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The power of positive thinking: Pathological worry is reduced by thought replacement in Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Claire eagleson.

a King's College London, Institute of Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience, London, UK

Sarra Hayes

b Curtain University, Perth, Australia

Andrew Mathews

c University of California, Davis, USA

Gemma Perman

d Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, UK

Colette R. Hirsch

Worry in Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), takes a predominantly verbal form, as if talking to oneself about possible negative outcomes. The current study examined alternative approaches to reducing worry by allocating volunteers with GAD to conditions in which they either practiced replacing the usual form of worry with images of possible positive outcomes, or with the same positive outcomes represented verbally. A comparison control condition involved generating positive images not related to worries. Participants received training in the designated method and then practiced it for one week, before attending for reassessment, and completing follow-up questionnaires four weeks later. All groups benefited from training, with decreases in anxiety and worry, and no significant differences between groups. The replacement of worry with different forms of positive ideation, even when unrelated to the content of worry itself, seems to have similar beneficial effects, suggesting that any form of positive ideation can be used to effectively counter worry.

• • People with GAD practiced replacing worry with alternatives for one week.
• • Alternatives were positive outcomes rehearsed as images or verbal thoughts.
• • A control group rehearsed positive images unrelated to their worries.
• • One month later all groups reported significantly reduced anxiety and worry.
• • Unexpectedly, even unrelated positive ideation can effectively counter worry.

1. Introduction

Excessive worry is a common symptom in anxiety disorders and is the central feature of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). In Hirsch and Mathews' (2012) model of pathological worry three processes combine to maintain uncontrollable worry: emotional processing biases, impaired attentional control and the tendency to represent possible negative outcomes in over-general verbal form. The aim of the study reported here was to investigate the effects of different methods designed to modify this last process in pathological worriers with GAD.

Worry is predominantly verbal, as if talking to oneself about possible negative outcomes, whereas imagery is relatively infrequent, and tends to be brief ( Freeston et al., 1996 , Hirsch et al., 2012 ). In contrast, when instructed to relax, non-worriers report primarily images whereas those with GAD report similar amounts of verbal thought and imagery ( Borkovec & Inz, 1990 ). The latter authors suggested that verbal worry may be a strategy to avoid more distressing emotional representations, such as images ( Borkovec, Alcaine, & Behar, 2004 ). In partial support of this idea, Butler, Wells, and Dewick (1995) found that instructions to worry (verbally) about a distressing film led to less anxiety immediately afterwards than did instructions to think about it in images. However, verbal worry led to more intrusive images in the days following than did thinking in images. Thus, even if verbal worry leads to temporary reductions in anxiety, it can maintain negative thought intrusions in the longer term.

Similarly, high worriers given instructions to worry verbally reported increased negative thought intrusions from pre- to post-worry, but those instructed to worry in images actually showed a decrease ( Stokes & Hirsch, 2010 ). This suggests that verbal thinking style plays a causal role in maintaining intrusions, perhaps serving to trigger subsequent worry episodes. The question of why verbal-based worry elevates intrusive thoughts remains unanswered. One possibility is that verbal thoughts in worry tend to be relatively abstract and over-general, raising many vague possibilities but reducing the possibility of resolving them because they are not clearly defined ( Stöber, Tepperwien, & Staak, 2000 ), which may instead maintain perceived threat ( Philippot, Baeyens, & Douilliez, 2006 ).

Alternatively, increased intrusive thoughts may arise from the detrimental effects of verbal worry on attention and attentional control ( Stefanopoulou, Hirsch, Hayes, Adlam, & Coker, 2014 ). Leigh and Hirsch (2011) demonstrated that verbal worry in high worriers impairs attentional control (compared to non-worriers), but this group difference disappears after worrying using images. Furthermore, Williams, Mathews, and Hirsch (2014) demonstrated that verbal worry increased attentional bias towards threat, but worrying in imagery did not. This evidence suggests that verbal-based worry can maintain intrusive thoughts about threats, in contrast to imagery-based worry.

So far we have only considered thinking about negative (worry-related) rather than positive topics. Encouraging imagery of alternative positive outcomes might be particularly helpful, by competing in affective valence with the usual negative content of worry. Indeed, Hirsch, Perman, Hayes, Eagleson, and Mathews (2015) found that practice in thinking about worry topics in more positive ways (whether verbally or in images) reduced subsequent intrusions compared with worry in verbal form, although this reduction was not significantly greater than that seen following similar practice using imagery of negative outcomes. However, only practice in thinking about alternative positive outcomes (whether as images or in verbal form) also reduced the rated cost of worry outcomes and increased perceived ability to cope with them. Thus it seems likely that practice with positive representations has benefits beyond those produced by worry-related imagery alone.

Alternatively, it could be that verbal worry is best countered by generating opposing positive thoughts in the same (verbal) modality, because this would more directly compete with the negative outcomes rehearsed in worry. It may be, for example, that worry-related intrusions (in verbal form) are more likely to prime alternative positive verbal outcomes that were rehearsed earlier, in comparison to positive images, which would require an additional shift from a semantic to a perceptual modality.

This is the first study to investigate whether extended practice with positive alternatives to worry, either in verbal or imagined form, has lasting effects on anxiety and worry in GAD. Volunteers with GAD were allocated either to practice in replacing the usual form of worry with images of positive outcomes, or in which positive outcomes were represented in verbal form. Both conditions tested the hypothesis that rehearsing positive outcomes for worry-related concerns should counter negative expectations and reduce worry. However, reductions in worry could conceivably result from replacing negative content with any form of positive ideation, whether or not designed to challenge the negative meanings rehearsed in worry. If so, similar effects would follow practice in replacing worry with positive ideation unconnected with worry content. Accordingly, in a third (control) condition participants were instructed to practice positive images unrelated to their worry.

2.1. Overview of design

Volunteers with GAD were randomly allocated to one of three conditions: (i) practice in generating mental images of positive outcomes to worry topics (positive imagery of worry, PIW); (ii) practice in generating verbal descriptions of positive worry-related outcomes (positive verbal representations of worry, PVW); or (iii) practice in generating positive images unrelated to any current concerns (positive imagery of non-worry, PIN). All participants completed an initial face-to-face training session, followed by a week of practice in their assigned condition exercise at home, before returning for a post-training assessment session and then completing follow-up questionnaires one month later.

2.2. Participants

Participants were volunteers aged 18 to 65, recruited from the community via advertisements, who met criteria for GAD on the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I (SCID-I; First, Gibbon, Spitzer, & Williams, 1996 ), and who had English as their first language. Exclusion criteria included a history of Bipolar Disorder or psychosis, and current psychological therapy (past therapy was acceptable). If participants were taking medication for anxiety or depression, they had to be on a stable dose for at least one month prior to taking part. One hundred and fifty participants were initially recruited and attended the first assessment session. Of those, 21 were excluded as not meeting criteria for GAD and one who had just begun Cognitive Behavior Therapy.

Of the 128 participants who met criteria, 26 were excluded: two for not following instructions during initial practice; four failed to attend for reassessment; two did not return follow-up questionnaires; six completed less than 50% of their assigned practice; and 12 reported being unable to think as instructed for most of the time during a check in session 2. A chi-square goodness-of-fit analysis revealed no significant differences in the number excluded across groups, χ 2 (2, n  = 128) = 1.56, ns . Analyses were conducted on data from the remaining participants (32 PIW, 35 PVW and 35 PIN).

Participant characteristics are shown in Table 1 . There were no group differences in gender, χ 2 (2, n  = 102) = 1.43, ns; age, F (2, 99) = .48, ns ; education, F (2, 99) = .79, ns ; Penn State Worry Questionnaire scores (PSWQ; Meyer, Miller, Metzger, & Borkovec, 1990 ), F (2, 99) = 1.71, ns; State Trait Anxiety Inventory-Trait (STAI-T; Spielberger, Gorsuch, Lushene, Vagg, & Jacobs, 1983 ), F (2, 99) = .49, ns ; Life Orientation Test-Revised (LOT-R; Scheier, Carver, & Bridges, 1994 ), F (2, 99) = .50, ns ; Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II; Beck, Steer, & Brown, 1996 ), F (2, 99) = 2.11, ns , or number of negative intrusions during the initial breathing focus task (see below), F (2, 99) = .22, ns .

Table 1

Mean (SD) participant characteristics.

PSWQ= Penn State Worry Questionnaire; STAI-T = State Trait Anxiety Index- Trait version; LOT-R = Life Orientation Test- Revised version; BDI-II = Beck Depression Inventory-II.

2.3. Breathing focus task

This task was adapted from the Worry Task ( Hayes, Hirsch, & Mathews, 2010 ; Hirsch, Mathews, Lequertier, Perman, & Hayes, 2013 ). Participants were asked to focus on their breathing for five minutes, and when a tone sounded (on 12 random occasions), to indicate whether they were thinking about their breathing, or something else. If the latter, they classified their thought as positive, negative, or neutral, and gave a brief summary of its content (e.g. “positive: going out tonight”). At the end of the task, participants recorded a fuller description of each thought, allowing an independent assessor, blind to thought origin, to categorize each as positive, negative, or neutral. Negative thoughts were further classified as low, medium or high in negativity. Another assessor classified 25% of participants' reports ( n  = 30; ten per group selected at random); inter-rater reliability for valence classification using Cohen's kappa statistic (κ) was .75, and for negativity .71.

2.4. Instructions for each intervention condition

2.4.1. positive imagery of worry (piw).

Participants identified three current worry topics and rated how distressing each was; how often they had worried about it over the past week, and how controllable it was, using 0–10 scales. The difference between verbal thoughts and images was then described, and participants informed they would be practicing thinking in mental imagery rather than verbally. They were then asked to produce a vivid image regarding friendship and hold it for 30 s, re-focusing on imagery if verbal thoughts occurred, and then rated how well they had thought in their designated thinking style (imagery), from 0 (not at all) to 10 (completely), and the percentage of thoughts that were positive, negative or neutral. Participants then read a worry description (concerns about paying a bill), and were asked to think of how the scenario could have a positive outcome. For two more descriptions they were instructed to generate vivid images of the situation turning out positively (for one and two minutes respectively), with ratings as before, used by the experimenter to encourage appropriate imagery.

Finally, participants generated lists of potential positive outcomes for each of their own three worry topics, followed by imagining each for two minutes. Designated thinking style and valence ratings were collected as a manipulation check.

2.4.2. Positive verbal worry (PVW)

Instructions were as for PIW, but instead of imagery participants were instructed to think (and then write down) verbal descriptions, and rate their use of verbal mentation (0–10). If participants reported any images, they were instructed to refocus their minds on verbal thoughts.

2.4.3. Positive imagery non-worry (PIN)

This was the same as the positive imagery of worry condition, except that instead of an image of positive worry-related outcomes, participants were instructed to imagine something positive that was completely unrelated to the worry scenario they had read, or to any of their own worry topics.

2.5. Procedure

Participants were sent the PSWQ and STAI-T to complete and bring to the first session, which they began by completing the BDI-II and the LOT-R, and after a 45 s practice, the breathing focus task, followed by the GAD module of the SCID-I. Participants then completed the designated mentation style training and were instructed to use this style anytime they noticed themselves worrying during the following week. They were also asked to repeat the imagery/verbal practice with each of their three worry topics for two minutes daily, and to record this on a homework diary sheet.

