Positive affirmations: do they even work?

Often when a discovery is made in the realm of psychology, it’s broadcast all over the mainstream media for wider society to benefit from. And rightly so. Important advancements should be shared for the greater good everywhere and not locked away in exclusivity.

A prime example might be the use of positive affirmations. These are positive statements that people say to themselves in order to challenge unhelpful negative thoughts and beliefs, while providing encouragement and resolve.  Who hasn’t stuck post-it notes on their computer saying things along the lines of: ‘I regularly bring exciting and innovative ideas in my work’, or ‘I’m effective at completing tasks and projects in a timely manner? Or stuck a self-belief magnet on their fridge saying something like: ‘I trust in my abilities and potential’ or ‘I am more than capable of standing up for myself’?

Positive affirmations have certainly been become hugely popular with the public. Many people swear by them, claiming they were instrumental in obtaining career success, greater work and life satisfaction, and a healthier psychological outlook. However, much like Marmite or pineapple-topped pizza, people seem to either love or hate them. Plenty of questions and challenges have been levelled on their effectiveness and validity, especially from from those on the scientific side. So, who’s right and who’s wrong?

The bad news concerning affirmations

Issues around positive affirmations have been widely reported, and one particular study found that people who were low in self-esteem ended up feeling worse about themselves after repeating positive self-affirmations, while those who had medium to high self-esteem reported feeling slightly better. The authors concluded that positive affirmations may, in fact, be detrimental, rather than beneficial, for those individuals who may need their supposed benefits most.

Furthermore, the gap between affirmation-induced confidence and actual competence may cause problems. Overconfidence can blind us from seeing dangers and warning signs. In addition, experiences that don’t live up to the scenario envisaged through positive affirmations can end up provoking stress and anxiety, especially if people tend to overreach what’s realistic for them to achieve. If positive affirmations fail to pan out, it may suggest that something is misaligned with an individual’s knowledge of themselves, the world, or both.

This raises some important issues and demonstrates that it’s not necessarily all sunshine and roses for positive self-statements. That said, more recent research has turned the tables in favour of affirmations again. Armed with more sophisticated testing methods, and the additional validity of neuroscience, we’ve discovered several benefits.

The upside of affirmations

1. Self-esteem

Positive affirmations do, in fact, have an important impact on self-esteem. In a slightly longer-term study, researchers once again investigated the impact of affirmations on self-esteem. They found that after one week, affirmations did boost the self-esteem of individuals who were previously lower than average, particularly when it comes to issues around their health.

2. Rewards

Positive affirmations have also been shown to activate the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC), one of the reward centres in the brain. As these reward centres reduce the biological impact of stress, it was deduced that positive affirmations can therefore indirectly reduce the impact of stressors, too.

3. Compassion

Positive affirmations lead to more prosocial behaviours. When based around one’s personal values, positive affirmations trigger greater self-compassion in those who use them. As a knock-on effect, researchers found that these individuals also engage in more prosocial behaviours.

4. Wellbeing:

Research shows that engaging in spontaneous self-affirmation was related to greater happiness, hopefulness, optimism, subjective health, personal health management, while reducing anger and sadness. This had a particular influence for those belonging to minority groups facing hardships and challenges.

5. Rebalancing control:

Positive affirmations can contribute to regaining balance between the powerful and powerless. It’s been shown that individuals who lack power in situations will often demonstrate less inhibitory control and act impulsively instead. Engaging in positive affirmations actually increases the effectiveness of one’s inhibitory control, thereby potentially playing a role in reducing the performance gap between those with power and those without.

So, what’s the verdict?

Modern research favours the effectiveness and usefulness of positive affirmations on a variety of different fronts. For a technique that costs very little, the potential benefits seem abundant.

That said, we mustn’t discount the work that exposes the negative side to affirmations. Taking everything into account, however, the verdict would be to try them out but allow time for them to take hold and don’t overreach with your aims. Do all that and positive affirmations could be a powerful tool for you to use when you need it.