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A related belief is that a certain critical mass of people with a highly spiritual consciousness will bring about a sudden change in the whole population.[4] And that humans have a responsibility to take part in positive creative activity and to work to heal ourselves, each other and the Earth.[5]

The citations for both these statements argue for the exact opposite of the statements. Cheesycow5 (talk) 19:22, 17 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I removed the how to tag placed on this page. This article does not provide instructions or advice on how to maintain a positive attitude, it only describes the mind set.DerickDiamond (talk) 19:18, 23 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Do affirmations achieve the claimed goals? Any research, studies on this? 86.164.246.89 (talk) 12:52, 14 September 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Maybe not - Here are some potentially critical sources to balance out this piece. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19493324 http://www.economist.com/node/13815141 169.252.4.21 (talk) 09:29, 17 September 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I agree. This article needs to be significantly reworked to meet wikipedia's standards. Right now it's worded in a highly non-neutral way. I'm adding an NPOV tag for now... Timbatron (talk) 04:16, 29 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Hey y'all! Is this edit ok? Since this is so controversial, I've decided to put a Controversy page in:

Positive affirmation has been found to have a detrimental effect on those who need it the most, because people with low self-esteem will perceive the affirmation as so unbelievable that it strengthens their negative mindset. Those who already have high self-esteem feel slightly better, and those who don't will feel worse than if they had been allowed negative thoughts. When people with high self-esteem uses positive affirmation, it acts as a buffer for constructive criticism that goes against the self-perception, and when people with low self-esteem uses positive affirmation, it rings untrue and therefore brings to mind exactly how they are not successful, loved, etc.^[1] Angel1412kaitou (talk) 16:58, 13 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

In my opinion, there is an inherent problem in having the New Age suffix to the article, which would be better changed to something such as Psychological Technique, or Cognitive Technique. The reason is that the use of consciously constructed affirmative thoughts, which are sometimes spoken and at other times remain part of unvoiced intrapersonal communication, is applied in Cognitive interventions and approaches to therapy as part of the means by which cognitive distortions and counter-factual thinking, especially those that reinforce negative self-image, are reframed or replaced.

There is a significant body of evidence for this. However, the use of affirmations, as encouraged by representatives of New Age and Self Help ideas, basically extracts this technique from its context and requisite framework, inferring that the repetition of affirmative statements alone is effective in achieving goals.

In addition, the New Age use of affirmations is often compared to the meditative and spiritual practice of repeating mantras, while the cognitive and psychological use emerges from western principles of behaviourism and psychology.

Would it not be sensible to extend this article substantially, explaining the technique, and its various uses, including New Age and CBT, and then move it to a page simply called Affirmations, or Affirmations (Psychological), or Affirmations (Mind), or something similar?

Then, those people arriving at it will get a balanced view. At the moment, a reader searching, or coming via Google is likely to think that Affirmations are entirely and solely a New Age phenomenon.

I would be interested in doing this. But am open to comments and other opinions before beginning. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Prolumbo (talk • contribs) 10:48, 12 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 4 March 2024 and 4 May 2024. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Sj4452 (article contribs).

— Assignment last updated by Sj4452 (talk) 01:42, 14 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]