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2009-07-04 10:14:11
Bridget Jones is not alone in turning to self-help mantras to boost her
spirits, but a study warns they may have the opposite effect.
Canadian researchers found those with low self-esteem actually felt worse after
repeating positive statements about themselves.
They said phrases such as "I am a lovable person" only helped people with high
self-esteem.
The study appears in the journal Psychological Science.
A UK psychologist said people based their feelings about themselves on real
evidence from their lives.
The suggestion people should "help themselves" to feel better was first mooted
by Victorian Samuel Smiles 150 years ago.
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
Joanne Wood University of Waterloo
His book, called simply "Self Help", sold a quarter of a million copies and
included guidance such as: "Heaven helps those who help themselves".
Self-help is now a multi-billion pound global industry.
'Contradictory thoughts'
The researchers, from the University of Waterloo and the University of New
Brunswick, asked people with high and low self-esteem to say "I am a lovable
person."
They then measured the participants' moods and their feelings about themselves.
In the low self-esteem group, those who repeated the mantra felt worse
afterwards compared with others who did not.
However people with high self-esteem felt better after repeating the positive
self-statement - but only slightly.
The psychologists then asked the study participants to list negative and
positive thoughts about themselves.
They found that, paradoxically, those with low self-esteem were in a better
mood when they were allowed to have negative thoughts than when they were asked
to focus exclusively on affirmative thoughts.
Writing in the journal, the researchers suggest 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.
If people are instructed to focus exclusively on positive thoughts, negative
thoughts might be especially discouraging.
Real life
The researchers, led by psychologist Joanne Wood, said: "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."
However, they say positive thinking can help when it is part of a broader
programme of therapy.
Simon Delsthorpe, a psychologist with Bradford District Care Trust and
spokesman for the British Psychological Society, said self-esteem was based on
a range of real life factors, and that counselling to build confidence - rather
than telling yourself things are better than they are - was the solution.
"These are things like, do you have close family relationships, a wide network
of friends, employment and appearance.
"If you're not close to your parents, don't have many friends, are unemployed
and are unhappy with your appearance, it might be hard to have high
self-esteem.
"But if your experience is the reverse of that it would be much easier to say
'I'm OK' and believe that."