← all facts
cognition
The more you try not to think, the more.
A 1994 study revealed that instructions to suppress a specific thought result in that thought becoming more cognitively accessible.
This ironic process theory suggests the brain uses two systems: one to achieve the goal and one to monitor for failure. The monitoring system keeps the forbidden thought in your active focus.
Forbidden thoughts are amplified by the very effort you use to silence them.
Where this comes from
- Study
- Wegner, 1994
- What the check found
- Wegner's 1994 Psychological Review paper is the definitive source for Ironic Process Theory. The core observation that suppression increases accessibility is well-replicated.
- Confidence
- Well replicated
Related
One of these every day, and every one names the study it came from. When a finding is contested, it says so.