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Possible Talking Point: Can Positive Affirmations Have Negative Effects?
Possible Talking Point:
Just asking- Can Positive Affirmations Have Negative Effects?
According to the news item below a study shows they can.... What do you think?
"Study Shows the Negative Side to Positive Self-Statements"
http://www.newswise.com/p/articles/view/553934/
Source: Association for Psychological Science Released: Thu 02-Jul-2009, 11:00 ET
Study Shows the Negative Side to Positive Self-Statements
Description
Psychologists Joanne V. Wood and John W. Lee from the University of Waterloo, and W.Q. Elaine Perunovic from the University of New Brunswick, found that individuals with low self-esteem actually felt worse about themselves after repeating positive self-statements.
Newswise — In times of doubt and uncertainty, many Americans turn to self-help books in search of encouragement, guidance and self-affirmation. The positive self-statements suggested in these books, such as "I am a lovable person" or "I will succeed," are designed to lift a person's low self-esteem and push them into positive action. According to a recent study in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, however, these statements can actually have the opposite effect.
Psychologists Joanne V. Wood and John W. Lee from the University of Waterloo, and W.Q. Elaine Perunovic from the University of New Brunswick, found that individuals with low self-esteem actually felt worse about themselves after repeating positive self-statements.
The researchers asked participants with low self-esteem and high self-esteem to repeat the self-help book phrase "I am a lovable person." The psychologists then measured the participants' moods and their momentary feelings about themselves. As it turned out, the individuals with low self-esteem felt worse after repeating the positive self-statement compared to another low self-esteem group who did not repeat the self-statement. The individuals with high self-esteem felt better after repeating the positive self-statement--but only slightly.
In a follow-up study, the psychologists allowed the participants to list negative self-thoughts along with positive self-thoughts. They found that, paradoxically, low self-esteem participants' moods fared better when they were allowed to have negative thoughts than when they were asked to focus exclusively on affirmative thoughts.
The psychologists suggested that, like overly positive praise, unreasonably positive self-statements, such as "I accept myself completely," can provoke contradictory thoughts in individuals with low self-esteem. Such negative thoughts can overwhelm the positive thoughts. And, if people are instructed to focus exclusively on positive thoughts, they may find negative thoughts to be especially discouraging.
As the authors concluded, "Repeating positive self-statements may benefit certain people [such as individuals with high self-esteem] but backfire for the very people who need them the most."
Psychological Science is ranked among the top 10 general psychology journals for impact by the Institute for Scientific Information. For a copy of the article "Positive Self-Statements: Power for some, peril for others" and access to other Psychological Science research findings, please contact Katie Kline at 202.293.9300 orkkline@psychologicalscience.org.
© 2009 Newswise. All Rights Reserved.
=^..^=
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment for non-profit research and educational purposes only.
Just asking- Can Positive Affirmations Have Negative Effects?
According to the news item below a study shows they can.... What do you think?
"Study Shows the Negative Side to Positive Self-Statements"
http://www.newswise.com/p/articles/view/553934/
Source: Association for Psychological Science Released: Thu 02-Jul-2009, 11:00 ET
Study Shows the Negative Side to Positive Self-Statements
Description
Psychologists Joanne V. Wood and John W. Lee from the University of Waterloo, and W.Q. Elaine Perunovic from the University of New Brunswick, found that individuals with low self-esteem actually felt worse about themselves after repeating positive self-statements.
Newswise — In times of doubt and uncertainty, many Americans turn to self-help books in search of encouragement, guidance and self-affirmation. The positive self-statements suggested in these books, such as "I am a lovable person" or "I will succeed," are designed to lift a person's low self-esteem and push them into positive action. According to a recent study in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, however, these statements can actually have the opposite effect.
Psychologists Joanne V. Wood and John W. Lee from the University of Waterloo, and W.Q. Elaine Perunovic from the University of New Brunswick, found that individuals with low self-esteem actually felt worse about themselves after repeating positive self-statements.
