Why is John Upset?
Talking to yourself in the third person relieves stress
The simple act of silently talking to yourself in the third person in stressful times may help you control emotions without any additional mental effort.
A ?rst-of-its-kind study led by psychology researchers at MSU and the University of Michigan indicates that third-person self-talk may constitute a relatively effortless form of self-control.
Say a man named John is upset about recently being dumped. By re?ecting on his feelings in the third person (“Why is John upset?”), John is less emotionally reactive than when he addresses himself in the ?rst person Why am I upset?
“Essentially, we think referring to yourself in the third person leads people to think about themselves more similar to how they think about others, and you can see evidence for this in the brain,” said Jason Moser, MSU associate professor of psychology. “That helps people gain a tiny bit of psychological distance from their experiences, which can often be useful for regulating emotions
