Reconsidering intrapersonal communication through an interdisciplinary lens

Intrapersonal communication is a classification of phenomena such as self-talk and imagined interactions in which communicative messages are contained within a single individual and internal systems comprise both sender and receiver roles. The construct has met criticism historically with objections rooted in the notion that intrapersonal communication is simply a form of social cognition. But not all self-communicative behaviors have clear or empirically defined social cognitive connections, and the concept of intrapersonal communication deserves revisiting through meaningful interdisciplinary study using varied methods and theoretical frameworks. We explore relevant work supporting our contention that intrapersonal communication constitutes a valuable classification, including related historical research, functional and developmental approaches, and important methodological issues. We then conclude that the research problems relevant to intrapersonal communication have implications for researchers across diverse fields, and could shed light on a variety of important topics such as philosophy of mind, consciousness, and the nature of communication.