Labeling

[Blue Boris]

I was reading the Ten forms of twisted thinking thread and I am wondering about point 9, Labeling.

9. Labeling
Labeling is an extreme form of all-or-nothing thinking. Instead of saying "I made a mistake," you attach a negative label to yourself: "I'm a loser." You might also label yourself "a fool" or "a failure" or "a jerk." Labeling is quite irrational because you are not the same as what you do. Human beings exist, but "fools," "losers," and "jerks" do not. These labels are just useless abstractions that lead to anger, anxiety, frustration, and low self-esteem.

This specifically points out negative labeling. Giving name to thing with a negative term. But what about positive labeling? Such as "I'm awesome".

My first inclination was to think this is good and positive. That I can label myself when I do something I like. I have done this before. It makes me feel good when I do something I like then call myself awesome.

I was reading something the other day that said we should stay away from negative labeling and positive labeling. That when we label something, or ourselves, in a positive light we create an unspoken negative aspect as well.

Such as when I when I work on a creative project and I label myself as "good" for having worked on it. At the same time the unspoken message is that I'm "bad" when I don't work on it.

So my question is whether labeling using positive terms is something to be avoided or embraced.

 

[Daniel E.]

Well, things like "I'm awesome" would be too general, anyway, to be very believable by someone with a poor self-image of themselves:

http://forum.psychlinks.ca/self-esteem-and-self-concept/18420-can-self-help-make-you-feel-worse.htm

Some examples of more specific self-talk to counter or challenge negative thinking:

"I'm too fat" vs. "I've never been more fit."

"This plan will never work" vs. "I have some suggestions that will help get this plan off the ground."

http://forum.psychlinks.ca/depression/21466-depression-doing-the-thinking.html

The second example relates directly to self-efficacy:

Dr. Albert Bandura, an influential social psychologist, coined the term "self-efficacy" to describe people's internal beliefs about their ability to have an impact on events that affect their lives. Your self-efficacy is your belief in your own effectiveness as a person, both generally in terms of managing your life, and specifically with regard to competently dealing with individual tasks.

http://forum.psychlinks.ca/anxiety-...lf-sabotage-and-self-efficacy.html#post164437

Also, one can substitute negative thinking with neutral thinking:

We can stop thinking negative thoughts by choosing to think neutral thoughts instead. If we are able to change our thoughts and pay attention to something else other than the negative thoughts, we are also giving 'instructions' to our brain to pay attention to something else other than the negative thoughts. The brain's communications can change instantly just because we decide to change what we are thinking.

http://forum.psychlinks.ca/depressi...-of-negative-thoughts-to-beat-depression.html

An example of neutral, non-judgmental thinking would be mindfulness.

Such as when I when I work on a creative project and I label myself as "good" for having worked on it. At the same time the unspoken message is that I'm "bad" when I don't work on it.

In other words, it's more helpful to work on self-acceptance than self-esteem:

I regularly tell my therapy clients that if they genuinely want to improve their self-esteem, they need to explore what parts of themselves they're not yet able to accept. Ultimately, liking ourselves more (or getting on better terms with ourselves) has mostly to do with self-acceptance. And it's only when we stop judging ourselves that we can secure a more positive sense of who we are. Which is why I believe our self-esteem rises naturally as soon as we stop being so hard on ourselves. And it's precisely because self-acceptance involves far more than self-esteem that it's generally seen (as self-esteem is not) to be crucial to our happiness and peace of mind.

http://forum.psychlinks.ca/self-est...he-path-to-unconditional-self-acceptance.html

(In their books on CBT, David Burns and Albert Ellis say that we all are entitled to the same level self-acceptance, even if we killed somebody.)

More info:

http://forum.psychlinks.ca/self-est...ception-of-self-esteem-positive-thinking.html

http://forum.psychlinks.ca/coping-s...skills-dont-compare-yourself-with-others.html
http://forum.psychlinks.ca/coping-s...-compare-yourself-with-others.html#post173225

 

[Blue Boris]

Wow, that's a lot of information, thanks.

