Positive thinking is a concept that promotes maintaining a consistently positive attitude in order to be happy and successful, even in difficult times. Often, this mindset can become a strength when facing life’s challenges. However, in some cases, it can become toxic.
In Search of Positivity
Before delving into the philosophy of positive thinking, it’s important to understand what’s happening in the brain, as this need for positivity at all costs doesn’t arise from nowhere. Many studies show that older individuals tend to prefer positive emotions and avoid or reduce negative emotions, both subjectively and physiologically. Scientists refer to this as the “positivity effect.” Although various cultural biases contribute to this perception, people generally become more positive as they age.
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Before reaching this point, other studies have shown that negative emotions have a greater impact on younger people than positive ones. This “negativity bias” suggests that negative information carries more weight. For example, criticism may influence you more than a compliment. In more tragic circumstances, such as divorce, death, or trauma, this bias can cause intense distress, which people attempt to alleviate at any cost. In such moments of vulnerability, positive thinking can be a tempting solution that promises happiness and healing. But it is not always effective.
The Positive Thinking Movement
Created in 1952 by American pastor Norman Vincent Peale, positive thinking is primarily a religiously inspired pseudoscience that, 60 years later, has gained new traction in the field of personal development. It has since become a highly profitable business, now spreading across the globe. The core principle is to remain optimistic in all situations, focusing on happy moments rather than negative ones. To achieve this, the philosophy advises followers to practice gratitude and visualize their future success.
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Note: Positive thinking should not be confused with positive psychology, a field of research that explores what makes people happy, optimistic, or resilient.
It can be linked to the controversial autosuggestion strategy, an ancient concept developed by French psychologist and pharmacist Émile Coué. The goal of this method is to repeat positive thoughts multiple times a day to improve mental health. The positive thinking movement also gave rise to the famous “law of attraction,” which suggests you can attract positive things just by thinking about them—a form of magical thinking, though it lacks scientific backing.
Positive Thinking Explained
Unfortunately, if you try to ignore, avoid, or suppress emotions deemed negative, or feel guilty when you finally experience them, this commandment can become toxic. A concerning phenomenon may occur: the more you try to avoid a thought, the more you think about it. It’s important to understand that at a certain point, negative thoughts should not be ignored—they can signal that something is wrong. These emotions need to be acknowledged, accepted and expressed.
Before it even reaches the level of toxicity for those in psychological distress, positive thinking is often ineffective in improving performance. Research by psychologist Gabriele Oettingen, author of Rethinking Positive Thinking, shows that when we visualize success, the brain registers it as if we’ve already achieved our goals—even if only in a virtual sense. This is called “mental achievement.” As a result, we feel less compelled to act in the real world, leading to decreased success.
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The Opposite Effect
To address this issue, Gabriele Oettingen proposes an alternative approach. She argues that it would be more effective to visualize the challenges that hinder us rather than solely focusing on our successes. Her experiments demonstrate that people who consider future obstacles set realistic goals, invest more effort, and achieve better results. Conversely, individuals with unrealistic goals—those who fail to acknowledge obstacles—tend to achieve poorer outcomes. Our minds have an unconscious way of guiding us toward realistic aspirations.
Other psychologists, such as Peter Max Gollwitzer and his colleagues at New York University, have taken this idea further with the implementation intentions strategy. This strategy is a brief four-step exercise called WOOP (wish, outcome, obstacle, plan). It involves defining the desire, visualizing the desired outcome, identifying the obstacles, and finally moving on to the implementation plan. The goal of this method is to confront dreams with reality.
References
Oettingen, G. (n.d.). Don’t think too positive: Fantasies about the future have a troubling effect on achieving actual goals. Aeon. Retrieved September 16, 2024, from https://aeon.co/essays/thinking-positive-is-a-surprisingly-risky-manoeuvre
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