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Thought Suppression

Page history last edited by Tionna Crawford 13 years, 4 months ago

 

  Thought Suppression is the process of purposely trying to stop thinking about certain thoughts. Research on this topic first began in 1987 when Daniel Wegner and his colleagues carried out the well-known 'white bear' study. This study and those that followed have shown thought suppression to be very counter-productive, as pushing a thought out of consciousness can often times bring that thought back even stronger than before. This effect, in the terminology of Wegner, is called the ironic effects of mental control (or Ironic Process Theory). Studies have shown that this effect of suppression is not limited to thoughts about trivial ideas. Similar effects have been found to occur when people try to concentrate, avoid movement, or fall asleep.

 

Don't think of a white bear... 

   

RELATED LINKS 

1. Why Thought Suppression is Counter-Productive

     This blog contains more on the white bear study, information on suppressing emotions, and examples of the ironic effects of thought suppression. 

2. Ironic Effects of Trying to Relax Under Stress

     A study suggesting that relaxation therapy does not work for people under stress.

3. Thought Suppression Movie

     This video talks about thought suppression and the ironic process theory. It also explains the white bear study in very clear terms.

4. "I'm Not Going to Think About Her"

     Watch this video. Is his attempt at thought suppression working?

5. Paradoxical Effects of Thought Suppression

     This is the original article on the "white bear study" by Daniel Wegner and his colleagues.

6. The Seed of Our Undoing

     This page by Daniel Wegner explains hyperaccessibility as it refers to the ironic process theory and points out the variety of ironic processes that people experience outside of mere thought suppression.

7. Thought Suppression Strategies

     This is the manuscript for a study done in Spain that tested the effectiveness of three thought suppression strategies.

8. Why the Mind Wanders

     In this chapter from the book Scientific Approaches to Consciousness, Daniel Wegner explains in detail the ironic process theory and gives research examples supporting this theory.

9. How to Eliminate Intrusive Thoughts

     This site explains the nature of anxious thinking and has exercises designed to successfully suppress those anxious thoughts.

10. Harmful Effects of Keeping Secrets?

     A social psychologist writes in this blog about how keeping secrets (even secret romantic relationships) can have harmful effects because of the thought suppression involved. 

 

...Were you able to keep yourself from thinking about the white bear?


~JUST FOR FUN~ 

The Game!

     Play this thought suppression game! Once you start, you never stop...

(Warning: may take a minute or so to load)


This page was developed by Tionna Crawford 

To my knowledge, all images are public images.  If there is a copyrighted image on this page, please email me at 10572275@live.mercer.edu and I will make the necessary changes.

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