A new approach to positive psychology suggests what you might be missing.

The considered wisdom in positive psychology is that to feel better, you just need to think happy thoughts. If this conjures up the song “I Whistle a Happy Tune,” then you’re on the right track. However, what if you don’t believe your own happy thoughts or music? You might say that the staggering list of tasks in front of you for the day isn’t hopeless—in fact, it’s wonderful—but do you really believe this? Wouldn’t it be better for your mental health to admit that today will be bad? You can always cheer yourself up later, when it’s over.

The Limits of Positive Thinking

According to Universidad Autónoma de Madrid’s Pablo Briñol and Ohio State University’s Richard Petty (2024), there are potentially “a plethora of positive variables [that can] change how people see their own thoughts and what they do with them.” However, the thought alone is not enough. People also must evaluate those thoughts as valid. Returning to the previous example, the day’s agenda is full of things you don’t want to do, so there’s no point in twisting the truth. On the other hand, if your day was indeed filled with exciting prospects, why not go ahead and whistle that happy tune?

The idea that positive thoughts need to be viewed as valid for them to work fits in with what the authors cite as “self-validation theory” (SVT). Validational processes could either magnify or undermine the impact of desired and undesired thoughts. In other words, a positive thought seen as invalid could potentially make you feel worse if you immediately reject it as completely improbable.

Self-Validation Theory and Making Your Thoughts Count

As an approach to thinking about thoughts, SVT falls into the category of “metacognition.” Unlike other theories within this realm, SVT is less focused on whether a thought has validity and more on whether it’s perceived as having validity. That perception itself could involve either the probability that the thought is true (cognitive validation) or because it feels good to think it (affective validation).

SVT also assumes that it takes a certain amount of effort to go through the validation process, in what is called elaboration. As the authors note, “not only must people have some thoughts to validate, they also need some motivation and ability to care about the validity of their thoughts.”

In reviewing the literature from the standpoint of SVT, Briñol and Petty summarized a remarkable experiment. Participants were asked to write their strengths or weaknesses using their dominant or nondominant hand. Use of the dominant hand to write about strengths proved to be a positive self-esteem induction compared to use of the nondominant hand. However, those who wrote about their weaknesses with the dominant hand subsequently rated their self-esteem as lower. Because the writing with the dominant hand seemed more valid than the shakier writing with the nondominant hand, the impact of the induction was magnified.

Another experimental induction that typically produces a boost in happiness involves affective validation and the instruction to generate a happy memory. That happy memory should flood your mind to the point of also leading you to have a more positive view of whatever else happens to be floating in your mind. When you’re happy, everything seems like a good idea. But a happy memory induction could paradoxically strengthen the impact of whatever negative thoughts you might have. “Feeling good about bad thoughts can make those negative thoughts more consequential,” conclude the authors.

Happiness is not the only emotion that can trigger positive or negative shifts in your thinking. It turns out that, according to other studies, SVT can incorporate the emotions of hope, awe, admiration, and curiosity. These emotions can validate your thoughts as long as you’re also feeling good at the time. However, because an emotion such as hope can involve uncertainty, if you have a negative thought (e.g., expecting the worst), your mood will take a bigger hit than if you didn’t feel the emotion at all.

Using Self-Validation Theory to Derail a Negative Thought

All of this may be fine from a theoretical point of view, but how can you use SVT to avoid the backfiring effect? Remember the role of validation. If a thought can be validated, it can also be invalidated. Taking a negative thought and setting it aside as invalid will keep it from becoming the Debbie Downer of your mood.

In one of the studies the authors cite, experimenters asked participants to write down either positive or negative thoughts about choosing a healthy diet. In one condition, they were instructed to throw the piece of paper out. This turned out to be enough of an invalidation to reduce positive attitudes toward making healthy choices.

Other findings that the authors review back up this rather intriguing outcome, all supporting the notion that it’s not the thought, but the value you give to the thought, that will determine its effect on your self-esteem, mood, or further decisions. If you have a negative thought while trying to boost your mood through a happiness induction, no amount of “I’m good enough” will convince you otherwise.

Even fantasizing about a hoped-for result can backfire. Imagining yourself as successful in an endeavor for which, logically, you have no hope of achieving your goals, will make you feel more discouraged rather than uplifted.

Of course, you can’t banish doubt from your mental set—nor should you. The issue is that if you try to override a negative thought with a self-affirmation or other positive psychology move (even smiling), this is when paradoxically negative outcomes can occur. Stick with positive thoughts when, either cognitively or affectively, these survive the validation process.

To sum up, this important clarification of positive psychology can help you gain a more realistic way to approach mood boosters. Believing that you’re “good enough” is the first step to letting that positive feeling propel you to even higher heights of well-being.