Pages

Is this really a Myth?

When you’re down in the dumps, think yourself happy by focusing on the positive

It is true that our thoughts affect our emotions/mood. However, how easy is it to control those thoughts? Many self-help gurus claim that mind control of emotions is really easy and that it’s all within our reach. Scientists and other mental health professionals have supported and challenged this belief. The purpose of this blog is to analyze the popular belief that “When you’re down in the dumps, think yourself happy by focusing on the positive,” or to be more precise, “When down, positive self-talk will lift you up.”

I am an undergraduate student at Seattle University. I am a psychology major. I enjoy reading books and long walks during the sunset. I am an Aquarius. This is a class assignment for my class called “Popular Myths about Human Behavior.” I highly suggest you take it too. I picked this topic because I couldn’t believe that “When down, positive self-talk will lift you up” could possibly be a myth. So all I ask of you is come explore my blog, make comments, and discuss how you feel about this topic.







































Thursday, June 10, 2010

Examples in popular culture

Examples in popular culture

Below I have provided some examples showing how popular the myth “When down in the dumps, think yourself happy by focusing on the positive” really is in popular culture.

Millions of copies of a book and DVD movie called The Secret have been sold. Rhonda Byrne wrote the book. It primary theme is for us to focus on our positive thoughts to get what we want in life; another word for this is the law of attraction. This book and DVD has been talk about on the Oprah show many times; Oprah’s a huge supporter of this book and DVD. I myself didn’t know anything about it until I watched one of her shows.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0wYxh-akZs
The above is a You Tube clip of Oprah describing to Larry King just how much she believes in the book.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-ob8sr9ZX0
This is a You Tube clip of an episode of Sesame Street. Elmo is singing a song called
“Happy Thoughts;”in it he is supporting the belief, “When down, happy thoughts will lift you up.”


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RtH02A98Zs
This above you tube clip is a good example of how the belief of positive thinking is marketed. The book they are talking about is one of the first in the self-help industry of positive thinking. The author is Norman Vincent Peale and he is considered the father of positive thinking.
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)