New research has revealed that self-help books may actually do their readers more harm than good. Self-help mantras leave you unhappier than before. These books often suggest their reader to chant a positive mantra to boost their confidence, for example ‘I will succeed.’ But the study claimed that people with low self- esteem who repeated self-affirming statements actually ended up with feeling worse about them.
Another study claimed that repeating negative statements instead could actually have a beneficial effect. In the survey the researchers found that the self-help mantra boosted the confidence only in those who started out with high self-esteem anyway & even then only slightly. But with low self-esteem who repeated the mantra felt worse about themselves than those with low self-esteem who had not done so.
People were asked to list negative self-thoughts along with positive self-thoughts. Paradoxically, those with low self-esteem their moods fared better when allowed to have negative thoughts than when they were asked to focus exclusively on affirmative thoughts. The psychologists suggested that unreasonably positive self-statements simply remind individuals with low self-esteem how much they believe the opposite to be true.
According to the findings this can overwhelm the positive thoughts. The psychologists said, “Repeating positive self-statements may benefit certain people such as individuals with high self-esteem but backfire for the very people who need them the most.” So it is concluded that self-mantra are not meant for to change you life completely but they can provide to you with some positive outlook towards the life.
