Similarity to imagined interlocutor and integration of viewpoints in internal dialogues

Before the participants conducted IDs, they had written down three characteristics common to them and to their interlocutor. Finally, the Integration-Confrontation questionnaire was completed. Plausibility of ID was a moderator of the relationship between similarity to imagined interlocutor and integration in IDs; this relationship was significantly positive at low plausibility, but non-significant at high plausibility.

Perceived similarity in ID exerted an indirect effect on ID’s integration in two ways. The first pathway was through identifying with the interlocutor and the author’s integrative attitude, suggesting a mechanism in line with social identity theory. The second potential mechanism, which seems to be consistent with similarity-attraction theory, was connected with the wishfulness of IDs and the interlocutor integrative attitude.

Paper is under review in International Journal of Psychology (minor revision is ongoing)