The Power of Negative Thinking

Affirmations don't help low self-esteem

(NEWSER) - It turns out the Little Engine That Could had it all wrong. Repeating positive statements to yourself doesn’t appear to help people with low self-esteem, according to a new study. Researchers asked students to repeat statements like “I am a lovable person” to themselves, then measured their mood. Those with low self-esteem typically wound up feeling worse, the Washington Post reports. More»

And finds that daydreaming is tied to bad moods

(NEWSER) - Turns out the all-powerful iPhone can also moonlight as your personal therapist, by way of the "Track Your Happiness" app. The app pings users at random times during the day, asking how they're feeling and what they're doing. Researchers looked at the responses of 2,250 adults and found a link between daydreaming and unhappiness: Responders said they were daydreaming almost 47% of the time, and the daydreamers were more likely to say they felt down in the dumps, Mashable reports. More»

(NEWSER) - Superstitions and conspiracy theories all boil down to control issues, a new study says. When subjects in a University of Texas test were made to feel out of control, they saw more patterns that did not exist—whether images in a fuzzy picture or links between unconnected actions. Which is why people like investors and baseball pitchers, who rely on things outside their control, are often superstitious, NPR reports. More»

Organic food lovers feel too good about themselves: study

(NEWSER) - Ever encountered a snotty attitude at an organic food stand? It makes sense psychologically, according to a new study that analyzed how people reacted after looking at different kinds of foods, MSNBC reports. "There's something about being exposed to organic food that made them feel better about themselves," says study author Kendall Eskine. "And that made them kind of jerks a little bit, I guess." More»

Chowing down when depressed may just be instinct

(NEWSER) - There’s a reason we gorge on chocolate bars or French fries when we’re down: Fatty foods actually do make us feel better, a study suggests. Scientists in Belgium had subjects look at images of sad people and listen to sad music while being fed through a tube, the Daily Mail reports. Brain scans revealed that those who received a saline solution grew 4% more depressed, while those who got a fatty solution through the tube didn't experience changes in their mood. More»