Ironic processes

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

So-called ironic processes were first described in psychology by the social psychologist Daniel Wegner (1994). They occur while trying to suppress thoughts. The object or behavior that one tried to avoid in one's mind then comes to the fore.

Experiments

  • Participants who were asked not to think about a white bear experienced increased intrusion of this very image in the minutes that followed.
  • Test participants who were supposed to keep a pendulum steady and were specifically instructed not to let it swing in a certain direction produced swings in precisely that direction.

theory

According to Wegner, any effort to suppress a certain impulse is accompanied by the concern that this impulse might still occur. In order to prevent this, an internal monitor (a kind of guardian function) comes into effect, which paradoxically ensures, through its very existence, that the respective thought content remains particularly available and therefore comes to mind more easily. If the cognitive load becomes so great that conscious distraction is hindered by further demands, the monitoring process causes the thought content to come to the fore again. "Every attempt to bring one's own thoughts under control bears the seeds of failure."

Occurrence in practice

  • Unsuccessful attempt to suppress stressful thoughts in depression
  • Insomnia (and trying not to think about being unable to fall asleep)
  • Suicide and self-harm fantasies

literature

  • Daniel M. Wegner: Ironic processes of mental control . (PDF; 3.9 MB) In: Psychological Review , Volume 101, No. 1, 1994, pp. 34-52.
  • Daniel M. Wegner and David J. Schneider: The white bear story. In: Psychological Inquiry , Volume 14, 2003, pp. 326-329.

swell

  1. ^ Daniel M. Wegner, Matthew Ansfield and Daniel Pilloff: The Putt and the Pendulum: Ironic Effects of the Mental Control of Action. (PDF; 44 kB) In: Psychological Science , Volume 9, No. 3, 1998, pp. 196-199.
  2. ^ Daniel M. Wegner: When the antidote is the poison: Ironic mental control processes . (PDF; 342 kB) In: Psychological Science , Volume 8, No. 3, 1997, p. 148
  3. ↑ Richard M. Wenzlaff, Daniel M. Wegner and David W. Roper: Depression and mental control: The resurgence of unwanted negative thoughts. In: Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , Volume 55, 1988, pp. 882-892.
  4. ^ Matthew E. Ansfield, Daniel M. Wegner and Robin Bowser: Ironic effects of sleep urgency. In: Behavior Research and Therapy , Volume 34, 1996, pp. 523-531.
  5. ↑ S. Najmi, DM Wegner, MK Nock: Thought suppression and self-injurious thoughts and behaviors. In: Behavior Research and Therapy. Volume 45, number 8, August 2007, pp. 1957-1965, doi : 10.1016 / j.brat.2006.09.014 , PMID 17074302 , PMC 2211522 (free full text).

Web links