Participants attended again one week later for reassessment. Homework diaries were collected and participants repeated the PSWQ, STAI-T and LOT-R, followed by the breathing focus task. As an indirect check on adherence, participants' ability to reproduce the required daily practice was assessed by asking them to repeat the homework without reminders or prompting, after which they rated the verbal/imagery content and proportion of positive thoughts experienced. To examine participants’ ability to disengage from worry they rated how often (0 Never-10 Very often) they could stop worries that occurred outside of the homework exercise period. Participants were not explicitly asked to continue practicing the exercise after session 2. A month after this reassessment session participants completed (by mail) the PSWQ and STAI-T.

3.1. Manipulation check

Session 1 involved training in the designated thinking style. The criterion for successful completion of the exercise was a score of 6 or higher (on a 10 point scale) in engaging with the designated thinking style (imagery or verbal) and 60% benign mentation (% positive and neutral content). During session 1 practices using the participant's worry topics, all groups were able to use their designated thinking style well above the cutoff (PIW: M  = 8.10, sd . = 1.37; PVW: M  = 8.45, sd.  = 1.44; PIN: M  = 7.83, sd.  = 1.58). A one-way ANOVA revealed there were no significant differences between groups, F (2, 99) = 1.57, ns . All groups were also found to produce benign valence content above the cutoff point (PIW: M  = 87.51, sd.  = 9.72; PVW: M  = 83.93, sd.  = 12.00; PIN: M  = 89.03, sd.  = 9.11), with no significant differences between them, F (2, 99) = 2.23, ns .

A manipulation check was also administered during session 2 in the form of an adherence check, with mean scores on the above ratings again well above cut-offs, with no differences between groups. For designated thinking style (PIW: M  = 8.83, sd . = 1.29; PVW: M  = 8.93, sd.  = 1.13; PIN: M  = 8.36, sd.  = 1.19), there were no significant differences between groups, F (2, 99) = 2.25, ns , nor for benign content (PIW: M  = 94.78, sd . = 6.97; PVW: M  = 94.57, sd.  = 8.38; PIN: M  = 94.03, sd.  = 6.26), F (2, 99) = .10, ns .

3.2. Breathing focus task

The number of negative thought intrusions was analyzed in a mixed-model ANOVA, with one group factor (PIW, PVW, PIN) and two repeated factors: time (session 1–2) and assessor (self, independent). There was a significant main effect of time, λ = .52 , F (1, 99) = 92.94, p  < .001, η p 2  =  .48 , with fewer negative intrusions reported in session 2 (3.6 down to 1.7). However, there were no significant main effects for group or rater, nor any significant interactions.

A Chi-square analysis similarly failed to reveal any differences between groups in the proportion of thoughts classified as low, medium or high in negativity by an independent rater ( Preacher, 2001 ). For the post-intervention breathing focus task, medium and high negativity thoughts were collapsed due to low numbers of highly negative thoughts. The proportion of low versus medium/high negativity thoughts did not differ by group, χ 2 (2, N  = 206) = 2.73, ns . Across all groups, negative intrusions reduced over time (from 194 to 98 for low and 203 to 108 for medium/high negativity respectively), but the proportion of low to medium/high did not change, χ 2 (1, N  = 603) = .90, ns . In summary, all negative thoughts reduced over time, with no apparent differences due to group.

3.3. Effects of training on worry and anxiety

Mixed model ANOVAs were carried out on PSWQ and STAI-T scores, with one group factor and one repeated measures factor of time (session 1, session 2, follow-up). For the PSWQ, the only significant finding was a main effect of time, λ = .40, F (2, 98) = 74.40, p  < .0005, η p 2  = .50, with all groups showing reductions in worry across time (see Table 2 for means). Paired-samples t-tests revealed significant decreases from session 1 to 2, t (101) = 8.64, p  < .001, and session 2 to follow-up, t (101) = 6.47, p  < .001. Similarly, for the STAI-T, the only significant finding was a main effect of time, λ = .52, F (2, 98) = 45.61, p  < .0005, η p 2  = .38, with significant decreases from session 1 to 2, t (101) = 6.34, p  < .001, and session 2 to follow-up, t (101) = 5.73, p  < .001. Analysis of the LOT-R (a measure of optimism) assessed at session 1 and 2 only, also revealed a main effect of time, λ = .69, F (1, 99) = 43.64, p  < .0005, η p 2  = .29, with increased optimism overall, but no other significant effects. Thus, in all groups, worry and trait anxiety decreased significantly over time, while positive feelings of optimism increased, without any indication that this effect differed across conditions (all interaction F 's < 1).

Table 2

Mean (SD) scores on the PSWQ, STAI-T and LOT-R at each time point.

Note: PSWQ= Penn State Worry Questionnaire; STAI-T = State Trait Anxiety Index- Trait version; LOT-R = Life Orientation Test- Revised version. High scores on LOT-R indicate optimism.

The unexpected lack of group differences in worry or anxiety raises the question of whether, in the absence of a non-intervention control, all our conditions were equally effective, or equally ineffective. We therefore compared the effect size of changes observed in the present groups with those reported for non-treated control groups in two recent meta-analyses of psychological treatment for GAD ( Cuijpers et al., 2014 , Hanrahan et al., 2013 ). Studies were identified in which means and standard deviations were reported for non-treated groups over a follow-up period (ranging from 4 to 16 weeks) and in which participants completed the STAI-T (8) and/or the PSWQ (12). The average within-group effect size (Cohen's d) in these untreated groups was .10 for the STAI-T (ranging from −.27 to .32, sd . 0 .20) and .03 for the PSWQ (ranging from −.72 to .41, sd . .28). The effect size for the equivalent changes observed in the present study for the STAI-T ranged from .91 for the PIW group, to 1.01 for the PIN group, and 1.07 for the PVW group, giving an overall effect size of 1.0 for all participants; and for the PSWQ from 1.52 for the PIN group, to 1.86 for the PIW group, and 2.50 for the PVW group, giving an overall effect size of 1.92. The effects observed in the present study were thus well outside the range reported for untreated control groups, indicating that all the present interventions were indeed effective.

3.4. Post-hoc investigation of process variables associated with reduction in worry

Given there were no differences in outcome among the present groups, post-hoc analyses reported below combined all groups to identify relevant process variables.

3.4.1. Negative thought intrusions during breathing focus

Since there was no significant effect of rater, the number of negative thought intrusions during session 2 was averaged across self and assessor. Mean negative intrusions were significantly correlated with PSWQ at follow-up, r  = .27, p  < .01. To explore this finding further, stepwise regression was conducted predicting PSWQ follow-up scores, entering baseline PSWQ and negative intrusions at step one, with session 2 negative intrusions added at step two. PSWQ and negative intrusions at baseline accounted for 15.8% of the variance and intrusions at session 2 predicted an additional 4.6% of the variance, R squared change = .046, F change (1, 98) = 5.70, p  < .05.

Negative intrusions at session 2 were correlated with STAI-T trait scores at follow-up, r  = .32, p < .05. As before, in regression analysis predicting final STAI-T, baseline anxiety and average negative intrusions accounted for 30.7% of the variance, but entering negative intrusions in step two did not significantly improve the prediction, R squared change = .018, F change (1, 98) = 2.59, p  = .11. Hence, while fewer negative intrusions following homework practice predicted greater reductions in worry on the PSWQ, this effect did not generalize to trait anxiety.

3.4.2. Ability to generate positive thoughts

The percentage of positive thoughts generated during the adherence check in session 2 was also correlated with PSWQ at follow-up, r  = −.28, p  < .005. In regression analysis predicting follow-up PSWQ, baseline PSWQ and the average percentage of positive thoughts generated in the practice scenarios in session 1 accounted for 16% of the variance. In step two, entering the percentage of positive thoughts at session 2 adherence check accounted for an additional 6.8% of the variance in final PSWQ, R squared change = .068, F change (1, 98) = 8.59, p  < .01. Similarly, the correlation between positive thoughts generated in session 2 and STAI-T scores at follow-up was r  = −.25, p  < .05. Entering baseline STAI-T trait score and percentage of positive thoughts in the practice scenarios at step one explained 31.5% of the variance in final STAI-T, and adding positive thoughts from session 2 explained an additional 2.7%, R squared change = .027, F change (1, 98) = 3.99, p  < .05.

3.4.3. Ability to disengage from worry

During session 2 reassessment participants rated how often they had been successful in terminating any spontaneously occurring worries during the week. The correlation between this rating and PSWQ score at follow-up was r  = −.23, p  < .05. Hierarchical regression, after baseline PSWQ was entered in the first step as before, showed that entering disengagement from worry in step two accounted for a further 4.4%, R squared change = .044, F change (1, 99) = 5.42, p  < .05. Similarly, after entering baseline STAI-T trait scores at step one, adding rated ability to shift away from worries in step two explained an additional 4.1%, R squared change = .041, F change (1, 99) = 6.26, p  < .05. These results suggest that, in addition to involuntary thought intrusions during breathing focus, ability to voluntarily generate positive thoughts and disengage from worry predicted greater decreases in worry and anxiety, regardless of condition.

4. Discussion

We report here the first study of GAD assessing the effects of manipulating imagery and verbal processing in the longer term reduction of worry and anxiety. The main finding was that all three groups showed significant reductions in negative intrusions, and reported worry and anxiety, with no significant differences between conditions. Unexpectedly, the control condition in which participants practiced positive imagery chosen to be unrelated to worry content did not differ significantly from the conditions that involved practicing alternative positive outcomes of worry topics, whether in verbal or imagery form. Thus, it seems that the critical mechanism underlying the observed changes was replacing the usual flow of verbal worry with any alternative positive ideation. This suggests that, even if the negative and verbal form of worry contributes to its persistence, it is not necessary to directly modify this content to produce improvement.

Consistent with this interpretation, although negative intrusion frequency was substantially reduced, when intrusions did recur, they were still rated as moderately or highly negative. In other words, practicing any positive ideation reduced the frequency of worry-related thoughts, but not their negativity. Furthermore, reduced worry at follow-up was predicted by fewer negative intrusions during breathing focus, and greater ability to generate positive thoughts and disengage from worry in session 2. The lack of overall differences between groups, together with these post-hoc findings, again suggests that rather than reducing negativity of worry, the improvements were due to improved ability to disengage from it and focus instead on more positive content. These findings converge on the idea that repeated practice in replacing worry with positive ideation can counter the intrusive and distressing properties of worry.

One challenge to this conclusion is that, in the absence of a non-intervention control, the changes would have occurred without any intervention. We have argued that this is unlikely, given that the effect sizes were large and much greater than would be expected in the absence of any treatment. Even so, we cannot conclude from the present results that it is necessary to replace worry with positive ideation, because we did not include a non-positive condition. Even instructions to imagine negative outcomes, rather than the usual quasi-verbal form, reduces later intrusive thoughts ( Hirsch et al., 2015 , Stokes and Hirsch, 2010 ), perhaps because the more concrete content of images leads to outcomes being seen as more manageable or implausible. However, only conditions involving substituting positive content had the additional effect of reducing the perceived cost of worry outcomes, and enhancing perceived ability to cope ( Hirsch et al., 2015 ).

