The Science Behind Self-Affirmations

Science is showing self-affirmations are valuable for health and well-being.

Posted August 7, 2023 | Reviewed by Michelle Quirk

Does repeating a positive phrase called an affirmation out loud or to oneself change one's feelings or behavior? Some psychologists believe the answer to this question is yes. Others remain skeptical. To answer this question we need to look at the science behind self- affirmations .

What Are Affirmations?

Affirmations are short statements that are said aloud or to oneself regularly. They also may be written and placed in locations always visible to the individual. They are repeated multiple times on a daily basis (for greater detail and background on affirmations, please read " Affirmations May Improve Life Satisfaction and Well-Being "). Affirmations are any act that underscores one's adequacy and reaffirms one's sense of self-integrity.

Research on Self-Affirmations

Social psychologists began serious academic research on self-affirmations in the 1980s and have continued for more than 40 years. This research is based on self-affirmation theory. Self-affirmation theory assumes the following:

The majority of research on self-affirmation theory follows the same research design or variations of it:

Do Self-Affirmations Work?

Years of research show promise for self-affirmations as an intervention. Researchers have found that self-affirmation can improve one's life in a variety of ways. Here's a sampling of those findings:

This is only a brief review of self-affirmation research. For a more comprehensive review, I direct you to Self-Affirmation Interventions by Sherman et al. 12 and Self-Affirmation Theory and the Science of Well-Being by Andrew Howell. 8 There is a growing body of evidence showing the use of self-affirmations to be a valuable tool for health and well-being.

Practice Aloha. Do all things with love, grace, and gratit ude.

Badea, C., & Sherman, D. K. (2019). Self-affirmation and prejudice reduction: When and why? Current Directions in Psychological Science, 28 (1), 40–46.
Cascio, C. N., et al. (2016). Self-affirmation activates brain systems associated with self-related processing and reward and is reinforced by future orientation. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience , 2016, 621–629.
Cohen, G. L., et al. (2009). Recursive processes in self-affirmation: Intervening to close the minority achievement gap. S cience, 324 , 400–403.
Crocker, J., Niiya, Y., & Mischkowski, D. (2008). Why does writing about important values reduce defensiveness? Self-affirmation and the role of positive, other-directed feelings. Psychological Science , 19 , 740–747.
Epton, T., & Harris, P. R. (2008). Self-affirmation promotes health behavior change. Health Psychology , 27, 746–752. https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-6133.27.6.746
Epton, T., et al. (2014, August 18). The impact of self-affirmation on health-behavior change: A meta-analysis. Health Psychology . Advanced online publication. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/hea0000116
Falk, E. B., et al. (2015). Self-affirmation alters the brain’s response to health messages and subsequent behavior change. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112 (7), 1977–1982.
Howell, A. J. (2017). Self-affirmation theory and the science of well-being. Journal of Happiness Studies, 18, 293–311.
Nelson, S. K., Fuller, J. A. K., Choi, I., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2014). Beyond self-protection: Self-affirmation benefits hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin , 40 , 998–1011.
Schmeichel, B. J., & Vohs, K. (2009). Self-affirmation and self-construal: Affirming core values counteracts ego depletion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 96 , 770–782.
Sherman, D. K. (2013). Self-affirmation: Understanding the effects. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 7 (11), 834–845.
Sherman, D. K., Lokhande, M., Muller, T., & Cohen, G. L. (2021). Self-affirmations Interventions. In G. M. Walton & A. J. Crum (Eds.), Handbook of Wise Interventions: How Social Psychology Can Help People Change (pp. 63–99). New York, NY: The Guilford Press.
Sherman, D. K., et al. (2013). Defecting the trajectory and changing the narrative: How self-affirmation affects academic performance and motivation under identity threat. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 104 (4), 591–618.
Xu, X et al. (2022). TypeOut: Leveraging just-in-time self-affirmation for smartphone overuse reduction. Creative Commons Attribution International. https://doi.org/10.1145/3491102.3517476

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David Bredehoft, Ph.D., is a professor emeritus and former chair of psychology at Concordia University.

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This article is part of the Bringwise Psychology Journal — daily insights on human behavior, mental health, and personal growth.