The researchers asked participants with low self-esteem and high self-esteem to repeat the self-help book phrase "I am a lovable person." The psychologists then measured the participants' moods and their momentary feelings about themselves. As it turned out, the individuals with low self-esteem felt worse after repeating the positive self-statement compared to another low self-esteem group who did not repeat the self-statement. The individuals with high self-esteem felt better after repeating the positive self-statement--but only slightly.
In a follow-up study, the psychologists allowed the participants to list negative self-thoughts along with positive self-thoughts. They found that, paradoxically, low self-esteem participants' moods fared better when they were allowed to have negative thoughts than when they were asked to focus exclusively on affirmative thoughts.
The psychologists suggested that, like overly positive praise, unreasonably positive self-statements, such as "I accept myself completely," can provoke contradictory thoughts in individuals with low self-esteem. Such negative thoughts can overwhelm the positive thoughts. And, if people are instructed to focus exclusively on positive thoughts, they may find negative thoughts to be especially discouraging.
As the authors concluded, "Repeating positive self-statements may benefit certain people [such as individuals with high self-esteem] but backfire for the very people who need them the most."
Psychological Science is ranked among the top 10 general psychology journals for impact by the Institute for Scientific Information. For a copy of the article "Positive Self-Statements: Power for some, peril for others" and access to other Psychological Science research findings, please contact Katie Kline at 202.293.9300 orkkline@psychologicalscience.org.
© 2009 Newswise. All Rights Reserved.
=^..^=
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment for non-profit research and educational purposes only.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Sheila M. Street, CH CI T.NLP on -
I would tend to agree with the study, with the caveat that once the ISE that creates the low self-esteem is corrected, then the affirmations are much more likely to have beneficial, rather than negative results. I have also found that for certain people, if they have low self-esteem, they will not follow through with using positive affirmations anyways - it's like they put up a barrier to any possible good the positive affirmations might produce.
Doing the affirmations without first correcting the self-esteem issue is like putting a bandage on an infected wound without cleaning it first. This is where using only psychology fails and hypnosis succeeds. Once the self-esteem is raised, then the affirmations will act more like a barrier to future negative thought infection. I also think, though, that there needs be a form of self-hypnosis involved (even if that is only that the person is taught to link to the emotion involved) for the positive affirmation to have any kick on the sub-conscious mind. Otherwise they are just empty words.
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Permalink Reply by the grumpy hypnotist on -
I can see how that would be the case. Many clients come in after having tried those affirmation and positive thinking type approaches with little result. Some describe feeling stupider and more foolish while going through those exercises.
When I get the sense that the client has been disappointed by previous attempts at using "I am lovable" routines, or is of a generally grumpy disposition, I emphasize that we don't rely on that feel-good positive thinking stuff, I am not there to tell them what a wonderful human being they are. It is interesting that this kind of communication (with certain people) seems to cause them to brighten up and get more involved with the process.
However, after doing change-work, I encourage even those people to give that stuff another try, it may have more impact now that the junk has been cleared out. They seem more receptive to it afterwards. Anyway, I think self-esteem can be over-rated and not necessarily the basis of a solution to helping someone achieve a specific objective. I mean, a criminal or sociopath or totally incompetent person with poor life skills can have a great sense of self-esteem, right?
I guess the takeaway reminder from this study is that it's not optimal to assume that every client will love feel-good affirmations, just like not everybody likes the idea of "imagine yourself relaxing on a warm sunny beach", or enjoys soothing New Agey music during sessions.
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Permalink Reply by Doreen Cohanim C.Ht on -
Hi Michael,
I second Sheila and agree with the study, low self-esteem is a conditioning corrected of ever, and just positive affirmations will not do any good, and I agree that it will have more negative impact rather then positive.
For example; my ex husband was tolled he was stupid all his life, when he tolled me that his mother was telling him stupid all the time, and therefore he agrees with her was devastating, and I kept telling him he, that he was smart, capable to boost his self esteem and I even asked them to repeat this affirmation before I was even a hypnotherapist or dreamed of being one… and the result was not so positive because he could not believe the affirmation, he never related to I am attractive, I am Intelligent, I am smart, it will soon turn into an angry behavior that lead to breaking objects.