Given that the present results were not compared with established treatments, we can make no claims for clinical effectiveness, nor would we suggest that the methods used here can be utilized as stand-alone interventions. The GAD volunteers in this study were not seeking treatment, so the utility of these methods in a clinical population is yet to be established. However, participants reported substantial improvements on measures of worry (e.g. within-group effect sizes of around 2 on the PSWQ), and these effects were maintained one month later. One clinical implication deserving further evaluation is that it may not be necessary to modify worry-related thought content directly, as is the aim of thought challenging in Cognitive Behavior Therapy. Future research could usefully compare the effectiveness of challenging negative thoughts versus practice in replacing them with any positive (or other) alternative. The latter approach may reduce negative intrusive thoughts and prevent consequent development of worry episodes, by increasing the availability of competing thoughts. At the very least, the present results indicate the need for research investigating whether modifying negative content, or enhancing access to positive alternatives, are equally or differentially effective in preventing uncontrollable worry in GAD.

5. Author note

This research was supported by grants from The Wellcome Trust (WT083204) and The Psychiatry Research Trust. The last author receives salary support from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), Mental Health Biomedical Research Centre at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King's College London. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of The Wellcome Trust, The Psychiatry Research Trust, NHS, the NIHR or the Department of Health. Claire Eagleson is now at UNSW Australia. The authors would like to thank Ellena Cooke, Priya Kochuparampil, Zoe Maiden and Marc Williams for completing the assessor ratings and for Lewis Owens in help with referencing.

Conflict of interest

The authors do not have any conflict of interests to declare.

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• Stress management

Positive thinking: Stop negative self-talk to reduce stress

Positive thinking helps with stress management and can even improve your health. Practice overcoming negative self-talk with examples provided.

Is your glass half-empty or half-full? How you answer this age-old question about positive thinking may reflect your outlook on life, your attitude toward yourself, and whether you're optimistic or pessimistic — and it may even affect your health.

Indeed, some studies show that personality traits such as optimism and pessimism can affect many areas of your health and well-being. The positive thinking that usually comes with optimism is a key part of effective stress management. And effective stress management is associated with many health benefits. If you tend to be pessimistic, don't despair — you can learn positive thinking skills.

Understanding positive thinking and self-talk

Positive thinking doesn't mean that you ignore life's less pleasant situations. Positive thinking just means that you approach unpleasantness in a more positive and productive way. You think the best is going to happen, not the worst.

Positive thinking often starts with self-talk. Self-talk is the endless stream of unspoken thoughts that run through your head. These automatic thoughts can be positive or negative. Some of your self-talk comes from logic and reason. Other self-talk may arise from misconceptions that you create because of lack of information or expectations due to preconceived ideas of what may happen.

If the thoughts that run through your head are mostly negative, your outlook on life is more likely pessimistic. If your thoughts are mostly positive, you're likely an optimist — someone who practices positive thinking.

The health benefits of positive thinking

Researchers continue to explore the effects of positive thinking and optimism on health. Health benefits that positive thinking may provide include:

• Increased life span
• Lower rates of depression
• Lower levels of distress and pain
• Greater resistance to illnesses
• Better psychological and physical well-being
• Better cardiovascular health and reduced risk of death from cardiovascular disease and stroke
• Reduced risk of death from cancer
• Reduced risk of death from respiratory conditions
• Reduced risk of death from infections
• Better coping skills during hardships and times of stress

It's unclear why people who engage in positive thinking experience these health benefits. One theory is that having a positive outlook enables you to cope better with stressful situations, which reduces the harmful health effects of stress on your body.

It's also thought that positive and optimistic people tend to live healthier lifestyles — they get more physical activity, follow a healthier diet, and don't smoke or drink alcohol in excess.

Identifying negative thinking

Not sure if your self-talk is positive or negative? Some common forms of negative self-talk include:

• Filtering. You magnify the negative aspects of a situation and filter out all the positive ones. For example, you had a great day at work. You completed your tasks ahead of time and were complimented for doing a speedy and thorough job. That evening, you focus only on your plan to do even more tasks and forget about the compliments you received.
• Personalizing. When something bad occurs, you automatically blame yourself. For example, you hear that an evening out with friends is canceled, and you assume that the change in plans is because no one wanted to be around you.
• Catastrophizing. You automatically anticipate the worst without facts that the worse will happen. The drive-through coffee shop gets your order wrong, and then you think that the rest of your day will be a disaster.
• Blaming. You try to say someone else is responsible for what happened to you instead of yourself. You avoid being responsible for your thoughts and feelings.
• Saying you "should" do something. You think of all the things you think you should do and blame yourself for not doing them.
• Magnifying. You make a big deal out of minor problems.
• Perfectionism. Keeping impossible standards and trying to be more perfect sets yourself up for failure.
• Polarizing. You see things only as either good or bad. There is no middle ground.

Focusing on positive thinking

You can learn to turn negative thinking into positive thinking. The process is simple, but it does take time and practice — you're creating a new habit, after all. Following are some ways to think and behave in a more positive and optimistic way:

• Identify areas to change. If you want to become more optimistic and engage in more positive thinking, first identify areas of your life that you usually think negatively about, whether it's work, your daily commute, life changes or a relationship. You can start small by focusing on one area to approach in a more positive way. Think of a positive thought to manage your stress instead of a negative one.
• Check yourself. Periodically during the day, stop and evaluate what you're thinking. If you find that your thoughts are mainly negative, try to find a way to put a positive spin on them.
• Be open to humor. Give yourself permission to smile or laugh, especially during difficult times. Seek humor in everyday happenings. When you can laugh at life, you feel less stressed.
• Follow a healthy lifestyle. Aim to exercise for about 30 minutes on most days of the week. You can also break it up into 5- or 10-minute chunks of time during the day. Exercise can positively affect mood and reduce stress. Follow a healthy diet to fuel your mind and body. Get enough sleep. And learn techniques to manage stress.
• Surround yourself with positive people. Make sure those in your life are positive, supportive people you can depend on to give helpful advice and feedback. Negative people may increase your stress level and make you doubt your ability to manage stress in healthy ways.
• Practice positive self-talk. Start by following one simple rule: Don't say anything to yourself that you wouldn't say to anyone else. Be gentle and encouraging with yourself. If a negative thought enters your mind, evaluate it rationally and respond with affirmations of what is good about you. Think about things you're thankful for in your life.

Here are some examples of negative self-talk and how you can apply a positive thinking twist to them:

Practicing positive thinking every day

If you tend to have a negative outlook, don't expect to become an optimist overnight. But with practice, eventually your self-talk will contain less self-criticism and more self-acceptance. You may also become less critical of the world around you.

When your state of mind is generally optimistic, you're better able to handle everyday stress in a more constructive way. That ability may contribute to the widely observed health benefits of positive thinking.

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• Forte AJ, et al. The impact of optimism on cancer-related and postsurgical cancer pain: A systematic review. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management. 2021; doi:10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2021.09.008.
• Rosenfeld AJ. The neuroscience of happiness and well-being. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America. 2019;28:137.
• Kim ES, et al. Optimism and cause-specific mortality: A prospective cohort study. American Journal of Epidemiology. 2016; doi:10.1093/aje/kww182.
• Amonoo HL, et al. Is optimism a protective factor for cardiovascular disease? Current Cardiology Reports. 2021; doi:10.1007/s11886-021-01590-4.
• Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. 2nd ed. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://health.gov/paguidelines/second-edition. Accessed Oct. 20, 2021.
• Seaward BL. Essentials of Managing Stress. 4th ed. Burlington, Mass.: Jones & Bartlett Learning; 2021.
• Seaward BL. Cognitive restructuring: Reframing. Managing Stress: Principles and Strategies for Health and Well-Being. 8th ed. Burlington, Mass.: Jones & Bartlett Learning; 2018.
• Olpin M, et al. Stress Management for Life. 5th ed. Cengage Learning; 2020.
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A molecular ‘warhead’ against disease

A Harvard study found that women who were optimistic had a significantly reduced risk of dying from several major causes of death over an eight-year period, compared with women who were less optimistic.  

Credit: Estitxu Carton/Creative Commons

How power of positive thinking works

Karen Feldscher

Harvard Chan School Communications

Study looks at mechanics of optimism in reducing risk of dying prematurely

More like this.

Can happiness lead toward health?

Having an optimistic outlook on life — a general expectation that good things will happen — may help people live longer, according to a new study from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

The study found that women who were optimistic had a significantly reduced risk of dying from several major causes of death — including cancer, heart disease, stroke, respiratory disease, and infection — over an eight-year period, compared with women who were less optimistic.

The study appears online today in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

“While most medical and public health efforts today focus on reducing risk factors for diseases, evidence has been mounting that enhancing psychological resilience may also make a difference,” said Eric Kim , research fellow in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences and co-lead author of the study. “Our new findings suggest that we should make efforts to boost optimism, which has been shown to be associated with healthier behaviors and healthier ways of coping with life challenges.”

The study also found that healthy behaviors only partially explain the link between optimism and reduced mortality risk. One other possibility is that higher optimism directly impacts our biological systems, Kim said.

The study analyzed data from 2004 to 2012 from 70,000 women enrolled in the Nurses’ Health Study, a long-running study tracking women’s health via surveys every two years. They looked at participants’ levels of optimism and other factors that might play a role in how optimism may affect mortality risk, such as race, high blood pressure, diet, and physical activity.

The most optimistic women (the top quartile) had a nearly 30 percent lower risk of dying from any of the diseases analyzed in the study compared with the least optimistic (the bottom quartile), the study found. The most optimistic women had a 16 percent lower risk of dying from cancer; 38 percent lower risk of dying from heart disease; 39 percent lower risk of dying from stroke; 38 percent lower risk of dying from respiratory disease; and 52 percent lower risk of dying from infection.

While other studies have linked optimism with reduced risk of early death from cardiovascular problems, this was the first to find a link between optimism and reduced risk from other major causes.

“Previous studies have shown that optimism can be altered with relatively uncomplicated and low-cost interventions — even something as simple as having people write down and think about the best possible outcomes for various areas of their lives, such as careers or friendships,” said postdoctoral research fellow Kaitlin Hagan, co-lead author of the study. “Encouraging use of these interventions could be an innovative way to enhance health in the future.”

Other Harvard Chan School authors of the study included Professor Francine Grodstein and Associate Professor Immaculata De Vivo, both in the Department of Epidemiology, and Laura Kubzansky, Lee Kum Kee Professor of Social and Behavioral Sciences and co-director of the Lee Kum Sheung Center for Health and Happiness. Harvard Medical School Assistant Professor Dawn DeMeo was also a co-author.

The study was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health.

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• Published: 01 March 2023

The effect of positive thinking on resilience and life satisfaction of older adults: a randomized controlled trial

• Zahra Taherkhani 1 ,
• Mohammad Hossein Kaveh 2 ,
• Arash Mani 3 ,
• Leila Ghahremani 1 &
• Khadijeh Khademi 4  

Scientific Reports volume  13 , Article number:  3478 ( 2023 ) Cite this article

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The cumulative effects of adversity and unhappiness affect life satisfaction and quality of life in the growing older adult population. Most of the interventions aimed at improving the health and quality of life of older adults have adopted a problem-oriented or weakness-focused approach. However, a positive or strengths-focused approach can also have a virtuous but more effective capacity to contribute to the well-being and life satisfaction of older adults. Therefore, the present study was conducted to investigate the effect of positive thinking training on improving resilience and life satisfaction among older adults. A randomized controlled trial was conducted on 100 older adults with simple random sampling. The intervention group received 90-min weekly sessions for eight weeks on positive thinking training through written homework for reflection, group discussion, and media. The data were collected using Ingram and Wisnicki Positive Thinking Questionnaire, Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, and Tobin Life Satisfaction Questionnaire at baseline and one week and two months after the training. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics in SPSS software 26. P values below 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Positive thinking training led to better thinking ( p  < 0.001), higher resilience ( p  < 0.001), and greater life satisfaction ( p  < 0.001). The study's findings showed the effectiveness of the positive thinking training approach in improving resilience and life satisfaction in older adults. It is recommended to evaluate the long-term outcome in populations with different social, economic, and cultural statuses in future studies.

