In the book I define chatter as the cyclical negative thoughts and emotions that turn our capacity for introspection into a curse rather than a blessing. It’s the big picture question that has really fueled a lot of my research ever since over the past 20 years, and it’s the focus of Chatter. It raised lots of questions: Why is introspection sometimes good and sometimes bad? Once it goes awry, what can we do to bring it back on track? I went to grad school to learn how to use science to answer those questions, working under Walter Mischel to help me do it. When I took my first psych class in college, I discovered that a lot of times introspection backfires in spectacular ways that undermine people’s health, their ability to think, and their relationships. I was brought up to believe that introspection was helpful for people managing many problems they encounter in life: you introspect, you find a solution, you move on. How did you get interested in the psychology of introspection? Kross spoke with Nate Barksdale, lead writer for the John Templeton Foundation’s “Possibilities” newsletter, about the book and his latest research. The book offers an accessible overview of the latest brain and behavioral research, including a list of handy interventions readers can apply to their own battles with chatter. In June 2021, Kross adapted some of the same findings and advice for the broader public in Chatter: The Voice in Our Head, Why It Matters, and How to Harness It. Since 2016 he led the John Templeton Foundation-funded Toolbox Project to help adapt some of his field’s most cutting-edge findings for professionals working in some of the most demanding known environments: middle school classrooms.

It was originally published in 2021.Įthan Kross is a professor of psychology at the University of Michigan and one of the world’s leading experts on controlling the conscious mind. This piece is from the Templeton Ideas archives.

Kross chatter