And if he finally did well, and he was tolled how great he did, he will be so excited for a short time until he will speak to his Mother sharing the good news and having her approval that what others complimented him is in fact correct.
Mother never approved his way unless it was her way, so even when he did well, she will tell him, “Well, Why didn’t you think about it before”, and that ruined all the excitement and negative emotion become stronger.
The only time ever she agreed with him was, If you divorce your wife, I will buy you a nice car, and he agreed to urine our marriage to be approved by his mother, and that good feeling was great temporary, since when he did what she was asked, she will start on her regular insult and lowering his self esteem.
My son was raised by my Ex mother in law for conspiracy reasons and strange Circumstances, and my son also reported out loud that he was stupid at times when things were not coming to him easy, and the more I was suggesting to him to change the way he put himself down the use positive affirmation, he would become even more aggravated telling me, what do you know, My Grandma raised me and she always calls me stupid…
And when I asked why can’t he just say the great positive affirmation so his mind that will replace the stupid into I am smart, I am intelligent and good enough, saying that didn’t really did the work, and unfortunately I knew the only way to help him was hypnosis & EFT, before any positive affirmation, and yes, this is a true statement, it's like putting a bandage on an infected wound without cleaning it first.
When my son failed his driven test, he was devastated calling him self stupid, before going for his second driving test I had him do EFT, It was hard and he did it, he also passed the driving test with a smile, but still was making fun of me and EFT, and that was because he wanted to feel that he did it on his own, and he did, and I truly believe EFT took out some of the negative pressure at that moment only, since he did not want to do it anymore.
Hope my personal experience makes sense to why I agree with the article.
Respectfully Doreen Cohanim C.Ht
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Permalink Reply by Mark Tyrrell on -
Hi Doreen
I think this is right. "Low self esteemers" have a strong emotionally conditioned belief system surrounding their own self worth. It is the feeling part of a person that needs to alter before the thinking can change (at least where strong beliefs are concerned).
The self affirmation was invented by the French psychologist Emile Coue in the 1920's. He told people to tell themselves: “Every day in every way I am getting better and better” and his ideas really took off, especially in the states but new emotional patters don't come about necessarily through rote learning.
I think affirmations can have value sometimes as "self pep talks" but as a strategy for overcoming, say, years of abuse and trauma they are a little like using a dust pan and brush to clear up the damage after an Earthquake.
Cheers
Mark
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Doreen Cohanim C.Ht said:Hi Michael,
I second Sheila and agree with the study, low self-esteem is a conditioning corrected of ever, and just positive affirmations will not do any good, and I agree that it will have more negative impact rather then positive.
For example; my ex husband was tolled he was stupid all his life, when he tolled me that his mother was telling him stupid all the time, and therefore he agrees with her was devastating, and I kept telling him he, that he was smart, capable to boost his self esteem and I even asked them to repeat this affirmation before I was even a hypnotherapist or dreamed of being one… and the result was not so positive because he could not believe the affirmation, he never related to I am attractive, I am Intelligent, I am smart, it will soon turn into an angry behavior that lead to breaking objects.
And if he finally did well, and he was tolled how great he did, he will be so excited for a short time until he will speak to his Mother sharing the good news and having her approval that what others complimented him is in fact correct.
Mother never approved his way unless it was her way, so even when he did well, she will tell him, “Well, Why didn’t you think about it before”, and that ruined all the excitement and negative emotion become stronger.
The only time ever she agreed with him was, If you divorce your wife, I will buy you a nice car, and he agreed to urine our marriage to be approved by his mother, and that good feeling was great temporary, since when he did what she was asked, she will start on her regular insult and lowering his self esteem.
My son was raised by my Ex mother in law for conspiracy reasons and strange Circumstances, and my son also reported out loud that he was stupid at times when things were not coming to him easy, and the more I was suggesting to him to change the way he put himself down the use positive affirmation, he would become even more aggravated telling me, what do you know, My Grandma raised me and she always calls me stupid…
And when I asked why can’t he just say the great positive affirmation so his mind that will replace the stupid into I am smart, I am intelligent and good enough, saying that didn’t really did the work, and unfortunately I knew the only way to help him was hypnosis & EFT, before any positive affirmation, and yes, this is a true statement, it's like putting a bandage on an infected wound without cleaning it first.