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Introduction

The older adult population is growing because of improved healthcare and education systems. These individuals encounter physical, psychological, and social adjustments that challenge their sense of self and capacity to live. Many people experience loneliness and depression episodes in old age due to living alone or lacking a close family, which results in the inability to participate in community activities 1 . The simultaneous effects of health disorders experiences and socioeconomic problems throughout life lead to life satisfaction challenges and low tolerance of problems during old age 2 . Older adults care programs have often focused on secondary care for some physical and psychological illnesses with a negative health approach. Psychological research and theory on welfare and quality of life have also focused on the influence of negative aspects 3 . In contrast to this traditional attitude, however, the past two decades have witnessed the occurrence of an alternative positive viewpoint, which originates from developmental psychology and explores the personal and environmental factors that can improve psychological happiness and quality of life, particularly during hardship or stress 4 , 5 .

New positive approaches have focused on the importance and role of individual components and skills, including resiliency, and increased emphasis on ideal or successful aging 6 . Several features of resilience, including physical, mental, and social features, have been well-known among older people 7 , 8 , 9 , representing the multi-dimensionality of this feature. High resilience during later years of life has been accompanied by ideal outcomes, such as reduced depression and anxiety, increased quality of life, and improved lifestyle behaviors 10 , 11 , 12 . In general, individual factors, such as level of education, cognitive and emotional abilities, self-care skills, beliefs, and attitudes, as well as physical-social environment factors, including family, healthcare system, social welfare, and physical environment facilities for the safe presence of older adult's individuals in the community have vital effects on their physical and mental health. In this way, these factors can affect their efficiency and life satisfaction 13 , 14 . Studies have indicated that life satisfaction and happiness do not depend solely on external conditions; individual mental states, such as hope, self-esteem, and a sense of efficiency, are also important. Individuals with a positive mental structure can evaluate many negative events positively 15 , 16 . Resilience is one of the most important determining factors of older adults’ mental health. Resilience refers to individuals’ traits and skills that empower them to thrive in the face of hardship or a disruptive event 10 , 11 . Resilient people have flexibility, high confidence, life expectancy, the ability to forgive others, purposefulness, social participation, and a positive view of life and the future that prevents anxiety and depression in older adults 17 . In addition to internal and personal factors, external and environmental factors affect resiliency 18 . Thus, resilience is not a static phenomenon. In this context, resiliency can be improved by interventions, such as positive thinking techniques, reviewing past events, having social participation, strengthening self-confidence and motivation, using a semantic approach, e.g., yoga, and reinforcing internal powers 19 , 20 .

The pattern of individual thinking is important; individuals with positive thinking can overcome problems, while negative thoughts can lead to greater problems. Therefore, people can overcome life difficulties and events by abandoning negative thoughts and replacing them with positive ones 21 , 22 . The positive approach aims to identify the structures and methods that lead to well-being, happiness, and increased life satisfaction. Therefore, using positive training techniques to increase older adult's individuals’ resilience can act as a barrier to the physical and emotional weaknesses of older adults. Studies in Iran have evaluated the impact of positive thinking on older adults' mental health, psychological well-being, life expectancy, and loneliness 23 , 24 , 25 . However, these studies have not been able to directly investigate the impact of positive thinking on the improvement of resilience in this population. In other countries, the effects of positive thinking skills on increasing the resilience level have been somewhat proven 18 , 23 , 26 . However, resilience is an individual-social process that is significantly affected by culture and religion. Even the aging phenomenon is defined differently in various societies 19 , 24 .

In Iranian society, older adults are highly respected, and there is a positive attitude toward their knowledge and experiences, which gives them a deep sense of usefulness. However, negative stereotypes about their abilities prevent them from being active in society and interfere with their creativity, liveliness, and care priorities. Accordingly, overcoming these negative stereotypes leads to a sense of empowerment, resilience, and life satisfaction. Thus, providing effective educational, emotional, cultural, and social interventions can be helpful 27 .

Hence, the results of these studies cannot be generalized to Iranian society without independent evaluations. To our knowledge, no empirical studies were found in the current research framework. Additionally, the previous studies have only considered a part of the relationships, and a few similar studies have yielded inconclusive results. Considering the transition to old age in Iranian society and considering cultural, social, religious, and economic factors that vary among communities, the present study aims to investigate the effects of positive thinking training on increasing the resilience level and life satisfaction in a population of Iranian older adults.

Ethical considerations

This study was conducted with the clinical trials registration number IRCT20171212037844N1 and the registration date of 15/01/2018. In addition, all methods were carried out following relevant guidelines and regulations. The study objectives and procedures were explained, and the participants were asked to sign the written informed consent forms.

Study design and population

This educational randomized controlled trial was conducted in Shiraz, Iran, in 2018. The study population included people aged 60–70 covered by the older adult daycare centers affiliated with Welfare Organization in Shiraz. Based on a similar study 23 , using the appropriate formula with the type I error rate of 5% and the test power of 80%, considering a 10% attrition rate, the sample size was calculated as 45 participants in each group. Participants were selected in each center with the simple random sampling technique. For this purpose, the list of names of older adults covered by the center was considered the basis for sampling. The sampling interval was calculated by considering almost equal sex proportions using a randomization number between 1 and 10. The selected people were checked in terms of the inclusion criteria, and in case of ineligibility, the next person was selected from the list. All the participants had normal vision and hearing, scored ≥ 26 on the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), and had the physical and mental ability to answer the questions. The participants had no psychiatric or neurological disorders and received no psychoactive drugs. Writing and reading literacy was another inclusion criterion. However, the exclusion criteria were being absent for more than two sessions, participating in similar training courses, and reluctance to continue participating in the study. The CONSORT diagram of the study is shown in Fig.  1 .

The CONSORT diagram of the study .

Data collection

The participants were asked to complete four questionnaires, including the Persian version of the Ingram and Wisnicki Positive Thinking Questionnaire 28 , the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale 29 , the Tobin Life Satisfaction Questionnaire 30 , and a demographic information questionnaire.

The demographic data included age, sex, level of education, marital status, having children, housing situation, employment status, monthly income, and suffering from diseases.

Ingram and Wisnicki's Positive Thinking Questionnaire contained 30 items, e.g., "I have a good sense of humor"; scored using a 5-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (never) to 5 (always). Thus, the total score of this questionnaire ranged from 30 to 150, with an average score of 90. Total scores above 90 and closer to 150 indicate a higher degree of positive thinking. The reliability index of this questionnaire was found to be 0.92 using Cronbach’s alpha 28 , which was 0.96 in the present study.

Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale included 25 items graded on a five-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (always false) to 5 (always true), with higher scores reflecting greater resilience. An example of the items in this questionnaire is "I take pride in my achievements." The reliability of the questionnaire was calculated with Cronbach’s alpha of 0.89 29 , which was 0.97 in the present study.

Tobin Life Satisfaction Questionnaire consisted of 13 items. Five items had negative contents, e.g ., "I have gotten more of the breaks in life than most of the people I know." The rest had positive content, e.g., "I have made plans for things I’ll be doing a month or a year from now." The statement “I do not know” was assigned two scores. In addition, positive statements received three scores for positive responses and one for negative ones. In contrast, negative statements were assigned three scores for negative responses and one for positive ones. Thus, the total life satisfaction score ranges from 13 to 39, with higher scores representing a higher level of life satisfaction. The reliability coefficient was calculated as 0.93. Cronbach’s alpha and Guttmann coefficients were found to be 0.79 and 0.78, respectively 30 . Cronbach’s alpha was 0.96 in the present study.

Baseline (Pre-test) and demographic data were collected one week before starting the training sessions. Post-intervention data were collected one week (Post-test) and two months (Follow-up) after the end of the intervention.

Procedure and intervention

The individuals in the intervention group participated in training sessions on positive thinking consisting of one 90-min session per week for eight consecutive weeks. The session's content was based on the theories of positive psychology 31 , 32 in the field of positive thinking, including Strengths of Character (Homework 1, 2, 3), Engagement and Flow (Homework 4, 5, 6,7), and Meaning (Class Assignment). The training was performed using teaching/learning methods, including Interactive lecturing, group discussion, and media, such as PowerPoint presentations and audio and video clips. Based on scientific evidence, writing thoughts, feelings, and experiences, especially in combination with their expression, strengthens the character, reduces distress, and improves mental health. It is important to note that group discussions are more effective in these cases 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 . Hence, at the end of each session, participants were given written homework for reflection at home to practice positive thinking; they explained and discussed it in the group at the beginning of the next session (Except session 8). It should be noted that their practical experience was introduced as a method of positive thinking. The topics, as well as the objectives of each training session, are summarized in Fig.  2 . In addition, a detailed description of the intervention program is shown in Appendix A .

The topics and objectives, and homework of each training session.

Statistical analysis

The collected data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics in the SPSS software version 26 38 and G-Power 3.1.9.2 (Düsseldorf, Germany). Data normality was checked by Shapiro–Wilk test. Additionally, a chi-square test was used to analyze the demographic data. Moreover, Repeated Measures ANOVA and independent T-test were performed to compare the research constructs' means. Bayesian inference was also used to update the probability of the hypothesis as more evidence or information became available. In all statistical tests, a p value below 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Ethics approval and consent to participate

All the participants were required to complete a written informed consent form. This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences (IR.SUMS.REC.1396.122).

The descriptive findings of this study showed no statistically significant differences in terms of the mean age (year) between the control group (M = 64.58, SD = 3.7) and the intervention group (M = 65.32, SD = 3.63); there was moderate evidence for the equal mean of age between two groups [t (98) = -0.639, p  = 0.52; BF = 5.36]. The frequency distribution of other demographic data in the control and intervention groups is summarized in Table 1 .

Accordingly, there was no significant difference between the two study groups ( p  > 0.05). Most participants had high school and lower degrees, were married, had children, lived in their own houses, were retired, received one-two million Tomans as their income, and suffered from at least one underlying disease. The most and least frequent diseases were cardiovascular disorders and cancer, respectively.

The results revealed anecdotal evidence for the equal mean score of positive thinking between the control and intervention groups before the intervention (BF = 1.69). However, moderate evidence for the difference was observed between the two groups in this regard 1 week after the intervention [t (98) = −2.87,  p  = 0.005] and in the follow-up phase [t (98) = −2.73,  p  = 0.007]. In the intervention group, there was very strong evidence for the mean scores difference of positive thinking in the pre-test, post-test, and follow-up stages [F (1.05, 51.89) = 50.48,  p  < 0.001], and the effect of the intervention was maintained over time (Table 2 ).

