OK, I don’t know how this one passed me by but a report produced by Canadian researchers in July this year (I know, I know) showed that self help can’t always help.
In essence, the study revolved around a getting people with low and high esteem to repeat positive phrases such as “I am a lovable person” and “I accept myself completely” – common tricks used by people hawking tapes, DVDs and books which rarely contain any concrete information.
What they discovered, though, is that people with low self esteem (i.e. those who would be using this kind of ‘help’) actually felt worse after repeating these mantras. If they were ‘allowed’ to think negative thoughts, quite often their mood improved.
What about those with high self esteem though? Well, they did get some improvement from positive phrases, but not as great as was expected.
What the researchers did point out though was that as a part of a broader therapy programme, such mantras could help. So, all is not lost, but surely this must put a dent in the old snake oil market? Right?
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Tags: mantras, positivity, verbal