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The Wisdom of Psychopaths
In this engrossing journey into the lives of psychopaths and their infamously crafty behaviors, the renowned psychologist Kevin Dutton reveals that there is a...
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From superstar athletes to self-help devotees, advocates of positive thinking—imagining yourself succeeding at something you want to happen—believe it is a surefire way to help you attain a goal. Past studies have backed that idea, too, but now researchers are refining the picture. Paint your fantasy in too rosy a hue, and you may be hurting your chances of success.
One possible explanation is that idealized thinking can sap motivation, as outlined in a study published earlier this year in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. Researchers asked college student volunteers to think through a fantasy version of an experience (looking attractive in a pair of high-heeled shoes, winning an essay contest, or getting an A on a test) and then evaluated the fantasy’s effect on the subjects and on how things unfolded in reality. When participants envisioned the most positive outcome, their energy levels, as measured by blood pressure, dropped, and they reported having a worse experience with the actual event than those who had conjured more realistic or even negative visions. To assess subjects’ real-life experiences, the researchers compared lists of goals that subjects had set for themselves against what they had actually accomplished and also relied on self-reports. “When you fantasize about it—especially when you fantasize something very positive—it’s almost like you are actually living it,” says Heather Barry Kappes of New York University, one of the study’s co-authors. That tricks the mind into thinking the goal has been achieved, draining the incentive to “get energized to go and get it,” she explains. Subjects may be better off imagining how to surmount obstacles instead of ignoring them.
The approach may also apply to sports. A report published in the July issue of Perspectives on Psychological Findings suggests that talking oneself through the fine details of an athletic task may work better than picturing an optimal outcome. “It’s positive thinking, plus instructions,” says lead author Antonis Hatzigeorgiadis of the University of Thessaly in Greece.
This article was originally published with the title The Pitfalls of Positive Thinking.
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12 Comments
Add CommentEnergy levels were measured by blood pressure?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis is an incredibly stupid metric, and probably exactly backwards from what the researchers were trying to study. Extrapolating from low blood pressure (which indicates relaxation and/or focus) to psychologically "draining the incentive to “get energized to go and get it,”" is an amazing leap of idiocy.
Horribly, horribly flawed study.
Obviously if a person does not attempt to do something, about nothing would ever be accomplished. The real question is what is reality based 'positive thinking', 'can-do' attitudes' and the like. The real thing likely involves the planning on what a person has to do to achieve something, breaking it down into steps, on-going evaluation, knowing when to call it quits.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisApparently, the reachers envisioned themselves creating a worthwhile study but failed miserably.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThere's a big difference between imagining yourself winning a prize and imagining yourself going through the steps and doing the work that leads to one's desired outcome. The latter works. The former doesn't.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThere is a vast distance between positive thinking and fantasizing. Positive thinking relates to what is positive, what is positive should usually end in a result that is good.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisFantasy is what it is when it comes to thinking, the result is nothing but a phantom result, and that has nothing to do with reality, therefore, positive is for reality/real, and fantasy is for what is apparently so, what is apparently so only seems to be real, and the reality is the phantom result from fantasizing.
So, you may end up conjuring up a phantom and may be mistaking it for a real thing.
For instance, when Jesus said "It is done" since He is real and was referring to a real thing happening through positive thinking, then I do not have to waste energy hoping for that thing that he said will happen. I am believing on the promise as if it has already happened. All I am left with are the signs He said to look out for to happen. Time plays an important part in this transition only for me, who is in agreement with Him.
Jesus knew that mankind has a psychological imbalance, or you can say we are psychologically challenged.
OMG another superficial article based on flawed testing. I'm about to give up on SA. How about instead of regurgitating these stupid studies, why not do the world a service and get uh, scientific, and question them? We need rigor both in the studies and the evaluation of them, and SA could be a factor in raising the level of what is studied and how. This is on the level of US Magazine.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHave I come across the evil twin "UNSCIENTIFIC AMERICAN"?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this"When participants envisioned the most positive outcome ...... they reported having a worse experience with the actual event than those who had conjured more realistic or even negative visions."
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis study seems to be an exercise in the absurdly obvious. Set yourself realistic short term targets and you are frequently satisfied, make them virtually unachievable and you will be disappointed almost all of the time. Surely it's best to have some long-term goals that are difficult, then break those down into daily chunks that are relatively easy and enjoy performing well against them?
My sport is golf - I would love to equal my best-ever score of 68 and, now I am 68, it's a goal. I think about it briefly when I start a round, but I focus and visualise on the next stroke, and a reasonably good result. I still have quite a few negative experiences but a lot of positive ones, too. The 68's come once a decade!
Many of the professionals use so-called sports psychologists but their results seem no better as a result. The players who rely on themselves for positive motivation seem to perform best. Could this be because the psychologists focus on visualising a victorious result rather than a satisfying performance, i.e. fantasy that is largely out of one's own hands instead of practical activity that is under one's control?
Perhaps there is a missing element in most peoples' education - to balance the long-term goals with the short-term steps towards the goal, and to gain many small rewards along the way.
I think the real issue here is that when people talk about positive thinking, they tend to put into an all or nothing conditional test. Real positive thinkers don't do that. They are fully aware of their failures and weaknesses but focus instead on their strengths and most likely to be successful strategies. A person that thinks that everything is going to be great just because they think everything is going to be great are commonly called "idiots" (not in the clinical sense of course).
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI'd like to see the original article but a Google search for "Perspectives on Psychological Findings" brings me back to the Scientific American article. Where did I go wrong?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this@jt25
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe original article is here:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S002210311100031X
I haven't looked at it myself; the title, "Positive fantasies about idealized futures sap energy" was not encouraging - sapped energy is not the same as poor results...
A pity, there could be a good article in there somewhere.
@jt2525...
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHere is the original article:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S002210311100031X
PDF at NYU here:
http://www.psych.nyu.edu/oettingen/Barry%20Kappes,%20H.,%20&%20Oettingen,%20G.%20(2011).%20JESP.pdf
I haven't looked at it too closely myself; the title, "Positive fantasies about idealized futures sap energy" was discouraging. Sapped energy is not the same thing as failure to meet a target.
Pity - there could be a good article in there somewhere...