Episode 104: Can Positive Affirmations Improve Your Self Esteem?

Michael — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 17:46:40 +0000

Can positive affirmations help raise your self esteem? People use daily affirmations and money affirmations to help them feel more confident, build their self esteem and bring positive events into their lives. But do they really work? If not, then what will? We explore these questions in this episode of The Psych Files.

We propose that, contrary to popular belief, positive self-affirmations can be useless for some people, even though they may benefit others. They may even backfire, making some people feel worse rather than better. – Wood, et. al, 2009

Affirmations and Self Esteem

Wood, J.V., Perunovie, E., & Lee, J.W. (2009). Positive Self-Statements: Power for Some, Peril for Others. Psychological Science, 20, 860-865.

Robins, R. W. & Trzesniewski, K.H. (2009) Self-Esteem Development Across the Lifespan. In Current Directions in Adulthood and Aging, Ed by Susan T. Charles. Readings from the Association for Psychological Science

The idea of latitudes of acceptance was mentioned in this podcast as being one of the reasons why people with low self esteem would probably not be influenced by positive affirmations. This idea is part of what is called Social Judgment Theory.

My previous episode on self-esteem which you may find helpful was episode 9, "How Do You Really Raise Self Esteem? The Incredibles vs. American Idol"

Another episode that might be of interest is the one in which I discuss positive thinking and positive psychology, including the ideas of Aaron Beck, Martin Seligman and Albert Ellis.

I also have an episode on how some people use positive thinking to run away from their feelings

Episode 9: How Do You Really Raise Self-Esteem? The Incredibles vs. American Idol

Michael — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 22:23:49 +0000

Image via Wikipedia How do you really raise self esteem? This week we take a look at all the talk about young people, narcissism and the self esteem movement. Then we answer the question: how do you raise self esteem?

Show Notes

Quick Summary of major points:

How self esteem grows:

Doing well (achieving your goals), on

Tasks that you value (are important to you)

How to give effective praise:

Be sincere

Don’t praise too frequently

Be specific – help your child learn what strategies lead to success

Be careful about attributing success to “smarts” – that can backfire. Try to focus on the effort that went into success

Links mentioned in this episode:

You’ll love the movie The Incredibles. Look for the various references to self esteem throughout the movie.

Another review of The Incredibles which also points out the references to the controversy over self esteem.

Here’s the link to the article entitled, “How Not To Talk to your Kids” by Po Bronson which addresses the self esteem issue.

Here’s the link to Po Bronson’s great book “What Should I Do With My Life?” on Amazon: What Should I Do with My Life?: The True Story of People Who Answered the Ultimate Question

The Psych Files Podcast » Self Esteem

Episode 104: Can Positive Affirmations Improve Your Self Esteem?

Affirmations and Self Esteem

Episode 9: How Do You Really Raise Self-Esteem? The Incredibles vs. American Idol

Show Notes