Research is Negative On Positive Affirmations

The research is coming in on the effectiveness of positive affirmations and the results aren't positive. In fact, repeating positive affirmations to oneself (such as, "I am a lovable person") may not only NOT be effective in making people feel better about themselves, such statements may actually make young people feel WORSE. In this episode of The Psych Files I discuss this research as well as provide a little background on how self esteem tends to wax and wain as we move through life. Click to Listen to this Episode

Comments

[Lisa Wallace]

I think that's oversimplifying the findings. What the research really indicates is that improperly designed and used affirmations can fail (and even backfire). That isn't surprising. But if you use affirmations properly, they can be quite successful.