My Learning NotesSelf Affirmation
What is self affirmation and why is it important?
Self affirmation means:
- reflect on our own life values and on what matters for us
- acknowledge that our life has value.
It is important because various researches suggest that self affirmation reduce stress level.
Higher stress level indicates low happiness and viceversa.
The stress is the result of a tension. A tension is caused by at least two difference forces that act in different directions.
If we are uncertain between two things, it is like we are stressed by two different forces that push us in two different directions.
Therefore a tension is what we feel when we have not clear what is important for us.
Having clarity, instead, allow us to know what is important and therefore we have a main force that wins against the others. Therefore we feel less tension and stress level and therefore higher happiness.
What is not self affirmation?
Some people:
- correlate self affirmation theory with simply repeating to themselves positive affirmations. They hope that these positive affirmations can change their beliefs and help them to feel better. Typically those positive affirmations are about something that the person doesn’t believe in that moment and want to change in their life.
- state that positive affirmations don’t work in particular with people with low self-esteem.
Therefore they conclude that self affirmation theory doesn’t work.
I think that:
- the second statement could be true basing on the Positive self-statements: power for some, peril for others study.
- the first statement about the correlation between self affirmation theory and tell to ourselves positive affirmations is wrong because in various papers about self affirmation theory I don’t find any reference that say that self affirmation interventions are related to say to ourselves positive affirmation about something that we don’t believe.
References
- Finding Purpose and Meaning In Life: Living for What Matters Most, University of Michigan
- Self‑Affirmation Interventions. David K. Sherman, Mohini Lokhande, Tim Müller, and Geoffrey L. Cohen, 2021
- Positive self-statements: power for some, peril for others. Joanne V Wood, W Q Elaine Perunovic, John W Lee. 2009.
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