Self Esteem - A Canadian Study Got it Wrong
Reports are surfacing about a psychological study conducted by Canadian researchers on positive thinking. The conclusion is (as reported) that positive thinking may be harmful to people with low self esteem because it can make them feel worse about themselves.
The Canadians got it wrong, but not because the results were misinterpreted. They simply tested the wrong hypothesis. A study about positive thinking and low self-esteem will always (most likely, anyway) yield the results they got. This is because they're trying to prove that positive thinking and low self-esteem don't mix well. I could have told them that for free. Telling yourself that you are a “lovable person” when you deeply believe you are not worth that much, is asinine. Basically, it's lying to yourself.
My astonishment after reading the reports about the study stems from the fact that the media are trying to drive a stake through the heart of the self-help movement. In other words, psychologists have “proved” that methods of life-improvement that do not involve going to see (and paying) a psychologist are harmful. Surprised? Imagine general contractors trying to outlaw (via legislation) the do-it-yourself crowd; how would Home Depot react?
I'm not surprised, however, at the lack of understanding of how the subconscious mind works. It's in your subconscious mind where all those negative beliefs about yourself are stored. And those beliefs get a lot of “air time.” Thousands of times a day, your subconscious emits thought waves, and most of those thoughts are repetitive. If your dominant thoughts tend to be “negative,” reading the occasional positive affirmation will encounter significant resistance in your subconscious. It is that resistance that keeps you from living the life you truly desire. As Jung put it “what you resist persists.”
A much more useful and interesting study would have been on how positive thinking has, in fact, changed millions of lives for the better, even for those with low self-esteem given that resistance in those people is so strong. I find it interesting that the Canadian experiment had a Pavlovian flavor to it: subjects were instructed to “lie” to themselves at the sound of a bell.
The psychology and benefits of positive thinking are well documented, so I need not delve into it in great detail. I concede that the general population hears what they want to hear, and that the general impression about self-help, law of attraction, positive thinking, etc., tends to create misgivings and misunderstandings about how this universe really works.
Ultimately, you the reader will decide if your life can be better served by changing the way you look at the world. There's plenty of literature available to help you do that correctly, and believe me, for a lot less than what therapy would cost you (both in money and time). Psychoanalysis has its place, and can prove beneficial in some cases. In my opinion, however, that's not a decision to be reached at the sound of a Pavlovian bell.
Jose Pineda is a musician, techie, internet marketer, part-time philosopher, and all-around happy guy. Read his blog at http://theuniversalme.blogspot.com/
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