The results indicated moderate evidence for the equal mean of resiliency score at the pre-test stage between the control and intervention groups (BF = 5.69). Nonetheless, extreme evidence for the difference was found between the two groups in this regard after the intervention [t (87.5) = −11.152, p  < 0.001] and in the follow-up phase [t (98) = −5.81,  p  < 0.001]. In the intervention group, there was extreme evidence for the difference in the mean score of resiliency in the pre-test, post-test, and follow-up stages [F (1.68, 82.61) = 77.16,  p  < 0.001] (Table 3 ).

Anecdotal evidence was found between the control and intervention groups regarding the equal mean of life satisfaction score in the pre-test stage (BF = 1.72). However, extreme evidence for the difference was found between the control and intervention groups in this regard after the intervention [t (98) = −4.53,  p  < 0.001] and in the follow-up phase [t (98) = −4.43,  p  < 0.001]. In the intervention group, there was strong evidence for the difference in the life satisfaction scores in the pre-test, post-test, and follow-up stages [F (1.23, 60.71) = 69.60,  p  < 0.001] (Table 4 ).

The main purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of positive thinking training on increasing resilience levels and life satisfaction in a population of Iranian older adults. Designed positive thinking interventions are very sparse, specifically those targeting older adults. Most existing projects and studies have focused on high-risk younger adults, most of which are theoretical research studies with methodological weaknesses, small populations, and no exact outcome measures, which are inaccessible or invalid for older adults. Considering the cultural and social differences amongst societies, the lack of a similar study on an Iranian population, and low scores of positive thinking, resilience, and life satisfaction among Iranian older adults based on the present study findings, it seems necessary to perform appropriate interventions. The results of this study showed that the positive-thinking intervention significantly increased the mean scores of positive thinking, resilience, and life satisfaction in the intervention group one week and two months after the intervention. Several studies have been conducted on promoting resilience through older adults’ capability to enjoy positive experiences, activities to predict future events, and tools to reinforce relationships that activate feelings of pleasure and well-being 17 . Similarly, Ruiz-Rodríguez et al. conducted an interventional study and reported a significant relationship between social support, positive thinking, and social relationships with the degree of resilience 39 . Lysne PE et al. reported a significant positive correlation between resilience and different dimensions of health and life satisfaction 40 . Resiliency leads to life satisfaction through improving mental health and indirectly affects life satisfaction. In other words, resilience leads to a positive attitude and life satisfaction by affecting individual feelings and excitement 41 . The current study's clear and practical results can be implemented as training programs for many similar aging centers. However, this study had several limitations, including limited follow-up for only two months, selection of the study groups from older adult centers, and non-generalizability of some findings, such as resilience due to ethnic and cultural differences.

Conclusions

In conclusion, the current study findings revealed a relationship between resilience and positive thinking. Positive thinking and interventions can increase older adults’ resilience, and thereby improve their quality of life. High quality of life can lead to greater life satisfaction. In addition, positive psychological training can directly contribute to positive and healthy thinking, ultimately leading to a better dynamic life for older adults.

Data availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Abbreviations

Mini-Mental State Examination

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Zahra Taherkhani & Leila Ghahremani

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Taherkhani, Z., Kaveh, M.H., Mani, A. et al. The effect of positive thinking on resilience and life satisfaction of older adults: a randomized controlled trial. Sci Rep 13 , 3478 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-30684-y

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What Is Positive Thinking? +9 Examples of Positive Thoughts

In this article, we’ll address these questions while providing resources to help you cultivate the ability to think more positively. With these insights, you’ll better understand how to swap out negative thoughts for positive ones, grow your wellbeing, and even improve your physical health.

Before we continue, we thought you might like to download our three Positive Psychology Exercises for free . These science-based exercises explore fundamental aspects of positive psychology, including strengths, values, and self-compassion, and will give you the tools to enhance the wellbeing of your clients, students, or employees.

This Article Contains:

What is positive thinking in psychology, are there benefits 4 research results, positive thinking and physical health: 5 findings, 9 real-life examples of positive thinking, positive thinking vs. negative thinking, criticisms: what positive thinking is not, our 5 best positive thinking resources, a take-home message.

Broadly speaking, positive thinking can be thought of as positive cognitions. This distinguishes positive thinking from emotions, behaviors, and longer term outcomes like wellbeing or depression.

In the research on positive thinking, an agreed-upon definition is still evolving. For example, Caprara and Steca (2005) suggested that life satisfaction , self-esteem, and optimism were indicators that a person was engaging in positive thinking.

Indeed, these concepts may involve positive thinking, but they are also often thought of as positive outcomes that might result from engaging in positive-thinking strategies.

Others have been more precise about what positive thinking involves. Bekhet and Zauszniewski (2013) outlined eight key skills that contribute to positive thinking that can be recalled easily using the acronym THINKING:

• Transforming negative thoughts into positive thoughts
• Highlighting positive aspects of the situation
• Interrupting pessimistic thoughts by using relaxation techniques and distraction
• Noting the need to practice positive thinking
• Knowing how to break a problem into smaller parts to be manageable
• Initiating optimistic beliefs with each part of the problem
• Nurturing ways to challenge pessimistic thoughts
• Generating positive feelings by controlling negative thoughts

You’ll note that this list includes techniques such as relaxation that may or may not be cognitive.

Other researchers have explored the different dimensions of positive thinking and have suggested that positive thinking can be understood as a construct with four dimensions (Tsutsui & Fujiwara, 2015):

• Self-encouragement thinking This involves thoughts about being one’s own cheerleader.
• Self-assertive thinking This involves thoughts about doing well for others.
• Self-instructive and control thinking This involves thoughts that guide performance.
• Self-affirmative thinking This involves confident thoughts.

As you can see, positive thinking can be defined in different ways. Inconsistent definitions of positive thinking in the research make it difficult to draw clear conclusions about the role of positive thinking in mental health .

For example, Diener et al. (2009) suggest that positive thinking is good for wellbeing, but when positive thinking and wellbeing are measured with the same scales (for example, scales that measure optimism, subjective wellbeing, or life satisfaction), the research may really be saying that something predicts itself, which is not very useful or informative.

Clearer definitions about what positive thinking is and how it’s different from assessments of wellbeing are needed to better understand the actual benefits and importance of positive thinking.

Here we’ll aim to clarify which types of positive thinking are good for mental health and wellbeing and which types might not be so good.

First, positive thinking about the self tends to be good for wellbeing. For example, when people have confidence in their abilities to achieve, they are more likely to succeed and achieve (Taylor & Brown, 1994).

Viewing oneself more positively than others also seems to buffer the effects of stress (Taylor & Brown, 1994). This evidence is mostly consistent with research on self-worth, self-confidence, and self-esteem (Miller Smedema, Catalano, & Ebener, 2010) – processes that may be considered types of positive thinking.

Second, optimistic thoughts are generally thought to be good for wellbeing. It doesn’t seem to matter whether these thoughts are unrealistic or not. Optimistic thinking tends to help people feel better, have more positive social relationships, and cope better with stress (Taylor & Brown, 1994).

Third, positive thoughts or beliefs about control appear to be beneficial. For example, believing that we have control during stressful experiences seems to help us cope better (Taylor & Brown, 1994).

The benefit of positive thoughts about control appears to be consistent with other research on the challenge mindset . When we have a challenge mindset , we believe that we have the skills and ability to handle current stressors. This mindset can be contrasted with a threat mindset , which is characterized by thoughts and beliefs that we can not effectively handle our current stressors (Crum, Akinola, Martin, & Fath, 2017).

The challenge mindset , where we believe we have more control, is more beneficial for us.

Lastly, a general positive outlook toward life, oneself, and the future is considered so beneficial that it is often considered a part of wellbeing itself (Caprara & Steca, 2005). As the philosopher René Descartes once said:

I think, therefore I am.

This seems true when it comes to positive thinking; if we think we feel good, then we do.

Download 3 Free Positive Psychology Exercises (PDF)

Enhance wellbeing with these free, science-based exercises that draw on the latest insights from positive psychology.

Download 3 Free Positive Psychology Tools Pack (PDF)

By filling out your name and email address below.

Research has begun to provide compelling evidence for a link between positive thinking and physical health. Namely optimism, which is often considered a type of positive thought, seems to contribute to positive health outcomes. For example, Scheier and Carver (1987) linked optimism to fewer physical ailments such as coughs, fatigue, muscle soreness, and dizziness.

Optimists also seemed to recover faster from coronary artery bypass surgery (Scheier & Carver, 1987). Other evidence points to the potential impact of positive thinking on cardiovascular health, including better blood pressure and lower risk for heart attacks.

Positive thinking also seems to improve the quality of life among cancer patients and can be protective against the common cold, allergies, and other immune system issues (Naseem & Khalid, 2010). Furthermore, AIDS-specific optimism is related to active coping (Taylor et al., 1992).

Although there are many benefits of positive thinking on health, there appears to be one key caveat. Urging patients with severe illness to think positively about extremely negative situations can be too big of an ask.

Psychological support that includes positive thinking can place an unnecessary burden on already struggling patients. So it’s important to keep in mind that positive thinking is just one of many potentially successful strategies and shouldn’t be forced upon individuals who don’t feel like it’s a good fit for them (Rittenberg, 1995).

Past-focused positive thinking

Past-focused thinking that is negative or pessimistic may contribute to greater depression. Shifting these thoughts to be more positive can help us move past bad things that happened in the past.

Here are examples of past-focused positive thoughts that put a positive spin on the past while still acknowledging the difficult situation:

• “I did the best I could.”
• “That job interview went badly, but at least I learned what to do differently next time.”
• “I know my childhood wasn’t perfect, but my parents did the best they could.”

Present-focused positive thinking

Present-focused positive thinking can help us cope more effectively with our current challenges, decrease our stress, and potentially improve our life satisfaction.

Here are some examples of present-focused positive thoughts:

• “I’m so lucky to have my friend Jane who really cares about me.”
• “That breakfast was so tasty and beautiful, and I enjoyed it immensely.”
• “Even though I may make mistakes, I always try my best.”

Future-focused positive thinking

Future-focused thinking that is negative or pessimistic may contribute to greater worry or anxiety. Shifting these thoughts to be more positive can help us stay more present and stop generating negative emotions about things that haven’t even happened yet.

Here are some examples of future-focused positive thoughts:

• “It’s all going to turn out fine.”
• “I can’t wait to go to that event next week.”
• “I will continue to work toward my goals, so I know that my future is going to be great.”

By focusing positive thinking backward, in the moment, and forward, we can use it to resolve different types of negative thoughts and potentially improve multiple aspects of wellbeing.

Like positive thinking, negative thinking is not a clear-cut construct. But as a relatively simple example, optimism is often contrasted with pessimism.

When it comes to performance, both optimism and pessimism are equally effective. More specially, a person who is a defensive pessimist does better when using one strategy, and a person who is a strategic optimist does better when using another. That means that negative thoughts can help some people in some circumstances (Norem & Chang, 2002).

When it comes to wellbeing, optimists tend to be in a better mood, while pessimists tend to be higher in anxiety (Norem & Chang, 2002). But simply inducing a more positive mood in pessimists doesn’t just hurt their performance, it makes them more  anxious.

Defensive pessimists do and feel better when they’re allowed to explore potentially negative outcomes – this helps them manage their anxiety more effectively. Furthermore, defensive pessimists have better outcomes than other anxious people who are not pessimists.

All this is to say that ridding people of their pessimism is not only unhelpful, but it may also be harmful (Norem & Chang, 2002). So what does one do with negative thinking?

