Don't think of a white bear

Day 173: One thing I learned today…

If I told you not to think of a white bear what happens? I bet you think about a white bear… weird huh?Things we don’t want to think about seem to come up all the time.

This is known as the Ironic process.

Similarly, in a study with college students, participants were asked not to think about a specific person before bed. After collecting self report. The students reported dreaming about that person more often.

Have you ever dreamt about something you were trying to keep off your mind?

Wegner, D. M., Schneider, D. J., Carter, S. R., & White, T. L. (1987). Paradoxical effects of thought suppression. Journal of personality and social psychology, 53(1), 5.

Wegner, D. M., Wenzlaff, R. M., & Kozak, M. (2004). Dream rebound: The return of suppressed thoughts in dreams. Psychological Science, 15(4), 232-236.

The happiness Lab Episode 6: Don’t think of a White Bear