Tuesday, January 11, 2005

The Power of Negative Thinking

While research has shown the power of self-fulfilling prophecies to negatively affect their owner's behavior, new evidence has underscored just how much they can negatively affect the behavior of others.

American researcher Stephanie Madon and colleagues at Iowa State University in Ames examined the power of negative thinking by studying how the false beliefs of mothers and fathers predict the amount of drinking by their adolescent children over a year.


Parents' negative beliefs predicted their children's alcohol use beyond risk factors, a self-fulfilling prophecy effect that was strongest when both parents overestimated their child's alcohol use. When both parents underestimated their child's alcohol use, there appeared to be no such positive synergistic effect.


Read more here: BetterHumans.com

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