Humans are social animals. Being part of, and valued within, a social group is very important… in fact, critical to our survival in evolutionary terms. Social belonging and connection was identified as a core psychological need by Maslow, after food, water, warmth and physical safety.[1] So, maintaining social standing matters, and the way we do it is engrained from childhood.

The “inner critic” concept is a metaphor for the thoughts, feelings and habitual behaviours that we use to keep us safe. This part of us gets particularly loud when we feel insecure because we have a negative attentional bias to threat (described by Eysenck in 2007 [2]). This self-criticism increases our stress levels, a topic explored by Kristen Neff in her research, and can negatively impact both wellbeing and performance. 

Listening to what our inner critic tells us can make us feel fearful or angry, and encourage us to act in ways that may feel “safe” in the short term, but which, in the medium and long-term tend not to align with our goals, and can hold us back from achieving our potential.