditory hallucinations and traumatic experiences, yet the psychological mechanisms underpinning this relationship remain poorly understood. Empirical evidence suggests that enduring dispositions, including early maladaptive schemas, interact with immediate stressors to elicit auditory hallucinations. The inner critic represents the activation of such enduring dispositions and concurs with common themes in auditory hallucinations. This study aimed to investigate the effect of the inner critic on speech illusions and the emotional valence of perceived words.
designA quasi-experimental design was utilised.
methodsForty-two non-clinical participants (67.40% female, M
resultsA mixed factorial analysis of variance revealed a significant main effect of the inner critic manipulation on speech illusions, with participants reporting more speech illusions after the manipulation. Participants scoring high on the demanding parent mode reported more speech illusions overall. Linguistic analysis of speech illusions demonstrated an increase in negative tone across groups following the inner critic manipulation.
conclusionsWhile acknowledging concerns regarding the convergent validity of the Babble Task, these findings add nuance to existing theories by suggesting that an activated inner critic impairs source monitoring and shapes the content of ensuing auditory intrusions. Additionally, the findings indicate the inner critic as a potential target for treatment in distressing auditory hallucinations.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.