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attention
Trying to suppress a thought makes it unavoidable.
The effort to actively ignore a specific idea increases its cognitive accessibility.
When instructed to not think of a white bear, the mind performs a dual-process check: one part searches for the thought to monitor for its presence, keeping the concept active in your awareness. The constant monitoring inadvertently guarantees the thought remains prominent.
Your focus is governed by what you try to avoid.
Where this comes from
- Study
- Wegner (1994)
- What the check found
- Wegner's 1994 'Ironic processes of mental control' is the seminal source for this finding. The claim accurately describes the dual-process mechanism (the monitor versus the operator).
- Confidence
- Solid, with limits
Related
One of these every day, and every one names the study it came from. When a finding is contested, it says so.