In the case of pessimists, it may be better not to force them into positive thinking. To them, it may feel like trying to put a square peg into a round hole. Instead, it may be more helpful to explore whether negative thoughts are functional, useful, and beneficial.

It may be helpful to record negative thoughts to understand why they appear and how they affect other emotions and behaviors. Use our Dysfunctional Thought Record Worksheet to do this, as it will help explore negative thought triggers and practice making thoughts more adaptive.

This doesn’t mean these new thoughts have to be positive, just more helpful. Furthermore, you can access our Getting Rid of ANTS: Automatic Negative Thoughts Worksheet  as well.

First, excessive positive emotion may actually harm wellbeing. For example, Dr. June Gruber’s research suggests that too much positive emotion can be a risk factor for mania (Gruber, Johnson, Oveis, & Keltner, 2008).

Furthermore, thinking excessively about happiness has also been linked to lower wellbeing. Especially, setting unreasonably high standards for happiness and frequently thinking about one’s own emotional state have been linked to lower happiness (Ford & Mauss, 2014). This research suggests that there may be some aspects of positive thinking that are not good for us.

Another common criticism of positive thinking is that it’s an inappropriate, and possibly ineffective, strategy in some situations – for example, in response to the death of a loved one (Bonanno & Burton, 2013).

Further research has shown that cognitive reappraisal, which involves thinking about the positives or silver linings of a situation, can help in some situations and hurt in others. More specifically, using this positive thinking strategy was actually associated with higher depression in situations that were controllable (Troy, Shallcross, & Mauss, 2013). This suggests that positive thinking may not be an effective strategy in all situations.

Another criticism centers around particular types of positive thinking that are not based on science. For example, experts in the field of psychology generally consider “the law of attraction,” which suggests that believing in something will make it so, to be pseudoscience, not based on scientific methods.

In fact, these types of beliefs are considered magical thinking, and research has shown that greater familiarity with the law of attraction is associated with higher depression (Jones, 2019). So it’s important to keep in mind that positive thinking can be a useful tool in some circumstances and may contribute to optimism, positive outcomes, and wellbeing, but it’s not magic.

17 Top-Rated Positive Psychology Exercises for Practitioners

Expand your arsenal and impact with these 17 Positive Psychology Exercises [PDF] , scientifically designed to promote human flourishing, meaning, and wellbeing.

Created by Experts. 100% Science-based.

Here are some resources to help you learn more about positive thinking and build positive thinking skills.

Radical self-love cards

This worksheet helps you build a deck of self-affirmation cards. These can help cultivate more self-focused positive thoughts.

Grab the Stacking the Deck worksheet for guidelines.

Reverse the Rabbit Hole

Those of us with anxiety know that thoughts take on a mind of their own and take us along for the ride.

By considering positive outcomes, you may be able to derail this process and get out of the anxiety rabbit hole.

Grab the Reverse the Rabbit Hole worksheet to get started.

Paying attention to positive events

It’s human nature to pay more attention to the negative than the positive. But if we’re always just focusing on the bad stuff, we never get around to noticing and appreciating the good stuff.

Make an effort to pay more attention to the positive in life. Grab our Skills for Regulating Emotions worksheet  to learn more.

I’m Great Because…

Sometimes we are self-critical because we just haven’t spent the time to think about what is great about us. Reflecting on our good qualities can make positive thinking easier.

Check out our I’m Great Because… worksheet for some prompts.

My Love Letter to Myself

Exploring our positive qualities and working to better understand how they benefit us can help us value ourselves more.

To build this self-insight, take a peek at our My Love Letter to Myself worksheet .

17 Positive Psychology Exercises

If you’re looking for more science-based ways to help others enhance their wellbeing, this signature collection contains 17 validated positive psychology tools for practitioners. Use them to help others flourish and thrive.

Positive thinking has been of interest to psychologists for some time. Still, a mutually agreed-upon definition of positive thinking remains elusive.

Regardless of how positive thinking is measured, it appears to impact both mental and physical health positively.

Further, many useful resources are available to help people build their positive thinking skills.

Overall, the research suggests that cultivating positive thinking in counseling, therapy, or on your own is indeed a worthwhile endeavor. We trust our resources will be beneficial in guiding you on a more positive path.

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Don’t forget to download our three Positive Psychology Exercises for free .

• Bekhet, A. K., & Zauszniewski, J. A. (2013). Measuring use of positive thinking skills: Psychometric testing of a new scale. Western Journal of Nursing Research , 35 (8), 1074–1093.
• Bonanno, G. A., & Burton, C. L. (2013). Regulatory flexibility: An individual differences perspective on coping and emotion regulation. Perspectives on Psychological Science , 8 (6), 591–612.
• Caprara, G. V., & Steca, P. (2005). Affective and social self-regulatory efficacy beliefs as determinants of positive thinking and happiness. European Psychologist , 10 (4), 275–286.
• Crum, A. J., Akinola, M., Martin, A., & Fath, S. (2017). The role of stress mindset in shaping cognitive, emotional, and physiological responses to challenging and threatening stress. Anxiety, Stress, & Coping , 30 (4), 379–395.
• Diener, E., Wirtz, D., Biswas-Diener, R., Tov, W., Kim-Prieto, C., Choi, D. W., & Oishi, S. (2009). New measures of well-being. In E. Diener, Assessing well-being: The collected works of Ed Diener. (pp. 247–266). Springer.
• Ford, B., & Mauss, I. (2014). The paradoxical effects of pursuing positive emotion. In J. Gruber & J. T. Moskowitz (Eds.),  Positive emotion: Integrating the light sides and dark sides (pp. 363–382). Oxford University Press.
• Gruber, J., Johnson, S. L., Oveis, C., & Keltner, D. (2008). Risk for mania and positive emotional responding: Too much of a good thing? Emotion , 8 (1), 23–33.
• Jones, B. (2019). If you think it you can achieve it: The relationship between goal specificity and magical thinking. Murray State Theses and Dissertations, 140.
• Naseem, Z., & Khalid, R. (2010). Positive thinking in coping with stress and health outcomes: Literature review. Journal of Research & Reflections in Education , 4 (1).
• Norem, J. K., & Chang, E. C. (2002). The positive psychology of negative thinking. Journal of Clinical Psychology , 58 (9), 993–1001.
• Miller Smedema, S., Catalano, D., & Ebener, D. J. (2010). The relationship of coping, self-worth, and subjective well-being: A structural equation model. Rehabilitation Counseling Bulletin , 53 (3), 131–142.
• Rittenberg, C. N. (1995). Positive thinking: An unfair burden for cancer patients? Supportive Care in Cancer , 3 (1), 37–39.
• Scheier, M. E., & Carver, C. S. (1987). Dispositional optimism and physical well‐being: The influence of generalized outcome expectancies on health. Journal of Personality , 55 (2), 169–210.
• Taylor, S. E., & Brown, J. D. (1994). Positive illusions and well-being revisited: Separating fact from fiction.  Psychological Bulletin , 116 (1), 21–27.
• Taylor, S. E., Kemeny, M. E., Aspinwall, L. G., Schneider, S. G., Rodriguez, R., & Herbert, M. (1992). Optimism, coping, psychological distress, and high-risk sexual behavior among men at risk for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 63 (3), 460.
• Troy, A. S., Shallcross, A. J., & Mauss, I. B. (2013). A person-by-situation approach to emotion regulation: Cognitive reappraisal can either help or hurt, depending on the context. Psychological Science , 24 (12), 2505–2514.
• Tsutsui, K., & Fujiwara, M. (2015). The relationship between positive thinking and individual characteristics: Development of the Soccer Positive Thinking Scale. Football Science , 12 , 74–83.

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What our readers think.

Negative thinking is clearly unhelpful and unhealthy. But critical thinking—deep reflection, informed by research — is increasingly important in an age of opinion-based blogs, or “created content “ copy-and-pasted from unknown sources. This seems especially true when talking about positive thinking. Can we convince critical thinkers (also some of the most negative thinkers?) to be more positive through empty platitudes or anecdotal evidence?

A big stumbling block for me here is the interpretation of René Descartes’ “I think, therefore I am.” to mean “if we think we feel good, then we do”. I hate to be a downer, but this is a superficial misinterpretation of the original quote. I wouldn’t mind so much, but Cartesian philosophy is such a major contributor to our ongoing (mis)understanding of the brain, mind, reality. Please don’t undermine the otherwise wonderful ideas presented here and alienate critical thinkers. Positive psychology needs to convince them too!

The Affective Neuroscience of Positive Thinking

Positive thinking ‘works’, but works best ‘affectively’ when performed persistently while in a relaxed state. Below is the neuroscience behind this simple idea, which can be easily tested if one gives this slight modification of positive thinking a try.

And it all has to do with the neuroscience of pleasure. Unlike other functions in the brain, from perception to thinking, the neural source of our pleasures are localized in the brain as specialized groups of nerve cells or ‘nuclei’, or ‘hot spots’, located in the mid-brain. These nuclei receive inputs from different sources in the nervous system, from proprioceptive stimuli (neuro-muscular activity) to interoceptive stimuli (satiation and deprivation) to cognitive stimuli (novel positive or negative means-end expectancies), and all modulate the activity of these nuclei which release or inhibit endogenous opioids that elicit the rainbow of pleasures which mark our day.

For example, relaxation induces opioid activity and is pleasurable, but tension inhibits it and is painful. Similarly, satiation inhibits our pleasure when we eat, and deprivation or hunger increases it. Finally, positive novel means-ends expectancies enhance our pleasures, and negative expectancies inhibit them. Thus, for our sensory pleasures (eating, drinking), watching an exciting movie makes popcorn taste better than when watching a dull or depressing movie. This also applies to when we are relaxed, as thinking or performing meaningful activity is reflected in ‘flow’ or ‘peak’ experiences when we are engaging in highly meaningful behavior while relaxed. (Meaning will be defined as anticipated or current behavior that has branching novel positive implications, such as creating art, doing good deeds or productive work)

But again, don’t mind this verbiage, just prove it to yourself Just get relaxed using a relaxation protocol such as progressive muscle relaxation, eyes closed rest, or mindfulness, and then follow it by exclusively attending to or performing meaningful activity, or in other words, positive thinking, and avoiding all meaningless activity or ‘distraction’. Keep it up and you will not only stay relaxed, but continue so with a greater sense of wellbeing or pleasure. The attribution of affective value to meaningful behavior makes the latter seem ‘autotelic’, or reinforcing in itself, and the resultant persistent attention to meaning crowds out the occasions we might have spent dwelling on other unmeaningful worries and concerns.

References:

Rauwolf, P., et al. (2021) Reward uncertainty – as a ‘psychological salt’- can alter the sensory experience and consumption of high-value rewards in young healthy adults. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General (prepub) https://doi.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Fxge0001029

A more formal explanation from a neurologically based learning theory of this technique is provided on pp. 44-51 in a little open-source book on the psychology of rest linked below. (The flow experience is discussed on pp. 81-86.) https://www.scribd.com/doc/284056765/The-Book-of-Rest-The-Odd-Psychology-of-Doing-Nothing

More on the Neuroscience of Pleasure Berridge Lab, University of Michigan https://lsa.umich.edu/psych/research&labs/berridge/research/affectiveneuroscience.html

The article seemed well written, though there were a few places where the writing seemed unclear to me.