When my son failed his driven test, he was devastated calling him self stupid, before going for his second driving test I had him do EFT, It was hard and he did it, he also passed the driving test with a smile, but still was making fun of me and EFT, and that was because he wanted to feel that he did it on his own, and he did, and I truly believe EFT took out some of the negative pressure at that moment only, since he did not want to do it anymore.
Hope my personal experience makes sense to why I agree with the article.
Respectfully Doreen Cohanim C.Ht
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Permalink Reply by Michael Haifleigh on -
Michael,
Thanks for pointing out the article and issue. I think the issue is worthy of inquiry and research, whether the focus is self help books in general or affirmations in particular.
This particular article does not seem to do the studies justice. It would be great if it were a matter of a few mouse clicks and $19.95 to obtain a copy of the studies.
BTW: I was surprised and saddened to hear of the recent death of Infomercial King, Billy Mays.
Michael Haifleigh
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Permalink Reply by Fable Goodman on -
one needs to make the affirmation, at a level that is acceptable to, and workabvle with the person at that time..
For some, this may be..." At least I am not the worst piece of garbage I have ever come across".
that is a step in the right direction for some people.
When some one has very low self esteem, you need to first of all meet them where they are, and give them a set of suggestions, (or affirmations) that are just enough to challenge them and move them forward, without provoking the patterns that say otherwise.. LIttle by little, you can increase the positive affirmations, at the pace that the client can live with, and work with.
Many peope like to work far more quickly than their clients are able to cope with, and convince themselves that they are doing an excelllent job.
Slow down, and work with the client, rather than trying to push the client to work at your pace., and much more rapid progress will be made.
Love and hugs.
Fable
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Permalink Reply by Jason Swart on -
I have personal experience with the fact that positive affirmations can have a negative effect. When I first learned about New Thought Philosophy about ten years ago, I began an aggressive attempt to drastically change my self talk. I found, more often than not, that when I tried to assert by affirmation something that was too far out of my normal thought patterns, I would often have another thought that plainly contradicted the affirmation. For instance, I tried saying "I am a morning person, and I easily and effortlessly rise from bed at 6am". Then a thought would often follow "yeah right! I know better than that, I've always been a night owl". The same would happen with other attempts, and this contradiction made me feel frustrated, discouraged, and somehow unworthy.
Althought I don't Identify with it as my cup of tea, I now understand New Thought (the foundation from which The Secret was derived) much better, and I do still draw from it in several ways. Affirmations, whether used in conjunction with another set of principles or on their own, depend on where you or your client is staring from. As several members have mentioned, the use of affirmations in the manner addressed in the study comes from an incomplete concept of how they work.
In New Thought, Alchemy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, EMDR, and the techniques I've learned with hypnosis, the potential for change largely depends on the relative accessability of the new (positive) affirmations or cognitions. Basically, we're talking about pacing and leading - meeting the client where they are, and gradually leading them to the next, realistic level. Affirmations are the same.
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Permalink Reply by Jan Krüger on -
Well, that was sort of obvious to me. The whole point of hypnosis is getting suggestions like that into someone's mind without triggering the whole "hey, that's nonsense, I'm actually the biggest loser ever" chain of thoughts that makes things even worse! Be it by doing pacing and leading as Fable implied, or by being more indirect, or by manipulating ISE's, or even all of those.
A significantly better way of phrasing positive affirmations is something like: "I don't feel very confident in myself yet, but when, some time in the future, I notice that I have started noticing things about myself that I wasn't aware of before, I'm going to be pleasantly surprised." It's not quite as catchy, I guess, but probably easier to swallow if you're not too cynical about the future: it acknowledges the current situation, implies change, and is rather open-ended.
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Permalink Reply by Michael Ellner on -
I agree.
Hypnosis works best when we give our clients a REASON TO BELIEVE. On the other hand, I just can't imagine that mental health professionals would be involved with promoting any research that demonstrated the benefits of self-help.
