Thought suppression is not the best way to control ourselves
Summary
- Sometimes trying to suppress a thought makes us more likely to think about it
Details
- One study showed that when participants were asked to suppress thinking about a treat for a period of time, later on they ate twice as much chocolate than those who were not thinking about it
- Suppressing thoughts results in a later 'ironic rebound'
- Maybe better to use strategies like actively thinking of something else rather than not thinking about something?