Though I don't feel like I really understand your position on positive labeling. It sounds like your saying that positive affirmations don't really help the depressed. But I'm wondering about positive labeling, the all or nothing labeling of a set of actions as good.

 

[Daniel E.]

the all or nothing labeling of a set of actions as good.

All-or-nothing thinking with positive labels??? What is an example of what you mean?

I do like one of the suggestions in positive psychology of looking back at the end of the day and noting several things one has accomplished (rather than what one hasn't accomplished).

Also, just doing activities (rather than just ruminating or being passive) can improve one's mood, self-esteem, etc.

 

[Blue Boris]

A negative example of labeling:
Instead of saying "I made a mistake," you attach a negative label to yourself: "I'm a loser." You might also label yourself "a fool" or "a failure" or "a jerk."

A positive example of labeling:
Instead of saying "I successfully complete a task," you attach a positive label to yourself: "I'm a good task completer." You might also label yourself "awesome" or "a winner" or "a cool dude."

Negative labeling is unhealthy, is positive labeling also unhealthy?

 

[Daniel E.]

You might also label yourself "awesome" or "a winner" or "a cool dude."

But why would those labels be conditional on completing a task? Even if they weren't conditional, personally, it would not be enough to improve my mood, etc.

Just doing the task would be more helpful to me than extrapolating my awesomeness from completing it

 

[Blue Boris]

I think I must not be making myself very clear.

When you label something you do as good, you label the opposite of that as bad. When you read a book and label it as good then the unspoken label for not reading is bad.

So in my life there are times in my life when I work on a project, or make something creative, and I tell myself I'm good, or a winner. The explicit labeling of that action with a positive label also creates the subconscious label that when I don't work on a project I'm bad or a loser.

Even though I don't explicitly label myself a looser when I don't work on a project it's there subconsciously.

This is my theory. Does this make sense?

 

[Daniel E.]

This is my theory. Does this make sense?

Yes, which is why I mentioned the article on unconditional self-acceptance.

 

[Blue Boris]

So what you're saying is that positive labeling is not a healthy thing to do.

 

[Daniel E.]

With the "I'm awesome" stuff, that would be harmless but unhelpful for me. And I don't think you would find a lot of research to back it up.

The "I'm a good task completer" statement may be helpful if it is in the context of increasing self-efficacy.

 

[Blue Boris]

And I disagree with you.

From my personal experience I tell myself I'm awesome when I work on my creative project, and the days when I don't I feel like **** even though I don't label my non-work as bad.

 

[Daniel E.]

Well, affirmations do work for some people. When it comes to psychology research, the question is usually if it works for most people and how that would compare in efficacy to other methods (like common mood-boosting techniques like exercise, music, socialization, and behavioral activation):

People with high self-esteem felt better after repeating the positive self-statement - but only slightly.

http://forum.psychlinks.ca/self-esteem-and-self-concept/18420-can-self-help-make-you-feel-worse.html

There's also a matter of defining exactly what one means by self-affirmations, e.g. being self-affirming vs. repeating mantras. The latter -- repeating mantras -- seems far more limited in scope:

These declarations are supposed to inspire and energize us, but one of the main problems is they tend to be so vague, generic and often unrealistic.

http://forum.psychlinks.ca/positive...hinking-but-be-careful-with-affirmations.html

In contrast, being self-affirming seems like it could mean almost anything positive regarding the self, e.g:

The true "object of our desire" is to have a self-affirming, unconditionally loving relationship with our self--the one relationship that's absolutely vital to an enduring state of well-being. And although this relationship to self may not yet exist for us, it is (whether we're aware of it or not ) precisely what we all long for.

http://forum.psychlinks.ca/self-est...ing-good-vs-feeling-good-about-ourselves.html

What is the single most important skill you can master to increase your happiness and success? Training your mind. How do you train your mind? Start by observing your thought process. If you are like most people, your mind continuously produces both empowering thoughts, such as those that lead to success, and disempowering thoughts...

http://forum.psychlinks.ca/positive...hinking-but-be-careful-with-affirmations.html

Therese Borchard writes about how her therapist suggested she create a self-esteem file. Each time people say something positive about you, put it in the file. Make it a practice to look at this file daily. To add some mindfulness to it, notice your thoughts, feelings, and physical sensations that arise while writing in the file and also while re-reading it.

http://forum.psychlinks.ca/self-est...1060-ways-to-mindfully-boost-self-esteem.html

Similarly, one would be hard pressed to take issue with anything that was life affirming or self-affirming.