I would recommend, though, that the author consider the work of Dr. Joe Dispenza, whose programs reach millions every year. It would be wonderful for this article to include some of his research findings about the placebo effect. His work has been scientifically validated to the point that NIH has approached him with the hope of studying his work. I feel that without looking at Dr. Dispenza’s work, it is a disservice to belittle the Law Of Attraction, as it represents a lack of understanding of ‘The Field’. It would also be so helpful to include a consideration of the work of Lynne McTaggart, a UK researcher, who is changing the planet with her understanding of how to use group intention to create change in the physical world. Dr. Joe Dispenza’s and Lynne McTaggart’s work are by no means pseudo-science, as this author would seem to imply by her comment. I felt that the author was relying far more on studies that are 15, and even 33 years old, rather than looking at the scientific knowledge we have available today. As a result, the article felt quite ‘outdated’ to me.

Good day Maryanne,

You mention a few interesting points! As always, we encourage comments and insights from our readers and appreciate the sharing of your thoughts.

Best regards, Annelé

I like it because it gives a new dimension for thinking about past present and future and also because it helps me a lot to understand how mind works in a tough situation . So I’d like to register my appreciation for the useful content of this article

This article is very useful .

Self – encouragement thinking,self – assertive thinking,self – instructive and control thinking self affirmative thinking in four points very useful words.Positive thinking very important life…very importance of positive thinking good for mental health…positive thinking about the self tends to be good for well being.Positive thinking improve the quality of life.Future focused Positive thinking Resources….very nice.Thankyou Wishes By.TWINKLE M.SHOWZHANEEM

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3 Positive Psychology Tools (PDF)

• Positive Psychology

The Power of Positive Thinking

Our thoughts have a lot of power over how we feel, and ultimately how we act..

Posted March 26, 2021 | Reviewed by Devon Frye

Have you ever had a really intense dream that felt so real, even after you woke up? For example, I’ve had dreams where someone important to me passes away and it takes several minutes for me to realize that this didn’t actually happen.

Have you ever wondered why that is? Why is it so hard for our thoughts to catch up to our emotions? It’s because our emotions are very powerful. Sometimes the only way we can bring ourselves out of the emotions attached to our dreams is to adjust our thinking. Meaning, we’ll have to tell ourselves it was only a dream, that it didn’t actually happen.

The power our thoughts have over our feelings bleeds into our everyday lives, too. Life is not always consistent. There are times when it’s easy to make life go well for ourselves, while other times it can feel really difficult.

You’ve maybe even found yourself in the same situation at different points in your life and each time you handled it differently. This is because our thoughts have a lot of power over how we feel, and ultimately how we act.

In fact, oftentimes our thoughts shape the way we feel. Our happiness is dependent on the quality of our thoughts. We’re not happy because we’re happy, we’re happy because we interpret the things that happen to us as good. On the flip side, if we interpret the things that happen to us as bad, we tend to feel unhappy. Our thoughts interpret the things that happen in our lives and as a result, they have a strong influence over our happiness.

This is where things can get a little tricky. When reality happens, we think that there is only one way of interpreting it and there is little room for negotiation. It feels black and white to us—X happened and as a result, I feel Y. But, as we move through life and collect experiences, we may find holes in this way of thinking.

In life, there are lots of bumps and things don’t always go the way we envisioned. Sometimes we handle these bumps with grace and we do what we can to find a resolution. Other times, it’s much harder to find a solution because our anger overwhelms our ability to problem-solve. When the latter happens, it’s usually because our thoughts are telling us “this shouldn’t be happening—this wasn’t in the plan!” But when we handle unexpected situations with ease, it’s because our thoughts are in solution mode. The situation may be the same, but our thoughts make us experience it differently.

Let’s look at an example. You wake up with a headache one morning. The average person will most likely try to make their headache go away. They may try drinking water, taking an Advil, or stretching their body. The key here is that this person is searching for a solution rather than fixating on why they’ve found themselves in this situation.

Another person who is more prone to negative thoughts may say “This is so annoying, I wish it would go away! Why did this have to happen to me?”

An even darker and more problematic train of thought may be “I wonder if something is wrong? What if I have a brain tumor and die? I should make a doctor’s appointment immediately to get this looked at. This must be something really serious.” This train of thought is the most dangerous because it jumps to the worst possible conclusion versus looking at the situation with objectivity.

If you’re someone who relates most with the person in the first example, it can be hard to picture experiencing it any other way. However, each situation is true for the person experiencing it. Ideally, we’d always like to handle it as the person did in the first example, and the first step to achieving that is recognizing that our happiness is dependent on our positive thinking .

I want to take this one step further, and this thinking may be controversial—it doesn’t matter what happens to us; what matters is how we interpret those things. In life, things will go wrong. But we only deem these things as “wrong” because we had expectations for them to go a certain way in the first place.

For example, if we get in our car to drive somewhere, we are hopeful we will get from point A to point B safely. So when our car breaks down, we may feel angry or annoyed. But instead, we could choose to view it as something that happens and we’ll just have to get it fixed. The way we view situations has a lot of power over our reactions to them.

Another minor situation you may experience is getting stuck in traffic. Most drivers in this situation may not be thrilled, but they are still polite to their surrounding drivers. But there are always a few people who are angry and filled with rage, beeping their horns incessantly even though no one can move. We may have even been these people at one point! But, we must remember that they are the exception, not the rule. Those who get upset over the little bumps usually have challenging lives because their thoughts are focused on being upset rather than finding solutions and letting things go.

When big things happen, we tend to think “I have a right to be upset.” And it’s true—terrible things that happen to us will most likely make us upset—but at the same time our thoughts create our reality. If we associate experiencing something upsetting with needing to feel unhappy now, perhaps for longer, then this is going to be our reality. No matter the situation, I can almost guarantee you that someone else has gone through the same thing and they are doing absolutely fine. They may not have liked what they were going through, but they adjusted and are still living a good life.

Let’s look at divorce as an example. There’s a 50 percent chance of getting divorced when you marry someone. This doesn’t mean we should automatically assume we’re going to divorce the person we choose to marry, but we shouldn’t assume that recovering and moving on is impossible if a divorce was to happen. If you and your partner divorce, it’s important to make space to grieve and mourn. But we should also make space for recovery and positive thoughts, too. The most helpful thing we can do is take a step back and ask if our thoughts are helping us move on or keeping us stuck.

Our thoughts create our happiness or unhappiness. When we stop creating expectations around experiences, it may become easier to feel more positive. You know the saying “bad things happen to good people”? We cannot assume that bad things won’t happen to us, but it’s helpful to remind ourselves that we have control over our response to those bad things.

It’s inevitable that we will experience tough situations, both minor and big, during our lives. It’s essential that we carve out space to feel our feelings and grieve our losses before we consider moving on. But once we do that, it’s important that we do move on and adjust our lives to live in our new reality. This is how people overcome adversity and ultimately live a beautiful life. Those who are able to do this understand the deep power that thoughts have over our emotions. And once we can control our thoughts, we are capable of overcoming anything.

Robert Puff, Ph.D. , is host and producer of the Happiness Podcast, with over 16 million downloads.

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Positive Intelligence

• Shawn Achor

Three ways individuals can cultivate their own sense of well-being and set themselves up to succeed

Reprint: R1201G

Most of us assume that success will lead to happiness. Shawn Achor, founder of the corporate strategy firm Good Think, argues that we’ve got it backward; in work he’s done with KPMG and Pfizer, and studies he’s conducted in concert with Yale’s psychology department, he has seen how happiness actually precedes success.

Happy employees are more productive, more creative, and better at problem solving than their unhappy peers.

In this article, Achor lays out three strategies for improving your own mental well-being at work. In tough economic times, they’re essential for keeping yourself—and your team—at peak performance.

In July 2010 Burt’s Bees, a personal-care products company, was undergoing enormous change as it began a global expansion into 19 new countries. In this kind of high-pressure situation, many leaders pester their deputies with frequent meetings or flood their in-boxes with urgent demands. In doing so, managers jack up everyone’s anxiety level, which activates the portion of the brain that processes threats—the amygdala—and steals resources from the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for effective problem solving.

• SA Shawn Achor is the New York Times bestselling author of Big Potential, The Happiness Advantage and Before Happiness . He serves as the Chief Experience Officer for BetterUp. His TED talk is one of the most popular, with over 11 million views. He has lectured or researched at over a third of the Fortune 100 and in 50 countries, as well as for the NFL, Pentagon and White House. Shawn is leading a series of courses on “21 Days to Inspire Positive Change” with the Oprah Winfrey Network.

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Benefits of Positive Thinking for Body and Mind

Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

People sometimes say that they prefer to "look on the bright side" of a challenging situation or that they "see the cup as half full." Chances are good that the individuals who make these comments are positive thinkers, and they may be getting many benefits because of this approach.

Research is finding more and more evidence pointing to the many benefits of positive thinking and staying optimistic. Such findings suggest that not only are positive thinkers healthier and less stressed, but they also tend to have greater overall well-being and a higher level of resilience.

Press Play for Advice On Thinking More Positively

Hosted by therapist Amy Morin, LCSW, this episode of The Verywell Mind Podcast shares how to find the positive things in life. Click below to listen now.

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Benefits of Positive Thinking

Even if positive thinking doesn't come naturally, there are plenty of great reasons to start cultivating affirmative thoughts and minimizing negative self-talk .

Reduced Stress

When faced with stressful situations, positive thinkers cope more effectively than pessimistic thinkers—and with less anxiety and worry . Rather than dwelling on their frustrations or things that they cannot change, they will devise a plan of action and ask others for assistance and advice.

Pessimistic thinkers, on the other hand, are more likely to assume that the situation is out of their control. They often believe that there is nothing they can do to change it.

Increased Immunity

In recent years, researchers have found that the mind can have a powerful effect on the body. Immunity is one area where one's thoughts and attitudes can have a particularly powerful influence.

According to one published article, the more positive thoughts a person has, the better their ability to fight off disease. The authors also suggest that the opposite is true—the fewer positive thoughts a person has, the greater their disease risk.

Improved Wellness

Not only can positive thinking impact the ability to cope with stress and compromise immunity, but it also has an impact on overall well-being. Specifically, it is tied to a reduced risk of death from cardiovascular issues, lower depression risk , and an increased lifespan.

While researchers aren't entirely clear on why positive thinking benefits health, some suggest that positive people might lead healthier lifestyles. By coping better with stress and avoiding unhealthy behaviors, they are able to improve their health and well-being.

Better Resilience

Resilience refers to our ability to cope with problems. Resilient people are able to face a crisis or trauma with strength and resolve. Rather than falling apart in the face of such stress, they have the ability to carry on and eventually overcome such adversity.

Positive thinking can play a major role in resilience. When dealing with a challenge , optimistic thinkers typically look at what they can do to fix the problem. Instead of giving up hope, they marshal their resources and are willing to ask others for help.

By nurturing positive emotions, even in the face of terrible events, people can reap both short-term and long-term rewards, including managing stress levels , lessening depression, and building coping skills that will serve them well in the future.

When Positive Thinking May Not Be Helpful

Before trying to put on rose-colored glasses in every situation, it's important to note that positive thinking is not about taking a "Pollyanna" approach to life. In fact, in some instances, optimism might not be beneficial.

One instance is when it's unrealistic to be optimistic. As an example, someone who is unrealistically optimistic may not correctly evaluate their risk of developing a major disease such as cancer, causing them to engage in behaviors that further elevate their risk.

