Positive Self-Statements

P SY CH OL OG I C AL S CIE N CE

Research Article

Positive Self-Statements
Power for Some, Peril for Others
Joanne V. Wood,1 W.Q. Elaine Perunovic,2 and John W. Lee1
1

University of Waterloo and 2University of New Brunswick

ABSTRACT—Positive

self-statements are widely believed to boost mood and self-esteem, yet their effectiveness has not been demonstrated. We examined thecontrary prediction that positive self-statements can be ineffective or even harmful. A survey study confirmed that people often use positive self-statements and believe them to be effective. Two experiments showed that among participants with low self-esteem, those who repeated a positive self-statement (‘‘I’m a lovable person’’) or who focused on how that statement was true felt worse than those whodid not repeat the statement or who focused on how it was both true and not true. Among participants with high self-esteem, those who repeated the statement or focused on how it was true felt better than those who did not, but to a limited degree. Repeating positive self-statements may benefit certain people, but backfire for the very people who ‘‘need’’ them the most. At this moment, thousands ofpeople across North America are probably silently repeating positive statements to themselves. Students facing exams, cancer patients, speakers approaching lecterns, and individuals trying to lift their low self-esteem are repeating phrases such as, ‘‘I am a lovable person’’ (Johnson, 1991, p. 31). From at least as far back as Norman Vincent Peale’s (1952) The Power of Positive Thinking, the mediahave advocated saying favorable things to oneself. For example, Self magazine advises, ‘‘Try chanting, ‘I’m powerful, I’m strong, and nothing in this world can stop me’ ’’ (Gordon, 2001), and numerous self-help books encourage ‘‘affirmations,’’ such as ‘‘Every day I admit my errors, failures and weaknesses but feel no guilt, blame, or self-criticism’’ (McQuaig, 1986, p. 56). Are positiveself-statements effective? To our knowledge, they have been examined only (a) in the context of comprehensive treatments with experienced clinicians, along with techniques such as relaxation training (e.g., Treadwell & Kendall, 1996), or

Address correspondence to Joanne Wood, Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, 200 University Ave., Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3G1, e-mail:jwood@uwaterloo.ca.

(b) in studies in which confounds, such as therapist attention or demand characteristics, seem highly plausible but were not controlled. The true impact of positive self-statements, then, is unknown. We propose that, contrary to popular belief, positive selfstatements can be useless for some people, even though they may benefit others. They may even backfire, making some people feel worserather than better. We base our predictions on research involving attitude change, self-comparison, and selfverification. According to the ‘‘latitudes of acceptance’’ idea (Sherif & Hovland, 1961), messages that espouse a position close to one’s own attitude are more persuasive than messages that espouse a position far from one’s own (Eagly & Chaiken, 1993). Messages that fall outside one’s latitude ofacceptance are thought to meet resistance, and even to have the potential to backfire, leading one to hold one’s original position even more strongly (Zanna, 1993). Positive self-statements can be construed as messages that attempt to change attitudes—in this case, attitudes about the self. Thus, if positive self-statements carry messages that fall outside one’s latitude of acceptance, one mayreject them. For example, if people who believe that they are unlovable repeat, ‘‘I’m a lovable person,’’ they may dismiss this statement and perhaps even reinforce their conviction that they are unlovable. Self-comparison theory applies similar ideas to the context of receiving self-relevant feedback from other people. People are thought to automatically compare feedback that they receive with...