Positive affirmations can backfire for some people

The idea is simple. Say something good about yourself often enough, and you start to feel it.

A survey in the paper found this belief is common. People often use these lines and believe they work.

Two experiments followed. Some people repeated the line “I’m a lovable person,” or thought about how it was true.

Others did not repeat it, or thought about how it was both true and not true.

The authors compared people with low and high self-esteem. Self-esteem is how you rate your own worth.

People with low self-esteem who repeated the line felt worse than those who did not. So did those who dwelt on how it was true.

People with high self-esteem felt better after repeating it. But the gain was limited.

The authors say these lines may backfire for the very people who most seem to need them.

The abstract names one line, not every kind of affirmation. It does not say how long the effect lasted.

The experiments did not test The Archivist Method.

Compliment Deflection is when you push praise away the moment it arrives. A kind line you say to yourself can meet the same push.

So the useful move may not be a louder line. It may be to catch the push itself.

Behavioral Interception is the practice of catching an automatic pattern as it begins, intercepting its usual response, and practicing a different action until it becomes more natural.

Start with the body signal, like a tight jaw as kind words land. Catch it and name the pattern. Then let the words stand without an answer.