The Science of Self-Affirmations (And Why They Actually Work)
David R Hamilton, Ph.D. – This week’s Better You, Backed by Science explores self-affirmations – and why modern psychology now takes them seriously.
I first heard about affirmations as a teenager. My mum would repeat:
“Every day, in every way, I am getting better and better.”
That phrase came from Émile Coué, a 19th-century French apothecary-turned-psychotherapist. He noticed something intriguing: patients recovered faster when he helped them believe the remedy would work.
He gave each patient a small note to read along with the remedy. He called it an optimistic autosuggestion – we now call them positive affirmations. The one that eventually proved popular for a wide range of conditions was the above.
Without realizing it, Coué became one of the earliest accidental researchers into the placebo effect.
From woo-woo to science
Affirmations later became popularized by figures like Napoleon Hill, Norman Vincent Peale, Louise Hay, and others.
For a long time, though, science kept its distance – viewing affirmations as overly simplistic or “woo-woo.”
But that view has changed.
A specific type known as self-affirmations now has strong scientific backing.
How do they differ from ‘normal’ affirmations?
What we think of as ‘normal’ (positive affirmations) come in two flavors.
You have the type that Coué popularized, like “Every day in every way I am getting better and better.” These are process-type affirmations. They describe a process of change or improvement.
Then you have the type that are typically popularized in the West, like, “I am a strong person”, or “I have _______” (whatever the thing is).
These are outcome-type affirmations, as they describe an outcome that we wish to be, do, have, or experience, but we say it in the present as if it is true now.
The key difference with self-affirmations is that we focus on something we believe to be positive already about ourselves. The focus on it causes it to expand, and with it our sense of self expands too.
What the science shows
In October 2025, researchers at the University of Hong Kong and Oxford University published a major analysis of 129 studies (over 69 published articles) involving nearly 18,000 people.
They found that self-affirmations:
♦ improved overall wellbeing
♦ increased feelings of belonging and connection
♦ enhanced positive self-perception
♦ reduced anxiety and negative mood
These weren’t fleeting effects either.
The average follow-up time was two weeks, and the benefits were still present.
Why they work
As I wrote above, a self-affirmation involves affirming your core values and positive traits.
Doing this strengthens your sense of identity — helping you feel more stable, resilient, and grounded in who you are.
In effect, self-affirmations make you feel bigger and stronger on the inside.
And when your sense of self is stable, life’s challenges have less power to knock you off balance.
Try This (a simple self-affirmation exercise)
Take some time to think about one or two of your positive traits. Choose those that you value strongly.
For each one, write a sentence or two (this is your self-affirmation) that states the trait and how it represents who you are.
Read your affirmations out loud twice a day for a week.
Notice how you feel.
You may find you stand a little taller — inside and out.
Want to go deeper?
🎥 Watch my short YouTube video where I unpack more of the science behind self-affirmations.
References (if you’re curious)
The 129 study meta-analysis. Link here.
SF Source David R Hamilton Dec 2025