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Affirmations
Affirmations are statements intended to build and maintain healthy self-esteem and to help foster a positive outlook on life.
The positive psychology practice of self-affirmation aims to help people combat negative beliefs and restore trust in themselves—or simply like themselves again. Typically, self-affirmation is accomplished by way of short, positive statements repeated to oneself, whether aloud or not, on a regular basis—but that’s not the only way to achieve some of the benefits.
Some therapists treating clients with depression, low self-esteem, anxiety, or other concerns may suggest daily affirmations, and some research suggests that affirmations, especially if they are the right affirmations—that is, those that truly reflect a person’s core values—can help them rebound. However, some clinicians are skeptical of the practice and certain clients may be especially unlikely to improve after trying affirmations.
Self-affirmation is the idea that when people can demonstrate, or remind themselves of, their personal adequacy, they can access mental-health benefits including a greater ability to manage threats to their self-worth. Reminding themselves of who they are, and what they value, can help them resist being triggered by negativity or challenges. Affirmations, according to advocates of the approach, are reminders that one's value is not contingent on others' critical feedback or on the negative outcome of any given event.
Research into self-affirmation finds that beneficial results are more likely achieved when a person is able to identify one, two, or three values that have personal significance to them—anything from love to justice to physical health, friendship, creativity, gratitude, or humor—and then take time to write about why the value or values matter to them. From there, on their own or working with a therapist, they can craft the particular statements they will use as affirmations.
There is no “best” affirmation; research suggests that people try out thoughts or statements that reflect the traits and values that hold the most significance for them. This could be feeling at peace, having confidence in their decision-making, being content with their life choices, trusting that they can handle whatever obstacles the day brings, or something more specific to their particular challenges of the moment.
Affirmations should be in the first person and be positive, not negative (“I can be free from cigarettes” instead of “I don’t like smoking anymore”). Some research suggests that when someone faces a specific, bounded challenge, like passing a class, affirmations based on a growth mindset (“I can learn new things”) may lead to better results than those based on trait generalizations (“I am intelligent”).
It might, but once a person has discovered affirmations that resonate with them—“I am enough,” “I love myself,” “I deserve success”—they can say them out loud, think them to themselves, or write them down and take them out of their pocket when they feel they need a reminder.
No. In fact, people may not even need to make statements to self-affirm. Some research suggests that consciously and regularly taking part in activities based on one's values and that promote one’s identity and sense of self—such as time with friends or family, volunteer activities, or religious or cultural engagement—can provide many of the benefits of affirmations.
Studies using magnetic resonance imaging have shown that during self-affirmation tasks, regions of the brain involved in emotional processing, decision-making, self-perception, and social cognition become more active. Other research has found that people prompted to write about the values most personally important to them later performed better on stress-inducing problem-solving tasks than others. And other studies show that affirmations can help people enhance self-control, improve academic achievement, adopt healthier habits, and reduce prejudice.
While a good deal of research supports the practice of self-affirmation for many, some studies find that affirmations may backfire, primarily because people with especially low self-esteem may find it too challenging to believe that the affirmations they state are true. For example, someone experiencing poor body image who is asked to repeat “I love my body,” despite not believing it, may end up feeling even worse.
Affirmations have helped many, but for individuals with clinically diagnosable mental-health conditions, including some with major depressive disorder, trying affirmations and not achieving positive progress can lead them to feel even worse, as they may feel that their condition is “all in their head” and so, if positive statements could not address it, that represents a personal failing.
Not exactly. Mantras and affirmations have different goals. A mantra is a phrase or statement meant to help someone block out external thoughts and distractions so they can relax or concentrate as part of a mindfulness or meditation practice.
No. Manifesting is the notion that, through the power of one’s own belief, one can think, or "manifest," a hope, goal, or dream into reality. As such, it’s a form of what’s known as magical thinking. Manifesting is based on the idea that people’s thoughts can affect the external world (which they cannot) while affirmations are focused on the more achievable goal of changing one’s internal world for the better.