I have discovered another level of working with clients as have many of the seasoned professionals on this site -- When a skilled hypnosis practitioner is in profound rapport with and focusing on his or her client -- the powers of intent and expectation automatically kick in creating the space for your clients to transform each and every one of your words into exactly what they need for healing... So, you can relax --
Newbies --
Don't take my word for it. I am sure that all of you have areas in life where you are self-assured and confident -- States where you are alert, open, centered, and grounded in the moment -- anchor these states and practice working with your clients from that place-- Your heart is happy. your mind is peaceful and quiet and your spirit is playful -- YOU BELIEVE IN YOUR SKILLS AND ABILITIES TO HELP AND YOU BELIEVE IN YOUR CLIENTS INNATE RESOURCES TO MAKE IT HAPPEN-- It's really easy - connect with your client, breathe with your client, and as you work from your resource state-- your client automatically joins you and Wham! - You and your client are ready to launch their healing adventure....
Michael E.
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Permalink Reply by Dan Paris on -
Hi Michael Haifleigh,
Since you enjoyed my reply on the IMDHA board and even more especially since you were saddened to hear about the recent death of Billy Mays I'll post my thoughts here again.
But first, I spent the day at the San Diego County Fair today and paused in the exhibition hall where Billy Mays worked about 7-10 years ago and I really began to appreciate the skill that goes in to the demonstrations these men and women make. The best, as was Billy, are truly hypnotic. I've watched about an hour or so worth of Billy's work today on youtube and like you am sad for the loss.
Here is my reply to the question at hand:
I love the thought that as we craft a specific affirmation or suggestion, one that our client has asked for, we offer an outcome different than was found by giving a subject in a study a generic, un-elicited affirmation like "I am loveable."
A mentor taught me to reduce dissonance and write affirmations differently for things we want but don't yet believe.
He suggested, when this is happening to simply add the softener "I love the thought" in front of the affirmation. This is especially useful when the affirmation is at the identity level as they did in the study.
This way if the person is not feeling completely loveable when they say, "I am lovable," they can instead say, "I love the thought that I am lovable," and now more easily accept the suggestion.
As hypnotists we can further use this idea to craft suggestions like, "you can fall in love with the idea that you are lovable" or "you may begin to notice yourself falling in love with the thought that you are lovable."
Dan Paris
Michael Haifleigh said:Michael,
Thanks for pointing out the article and issue. I think the issue is worthy of inquiry and research, whether the focus is self help books in general or affirmations in particular.
This particular article does not seem to do the studies justice. It would be great if it were a matter of a few mouse clicks and $19.95 to obtain a copy of the studies.
BTW: I was surprised and saddened to hear of the recent death of Infomercial King, Billy Mays.
Michael Haifleigh
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Permalink Reply by Fable Goodman on
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Dan Paris said:Hi Michael Haifleigh,
A mentor taught me to reduce dissonance and write affirmations differently for things we want but don't yet believe.
He suggested, when this is happening to simply add the softener "I love the thought" in front of the affirmation. This is especially useful when the affirmation is at the identity level as they did in the study.
This way if the person is not feeling completely loveable when they say, "I am lovable," they can instead say, "I love the thought that I am lovable," and now more easily accept the suggestion.
As hypnotists we can further use this idea to craft suggestions like, "you can fall in love with the idea that you are lovable" or "you may begin to notice yourself falling in love with the thought that you are lovable."
Dan Paris
Great, this seems to me like a really workable way of making a positive affirmation,( which otherwise might be too stong (and therefore create cognitive dissonance), acceptable.
Thanks for that Dan.
Love and hugs,
Fable
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Permalink Reply by Michael Ellner on
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FYI -- It was thrilling to be quoted in an article that explored the effectiveness of affirmations in the Jan 09 issue of Good Housekeeping Magazine and according to me:
The 3 key factors in the effectiveness of the affirmations are:
1. The affirmations must be reasonable and believable
2. The state of mind of the person when affirming
3. Taking action to support the affirmations
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