Positive thinking
It's widely known that positive thinking doesn't work, or even causes harm. Research studies have demonstrated this over many years. An article published yesterday explains why and explores the subject in some detail. It's by a professor of psychology in New York and Hamburg: Don't think too positive
"Positive thinking impedes performance because it relaxes us and drains the energy we need to take action."
There's also a link between positive thinking and depression, and this is directly relevant to listeners at 7 Cups:
"You might wonder what to do or say if your friend is down in the dumps, or if youre feeling sad, depleted, moody – depressed. If youre thinking about telling them to ‘buck up, ‘look on the bright side, or ‘think positive, as so many self-help gurus advise, you might be helping them in the moment while doing them a disservice over the long-term."
The article isn't all negative. Positive thinking can work if it's balanced with thoughts about negative obstacles. In the article this balanced thinking is called mental contrasting:
"In short, mental contrasting allowed people to direct more energy toward goals they had a chance of achieving, and pull back from unrealistic goals. The result was a wiser application of energy overall."
To help people use mental contrasting, researchers developed a four-step exercise: Wish, Outcome, Obstacle, Plan or WOOP.
"In line with our hypothesis, about 80 per cent of the participants trained in WOOP achieved their goals, as opposed to just over 30 per cent of participants in the control group. Thats a big difference!"
There's a WOOP website, an app for iOS and Android, audio and video tutorials, and a book you can buy.
I found the article longer than necessary, with too much detail about how the research studies were designed. However, the overall message about positive thinking fits in with other research I've read about it. Although I haven't tried WOOP myself, it does seem like it might be a good way to help people overcome the positive thinking myth.
@RarelyCharlie
Hello Charlie, I wanted to thank you for posting your article. Although thinking positive all the time is not helpful, niether is thinking negatively all the time either. The key is balance, which ironically is not easy to achieve.
I want to affirm what is stated in your post, mainly that dismissive statements such as "cheer up" or "think postive" are incredibly damaging, since they do not give the person a voice to be listened to, or heard.
Here are 7 Cups, we are a community incredibly dedciated to making sure that you are listened to in the most respectful, professional and genuine manner as possible.
I hope you find a way that works for you, thank you for raising awareness.
Respectfully,
hearnospeakno.