Instead of ignoring reality in favor of the silver lining, positive thinking centers on such things as a person's belief in their abilities, a positive approach to challenges, and trying to make the most of the bad situations .

Bad things can happen. Sometimes we will be disappointed or hurt by the actions of others. This does not mean that the world is out to get us or that all people will let us down. Instead, positive thinkers look at the situation realistically, search for ways that they can improve the situation, and try to learn from their experiences.

Yalçin AS. Importance of positive thinking . In: Advances in Health Sciences Research .

Eagleson C, Hayes S, Mathews A, Perman G, Hirsch CR. The power of positive thinking: Pathological worry is reduced by thought replacement in generalized anxiety disorder . Behav Res Ther . 2016;78:13-18. doi:10.1016/j.brat.2015.12.017

Shankar P, Dinesh P, Preetha S. Impact of positive thoughts on immunity. Ind J Forensic Med Toxicol . 2020;14(4):5364-5371.

Buigues C, Queralt A, De Velasco JA, et al. Psycho-social factors in patients with cardiovascular disease attending a family-centred prevention and rehabilitation programme: Euroaction model in Spain .  Life . 2021;11(2):89. doi:10.3390/life11020089

Bortolotti L, Antrobus M. Costs and benefits of realism and optimism . Curr Opin Psychiatry . 2015;28(2):194-198. doi:10.1097.YCO.0000000000000143

By Kendra Cherry, MSEd Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

Struggling with positive thinking? Research shows grumpy moods can actually be useful

Andrews and Elizabeth Brunner Professor of Behavioural/Industrial Economics, Lancaster University

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Eyal Winter receives funding from ESRC.

Lancaster University provides funding as a founding partner of The Conversation UK.

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As psychiatry, which uses medical and biological methods to treat mental disorders, has largely overtaken psychotherapy , which relies on non-biological approaches such as conversation and counselling, psychotherapists have sought alternative challenges. One common approach is to focus on enhancing the happiness of mentally healthy people, rather than relieving the mental pain and trauma of those who are suffering.

This is known as “positive psychology” and has recently expanded to accommodate not only psychologists, but also social workers, life coaches and new age therapists. But there is evidence to suggest the approach has a negative side.

Perhaps the most common advice made by positive psychologists is that we should seize the day and live in the moment . Doing so helps us be more positive and avoid three of the most infamous emotional states, which I call the RAW emotions: regret, anger and worry. Ultimately, it suggests that we avoid focusing too much on regrets and anger about the past, or worries about the future.

It sounds like an easy task. But human psychology is evolutionarily hardwired to live in the past and the future. Other species have instincts and reflexes to help with their survival, but human survival relies very much on learning and planning. You can’t learn without living in the past, and you can’t plan without living in the future.

Regret, for example, which can make us suffer by reflecting on the past, is an indispensable mental mechanism for learning from one’s own mistakes to avoid repeating them.

Worries about the future are likewise essential to motivate us to do something that is somewhat unpleasant today but can create gain or spare us a greater loss in the future. If we didn’t worry about the future at all, we may not even bother with acquiring an education, take responsibility for our health or store food.

Like regret and worries, anger is an instrumental emotion, which my co-authors and I have shown in several research papers . It protects us against being abused by others and motivates people around us to respect our interests. Research has even shown that a certain degree of anger in negotiations can be helpful , leading to better outcomes.

What’s more, research has shown negative moods in general can be quite useful – making us less gullible and more sceptical . Studies have estimated that a whopping 80% of people in the west in fact have an optimism bias , which means we learn more from positive experiences than from negative ones. This can lead to some poorly thought-out decisions, such as putting all our funds into a project with little chance of success. So do we really need to be even more optimistic?

For example, optimism bias is linked to overconfidence – believing we are generally better than others at most things, from driving to grammar. Overconfidence can become a problem in relationships (where a bit of humility can save the day). It can also make us fail to prepare properly for a difficult task – and blame others when we ultimately fail.

Defensive pessimism , on the other hand, can help anxious individuals, in particular, prepare by setting a reasonably low bar instead of panicking, making it easier to overcome obstacles calmly.

Capitalist interests

Despite this, positive psychology has left its marks on policymaking at national and international level. One of its contributions was in triggering a debate among economists about whether a country’s prosperity should be measured by growth and GDP alone, or whether a more general approach to wellbeing should be adopted. This led to the misleading conjecture that one can measure happiness by simply asking people whether or not they are happy.

This is how the UN happiness index – which provides a ridiculous ranking of countries by their happiness level – is constructed. While questionnaires about happiness measure something, it is not happiness per se , but rather the readiness of people to admit that life is quite often difficult, or alternatively, their tendency to arrogantly boast that they always do better than others.

The excessive focus of positive psychology on happiness, and its assertion that we have full control over it, is detrimental in other respects, too. In a recent book called “Happycracy” , the author, Edgar Cabanas, argues that this assertion is cynically being used by corporations and politicians to shift the responsibility for anything ranging between a mild dissatisfaction with life to clinical depression from economic and societal agencies to the suffering individuals themselves.

After all, if we have full control of our happiness, how can we blame unemployment, inequality or poverty for our misery? But the truth is that we don’t have full control over our happiness, and societal structures can often create adversity, poverty, stress and unfairness – things that shape how we feel. To believe that you can just think yourself better by focusing on positive emotions when you’re in financial danger or have gone through major trauma is at the very least naive.

While I don’t believe positive psychology is a conspiracy promoted by capitalist companies, I do believe that we don’t have full control over our happiness, and that striving for it can make people quite miserable rather than happy. Instructing a person to be happy is not much different than asking them not to think of a pink elephant – in both cases their mind can easily go in the opposite direction. In the former case, not being able to fulfil the goal to be happy adds substantial frustration and self-blame.

And then comes the question of whether happiness is really the most important value in life. Is it even something stable that can last over time? The answer to these questions were given more than a hundred years ago by the American philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson: “The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.”

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9 Ways to Reframe Negative Thinking into a Positive Outlook

• Leigh Perkins
• March 1, 2022
• Professional Development
• Text-based Story

If your doomscrolling habit or a challenging work life has you on negative autopilot, it’s time to shift your default mode back to the bright side. How do you switch from gloom to glory? Simple: practice. Ready to do a fun and easy run-through of nine ways to reframe negative thinking into a positive outlook? Let’s chase that spot of sunshine!

A Positive Outlook Has Consequences (Good Ones)

If you’re naturally negative or have become glum during recent events, it won’t thrill you to know there are harmful effects to being a Debbie Downer. So, let’s focus on the pros of a positive outlook instead:

• The most optimistic people in a Harvard study had a 30% higher chance of increasing their lifespan relative to a range of conditions, such as stroke and cancer.
• Optimists are more likely to live to 85 or older.
• Optimists have more satisfying love lives, even if their partner is a grump.
• Optimistic salespeople sell more.
• Optimism has a beneficial impact on job performance and job satisfaction (and could even influence how much money you make).

Sound appealing? With a few simple tweaks, it’s easy to start enjoying some of these benefits in your life.

9. Redefine Optimism as a Choice

Even if you’re a lifelong curmudgeon or catastrophizer, your pessimism is not permanently baked into your person. You have the power to change and it’s surprisingly uncomplicated.

Say it out loud: I am turning myself into a positive person. (Repeat as necessary.)

8. Interrupt Your Negative Narrative

Hopelessness, fear, and anger are learned responses, and they can be unlearned. If you practice the skill of flipping the script on your running loop of loathing, you’ll guide your thoughts to more hopeful language and positive impulses.

Recognize your spiraling thinking and literally say, “Nope!” Or “Not true!” And repeat until your brain gets bored trying to circumvent your roadblock. It’ll give up eventually and you’ll find you’ve left the negative looping behind. That’s when you can begin following a more optimistic train of thought, even if it feels forced at first.

7. Treat Yourself Like a Toddler

When a preschooler has a tantrum, wise parents distract and redirect. This is an effective strategy for your own pessimistic meltdown. Let’s say you were overlooked for a promotion. It’s normal to feel angry and sad, possibly throw your lollipop. But it’s not healthy to stay off-kilter or to nurture grievances in the wake of disappointment. Time to reframe and divert:

• Reframing would be looking for an opportunity in the loss. Could missing out on the promotion lead you to job hunt for even more responsibility and a higher salary? This is the equivalent of telling a toddler in the middle of a freakout that you’ll help them find their lost ball.
• Diverting would be focusing for a while on something that brings you pleasure – Wordle? A long walk? Give yourself permission to get back to ruminating about your HR department, but for a moment, you have a reprieve. This is the equivalent of distracting a furious two-year-old with an improvised game of I Spy. It works.

6. Exaggerate the Good

Naturally negative people are experts at detailing their disappointments. If you build the skill of noticing, savoring, commenting on, and sharing good and beautiful experiences, your self-talk will improve and you’ll become much more delightful company, even for yourself. Optimists simply do not wallow.

Write down the positives. It reinforces joy. Keep a jar of favorite words, start a gratitude journal, or commit to posting three positive comments on Twitter for every line of snark you feel compelled to write.

5. Set Alerts

If gaining a more positive outlook is important to you, put it on your schedule. Keep reminders front of mind with an alert on your phone or a sticky note next to your mirror. These small cues can make a big difference in shifting your perspective.

4. Give Someone Else a Little Goodness

The fastest way to get into a habit of positivity is to show someone kindness. Deliberately go out of your way to write a positive review on Yelp, nominate a coworker for an award, or bring a latte to the guy who got your promotion. Focusing on others derails even the most obsessively negative self-talk.

3. Emphasize Your Senses

When you’re on the maladaptive side, it’s all about your feelings, right? Simply slowing down to experience your physical surroundings – the sounds and smells around you – can quiet the internal dialogue and make space for pleasure and positivity.

Instead of dwelling on the negatives in your life, try sensory distractions. A fragrant candle can calm you instantly if you associate it with comfort and creativity. The trick is to light it when you’re happiest, so it triggers the same response at times of negativity. A favorite flavor of tea, a rap song you love, or a squishy pair of socks can do the trick, too.

2. See Your Lungs as an Ally

It’s possible to be angry in a yoga class, but it’s not likely. All that intentional breathing clears the mind. You don’t have to twist into a permanent inverted triangle, though. Study the rise and fall of your belly when you’re in a silent rage about a workplace conflict. Or go for a bike ride when you’re mentally ranking every idiot you know. Breathing with purpose is the antidote to holding it all in, including your negativity. Simply breath it out.

1. Go Hunting for Constructive Criticism

If your negativity came in a wrapping of very thin skin, it’s time to get comfortable with rejection and criticism. Ask for feedback on a project before it’s offered so it feels like you invited it instead of being subjected to it. Smile when accepting it. Then sit on the feedback. Optimists respond thoughtfully instead of reacting (or overreacting).

Find Your Career Silver Lining

Your positivity level is not fixed. All it takes to reframe your negative thinking is a few simple steps. Start with easy, affirming alterations in the way you respond to life’s challenges and you’ll be on your way to brighter days.

Is your new positive outlook already making you optimistic about a career change? It’s time to check out the courses offered by Corporate Training and Professional Development at USF. Gain in-demand skills in leadership, business, process improvement, project management, and more. Land that promotion, light your happy candle, and put your new positivity to work.

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