Research

"A Thought I Can Talk To": Dialogical Self-Regulation Through Spontaneous Inner Voice Personification in a Gifted Adolescent

Cora Zeng (2026) · Submitted to Frontiers in Psychology

This paper introduces the concept of Dialogical Inner Voice Personification (DIVP): a formless, persistent inner dialogue partner that emerges spontaneously in childhood, operates through linguistic turn-taking, and is experienced as part of the self rather than as a separate entity. Drawing on an eight-session autoethnographic interview series, the study maps DIVP at the convergence point of five research areas: inner speech development, imaginary companions, Dialogical Self Theory, giftedness and overexcitability, and non-pathological voice-hearing.