The negative impact of positive thinking

This article presents the historical aspects of the development of positive thinking, concretization of the content of the concept of positive thinking, approaches to positive thinking, and modern foreign studies on the impact of positive thinking on the psyche. The relevance of the work lies in the fact that the portrait of a member of modern society includes, among other things, a positive style of thinking. The scientific problem lies in the insufficient development of the topic of positive thinking against the background of the popularization of psychological knowledge and the spread of psychotechnologies without proven effectiveness. The purpose of this article is a literature review that addresses the problem of the influence of positive thinking. The main objective of this article is to analyze the effectiveness of using affirmations and the possible risks of using them as self-help. The article highlights the problem areas and issues of the topic of positive thinking, based on scientific knowledge. It is described that for the first time authors whose works have no scientific justification mention positive thinking. Thinking in a positive direction without medical and psychological intervention in the presence of any disease can lead to deterioration in physical and mental condition. In the future, positive thinking began to be experimentally studied within the framework of positive psychology. The definitions of the phenomenon of positive thinking in connection with the acceptance of the world and oneself, the achievement of the goal are presented. It is proposed to consider positive thinking as a resource for activating the search activity of a person in solving problems. Approaches to the study of positive thinking are considered: attributive style of explanations and dispositional optimism. The connection of these approaches is shown. The empirically confirmed negative impact of positive thinking on body satisfaction is demonstrated. Differences in the effectiveness of the use of affirmations for persons with adequate and low self-esteem are described - in the first case, the effect is positive, in the second - negative. The prospect of applying the acquired knowledge in the planning of domestic research, the development of psychological support programs is presented.