The Science Behind
Positive Affirmations
Positive affirmations aren’t about pretending everything is perfect or forcing yourself to “think positive.” Research suggests that the way we think, speak to ourselves, and approach challenges can influence how we feel and respond.
Here are some of the research studies and resources that helped inform the ideas behind this book.
Moving Your Body Can Change How You Feel
Körner, R., Röseler, L., Schütz, A., & Bushman, B. J. (2022). “Dominance and prestige: Meta-analytic review of experimentally induced body position effects on behavioral, self-report, and physiological dependent variables.” Psychological Bulletin.
This large meta-analysis examined research on how different body positions affect behavior, feelings, and physiological responses. The findings suggest that adopting an expansive posture can influence how people report feeling, supporting the idea behind simple “power moves” or posture exercises. Importantly, the research does not support making strong claims about hormonal or physiological changes.
Why it matters: Sometimes a small physical change—like standing tall, opening your arms, or taking up a little more space—can help a child shift how they feel in the moment.
A Smile Can Influence Happiness
Coles, N. A., March, D. S., Marmolejo-Ramos, F., et al. (2022). “A multi-lab test of the facial feedback hypothesis by the Many Smiles Collaboration.” Nature Human Behaviour, 6(12), 1731–1742.
The Many Smiles Collaboration brought together researchers across 19 countries and 3,878 participants to test whether making a smiling expression can influence feelings of happiness. Their results found a small but measurable effect: deliberately smiling can both amplify an existing feeling of happiness and, in some circumstances, help initiate one.
Why it matters: A smile isn't a magic cure for sadness, but simple actions can sometimes help us gently shift our emotional state.
Why Optimism Is Worth Teaching
Rozanski, A., Bavishi, C., Kubzansky, L. D., & Cohen, R. (2019). “Association of optimism with cardiovascular events and all-cause mortality: A systematic review and meta-analysis.” JAMA Network Open, 2(9), e1912200.
This systematic review and meta-analysis looked at 15 studies involving more than 200,000 participants. Researchers found that greater optimism was associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular events and lower all-cause mortality.
The study also describes optimism as a mindset that can potentially be changed, rather than something a person has or doesn't have.
Why it matters: Teaching children to look for possibilities, focus on what they can control, and approach challenges with hope can help them develop a more optimistic outlook.
A Note About Positive Self-Talk
Wood, J. V., Perunovic, W. Q. E., & Lee, J. W. (2009). “Positive self-statements: Power for some, peril for others.” Psychological Science, 20(7), 860–866.
This study is an important reminder that not every affirmation works for everyone. Researchers found that people with low self-esteem could actually feel worse after repeatedly stating a sweeping positive statement such as “I am a lovable person.”
Why it matters: Positive affirmations work best when they feel believable, specific, and useful—not when children feel pressured to repeat something they don't believe. That's why the activities in this book focus on helping children explore and shift their thoughts, rather than simply repeating positive phrases.
Children Can Understand the Power of Their Thoughts
Bamford, C., & Lagattuta, K. H. (2012). “Looking on the bright side: Children's knowledge about the benefits of positive versus negative thinking.” Child Development, 83(2), 667–682.
Research from developmental psychology suggests that children begin understanding the connection between thoughts and feelings surprisingly early. Bamford and Lagattuta found that children as young as five years old can recognize that positive thinking can make someone feel better, while negative thinking can make someone feel worse.
Why it matters: Young children are capable of learning about their inner dialogue. With age-appropriate language and examples, they can begin noticing their thoughts and exploring more helpful ways to respond to them.
Self-Affirmation and Stress
Research on self-affirmation suggests that brief affirmation activities may help protect people from some of the negative effects of stress. Studies have found that self-affirmation can support performance under stress and may help people approach difficult problems more flexibly.
Why it matters: An affirmation doesn't need to eliminate stress to be useful. It can help children reconnect with their strengths, values, and sense of self when they're facing something difficult.
Research:
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Steele, C. M. (1988). “The psychology of self-affirmation: Sustaining the integrity of the self.
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Creswell, J. D., et al. (2005). Research on self-affirmation and stress-related responses. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16262767/
Affirmations, Stress, and Self-Esteem
Research has also explored how self-affirmation can influence responses to everyday stress. Findings suggest that affirming important aspects of ourselves can reduce the threat people feel when their sense of self is challenged and may support self-esteem and well-being.
Why it matters: For children, this can mean learning that their worth isn't determined by one mistake, one difficult day, or one thing they aren't good at yet.
Research:
The Benefits of Social-Emotional Learning
CASEL — Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning
Social-emotional learning (SEL) helps children develop skills such as recognizing emotions, managing feelings, building relationships, making responsible decisions, and understanding themselves and others.
Why it matters: Positive self-talk and affirmations fit naturally into a broader approach to social-emotional learning. They can give children simple language for recognizing their feelings, identifying their strengths, and responding to challenges.
Explore the research and evidence behind social-emotional learning: https://casel.org/impact/
The Science of “Wise” Psychological Interventions
Cohen, G. L., & Sherman, D. K. — “The Psychology of Change: Self-Affirmation and Social Psychological Intervention.”
This work explores how relatively small psychological interventions can create meaningful changes in how people respond to challenges. Self-affirmation is one example of an intervention that can help people protect their sense of self when they encounter stress or threats to their identity.
Why it matters: Small activities can have a bigger purpose. Giving a child a few moments to recognize their strengths or remind themselves what matters to them can help them approach challenges from a different starting point.
Read more: http://depts.washington.edu/anesth/edi/_resources-docs/Cohen_annurev-psych-010213-115137.pdf
The New Science of Wise Psychological Interventions
This research overview examines a growing area of psychology focused on brief, targeted interventions that can influence how people interpret themselves, other people, and difficult situations.
Why it matters: The goal isn't to convince children that every experience is positive. Instead, these approaches can help children develop more helpful ways of understanding themselves and navigating challenges.
Read the research overview: https://www3.nd.edu/~ghaeffel/Wise%20Interventions.pdf
A Note on “6,200 Thoughts a Day”
You may see the claim online that the average person has 6,200 thoughts per day, along with claims that 80% of thoughts are negative and 95% are repetitive.
The 6,200 figure comes from a more recent study that attempted to estimate the number of distinct “thought worms”—separate periods of continuous thought. The older claims about 80% of thoughts being negative and 95% being repetitive, however, are frequently attributed to the National Science Foundation without good evidence that the NSF actually published those statistics.
Because this website is for parents and children, it's better not to present those numbers as established scientific facts. The broader, well-supported idea is enough: our thoughts can become habitual, and learning to notice and respond to them differently is a useful skill.
What This Research Means for Children
Taken together, this research points to a simple idea: children can learn to notice their thoughts, understand the connection between thoughts and feelings, recognize their strengths, and practice more helpful ways of responding to challenges.
Positive affirmations are not about pretending that difficult feelings don't exist. They're a tool for helping children build a kinder, more flexible inner voice - one they can carry with them as they grow.