PSYCHOLOGY: Positive Self-Statements

Show me a much publicised self-development guru who hasn't at some point espoused the benefits of positive mantras and I'll show you a woman who's got that elusive life-balance thing sorted. Hmmm, can't think of one? Neither can I. Well positive mantras are old hat when it comes to people who probably need them the most. Research by Canadian psychologists published in Psychological Science earlier this year found that people with low self-esteem who repeated a positive self-statement ("I'm a loveable person") or who focussed on how that statement was true felt worse than those who did not. It seems positive self-talk done in this way is only good for people who have good to high levels of self-esteem already. So should we wave away the word-wand altogether? I don't think so. Let me explain. My take out from the research is that the problem lies in the perecived truth/untruth of the statement. People with low self-esteem may recoil from such overtly positive statements because they perecive them to be untrue. If we were to tone down the statement to "I could be loved by someone" for example, it may be easier to accept and believe. It may also be worth the individual who wishes to raise his or her self-esteem to spend time trying to objectively review how negative statements (and positive statements they would like to hold about themselves) are true and untrue. Aiming for balanced thinking rather than all-out positive ra-ra-ra could be the answer. What do you think? Share your thoughts using the comment button.