Also, it could be that on the days you feel better, you are more likely to engage in self-affirmations. Or that there is some other cognitive or behavioral thing you are doing that is correlated with the self-affirmations, e.g.

In two more experiments the researchers asked why self-affirmation seems to have this beneficial effect on depleted self-control. Once again it came down to the idea that thinking about core values puts our minds into an abstract, high-level mode. This has been found to increase self-control (also: how to unconsciously increase self-control). So, the next time you feel your self-control ebbing away at work, with your personal projects or with your partner, think about what you most pride yourself on; think about those things you hold dear, whatever they may be.

http://www.spring.org.uk/2010/03/self-control-instantly-replenished-by-self-affirmation.php

 

[Blue Boris]

Do you see Labeling and self affirmations as the same things?

I'm sad and angry because I don't feel like I'm getting my point across. The answer you are giving are not as direct an answer as I had expected. I'm just becoming confused instead of enlightened.

 

[Daniel E.]

Yes, I consider "I'm awesome" a vague, generic self-affirmation (a mantra or declaration) that would be far less effective in boosting mood than CBT. (And in the case of people with low self-esteem, such self-affirmations could be counter-productive.)

I'm just becoming confused

That's how I felt about the term "positive labeling" -- a term that is not a standard term in psychology.

 

[Blue Boris]

What could I have done to make my post easier to understand?

 

[Daniel E.]

Well, labeling in the context of CBT is a cognitive distortion. So "positive labeling" in that context would still be all-or-nothing thinking. All-or-nothing thinking is rarely a good thing. For example, if a new friend is labeled as all-good, then expectations are too high.

 

[Blue Boris]

It sounds to me like you are saying that positive all-or-nothing thinking is an unhealthy thing to do?

Am I correct in this thinking?

 

[Daniel E.]

Yes, it seems like an oxymoron since all-or-nothing thinking is considered a cognitive distortion. So a positive cognitive distortion would seem like a happy illusion at best.

 

[Blue Boris]

Do you have any thoughts on the unspoken (subconscious) negative labeling that is created by the conscious positive labeling?

---------- Post added at 11:29 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:43 AM ----------

Which really is my point. That conscious positive labeling creates unconscious negative labeling.

 

[Daniel E.]

So to go back to the examples of what you seem to mean:

A negative example of labeling:
Instead of saying "I made a mistake," you attach a negative label to yourself: "I'm a loser." You might also label yourself "a fool" or "a failure" or "a jerk."

A positive example of labeling:
Instead of saying "I successfully complete a task," you attach a positive label to yourself: "I'm a good task completer." You might also label yourself "awesome" or "a winner" or "a cool dude."

The problem I had with the positive labeling was that it seemed conditional, e.g. "I'm awesome because I completed a task." As opposed to unconditional acceptance, i.e. unconditional positive self-regard.

A similar problem:

In his article How I Discarded My Negative Beliefs, Morty Lefkoe admits he “had a bunch of negative self-esteem beliefs, such as I’m not good enough and I’m not important,” and notes he had based his self-esteem on never giving up.

“I thought forging ahead no matter what is what made me good enough and important. If the way people’s lives turn out is the result of their beliefs, I thought, what would show up in my life if I believed ‘What makes me good enough is overcoming obstacles’? Obstacles, of course! Not success, because that wouldn’t give me an opportunity to demonstrate that I’d never give up. I needed obstacles to prove that nothing could ever stop me, which would make me a worthwhile person.”

http://forum.psychlinks.ca/positive...hinking-but-be-careful-with-affirmations.html