Mental Contrasting

What is positive thinking?

"Think positive" is a common advice you might have heard from others. Positive thinking is a mental attitude that focuses on optimistic and constructive thoughts. It involves maintaining a hopeful outlook and expecting favorable outcomes in various life situations. This approach to thinking has gained significant attention in psychology and self-help literature with its positive benefits in better stress management and improved resilience.

When does positive thinking become unhealthy?

While positive thinking is generally beneficial, it's important to recognize when excessive or unrealistic expectations can be counterproductive:

• Denial of reality: When focusing only on the positive aspects of the situation leads to ignoring or minimizing real problems, it can prevent individuals from addressing important issues or seeking necessary help.
• Toxic positivity: This occurs when individuals feel pressured to maintain a positive attitude at all times, even in the face of genuine distress. This can lead to emotional suppression and invalidation of authentic feelings.
• Reduced problem-solving: In some cases, overly positive thinking might lead to underestimating the effort required to achieve goals, potentially resulting in inadequate preparation, goal-setting or problem-solving efforts.

It's crucial to strike a balance between positive thinking and realistic assessment. This is where Mental Contrasting comes in.

What is Mental Contrasting?

Mental Contrasting is a self-regulation strategy that has gained significant attention in the fields of positive psychology and healthcare. This technique combines elements of positive thinking with a realistic assessment of potential obstacles. Engaging in Mental Contrasting helps individuals enhance their goal commitment and facilitate behavior change.

Mental Contrasting works through these two steps: envisioning desired positive outcomes and identifying potential obstacles that may hinder goal attainment. This actually encourages individuals to confront the challenging reality that stands between their current situation and their desired outcome.

The power of Mental Contrasting lies in its ability to activate self-regulation strategies and instrumental behavior. Mentally contrasting their desired future with present reality helps individuals better assess the feasibility of their goals and develop more effective strategies for goal pursuit.

Is this a better alternative to positive thinking?

Rather than viewing Mental Contrasting interventions as a better alternative to positive thinking, it's more accurate to consider it a complementary strategy that enhances the benefits of optimism while mitigating its potential drawbacks.

While positive thinking alone can sometimes lead to unrealistic expectations or neglect of potential challenges, Mental Contrasting helps address these limitations. This technique reduces the risk of overconfidence on a positive future and promotes more effective planning and problem-solving strategies (Kappes et al., 2013).

How do therapists teach Mental Contrasting with implementation intentions?

An enhanced version of this technique, known as Mental Contrasting with implementation intentions (MCII), combines Mental Contrasting with specific planning strategies. This approach, sometimes referred to as the wish, outcome, obstacle, plan (WOOP) can be beneficial in various contexts, including health behavior change, academic performance, and professional goal achievement.

Here's how therapists typically guide clients through the WOOP process:

Wish

The first step involves identifying a meaningful and attainable wish or goal. Therapists encourage clients to choose a goal that is challenging yet feasible, and personally significant. It's important to frame the wish positively and specifically. For example, instead of "I want to be less stressed," a more effective wish might be "I want to feel calm and focused at work".

Outcome

Next, clients are asked to vividly imagine the best possible outcome if their wish comes true. This step taps into the motivational benefits of positive thinking. Therapists guide clients to engage all their senses in this visualization, considering how they would feel, what they would see, and how their life would be different if they achieved their goal.

Obstacle

The third step involves identifying the main internal obstacle that might prevent the client from fulfilling their wish. This could be a habit, an emotion, an irrational belief, or any other internal factor. It's crucial to focus on internal obstacles rather than external ones, as these are factors the client has more control over. For instance, if the wish is to feel calm at work, an obstacle might be the tendency to procrastinate, leading to last-minute stress.

Plan

The final step combines the obstacle identification with an implementation intention. Clients create an "if-then" plan to address the obstacle when it arises. The format is: "If (obstacle occurs), then I will (take this action)." For example, when fighting unhealthy snacking habits, an individual can say "If I feel tempted to snack on junk food, then I will drink a glass of water and eat a piece of fruit instead." This plan creates a mental link between the anticipated obstacle and a specific action to overcome it which can better facilitate goal attainment.

Benefits of Mental Contrasting

Mental Contrasting is a powerful self-regulation intervention that has shown significant benefits across various domains of life. This technique, which involves contrasting a desired future with present reality, has been an extensive focus in the field of social psychology. Here are some key benefits of practicing Mental Contrasting:

Improved goal achievement

One of the primary benefits of Mental Contrasting is its positive impact on goal achievement. By encouraging individuals to vividly imagine their desired outcome while also considering potential obstacles, Mental Contrasting helps create a more realistic and actionable approach to goal pursuit.

Improved health behaviors

Mental Contrasting has shown promise in facilitating health behaviour change. Individuals who engage in Mental Contrasting are more likely to adopt and maintain positive health behaviors such as healthy eating and consistent physical activity.

Spontaneous adoption of goal-directed behavior

Even spontaneous Mental Contrasting can lead to the adoption of goal-directed behaviors. This suggests that the benefits of Mental Contrasting can extend beyond formal interventions and become a natural part of an individual's cognitive toolkit (Sevincer & Oettingen, 2013).

References

Kappes, A., Wendt, M., Reinelt, T., & Oettingen, G. (2013). Mental contrasting changes the meaning of reality. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 49(5), 797–810. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2013.03.010

Sevincer, A. T., & Oettingen, G. (2013). Spontaneous mental contrasting and selective goal pursuit. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 39(9), 1240–1254. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167213492428