A study by psychologists has looked at the common recommendation found in self-help books – affirmations. You know the kind of thing…..where you are encouraged to repeat over to yourself phrases like “I am a lovable person”, or “I accept myself completely.”
What they found was that in people who had high self-esteem, these affirmations helped them to feel slightly better, but in those who had low self-esteem, the affirmations made them feel worse!
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.”
As I’ve said before, one size fits all interventions are not what they claim to be. They don’t fit all at all!
Heroes Not Zombies 
I wonder if the affirmations have the same effect as complimenting kids even when they fail… great try when a catch is missed, that kind of thing. Seems to dilute true complements.
Dad, you really need to go see Sunshine Cleaning:
http://bit.ly/16ywR
The main character has precisely this experience with repeating affirmations!
Amy
xx
It’s important to recognize that the research didn’t paint affirmations with a broad brush.
The idea that poorly constructed affirmations might not work shouldn’t shock anyone. And that’s really all the research underlines.
Anyone who is “doing affirmations the right way” can look forward to real benefits. Those who aren’t following what we might call “best practices” for affirmations, however, won’t get the desired results.
I just hope that people actually read the research and don’t make hasty generalizations about its actual content.
I’ve always had a problem with affirmations unless they naturally spring from my heart (and then they’re not affirmations are they?)…as someone who wants to live as completely authentic a life as possible, it seems counterproductive to tell myself something I don’t yet believe.
Hi. I’ve recently found out about affirmations. It just changed my life. Great article here. Very inspiring. Guess what, I found this site http://www.createaffirmations.com and learn more about others who share same interests. Sign up – it’s free. Hope to see you there.