Oh, stop looking like that. Give me this one, would you?
You’ve heard this idea that looking yourself in the mirror and saying “I’m a tiger!” will turn you into a salesperson. I can barely write about this stuff without feeling itchily sarcastic, so I liked this paragraph on Lifehacker:
Some people have a level of success using self-affirmation mantras like “I’m great and people like me.” Others find them trite and unhelpful. The distinction may boil down to self-esteem and, more importantly, how much self-affirmation causes conflicting internal thoughts.
I’m listening. Tell me more.
A study conducted at the University of Waterloo found that repeating self-affirmation statements like “I’m a loveable person” boosted self-esteem in some subjects. However, in subjects with already low self-esteem, they found that repeating the mantra only made the situation worse. They theorize that this is because the conflict between self-perception and the statements themselves caused more stress, leading the subject to feel worse.