About

Someone asked me the other day if I was an optimist.
I said I hope so!

The exercise that forms the basis of this app is taken from an academic research paper : Dandeneau, S. D., & Baldwin, M. W. (2009). The buffering effects of rejection-inhibiting attentional training on social and performance threat among adult students. Contemporary Educational Psychology. A pdf of the paper can be found here and further research and activities can be found at mindhabits.com

Yes, although this may vary from person to person. The research paper mentioned above indicates that participants "reported less interfering thoughts of being rejected while completing...tasks, and a overall higher state self-esteem after having been rejected and experiencing failure".

[Further], in one set of published studies by social psychologist Mark Baldwin and his collaborators at McGill University, participants played a prototype version of this tool for 5 minutes either in the lab or during breaks from work each day for five minutes, to assess the impact on their feelings of stress during the day. University students preparing for an exam, who used the tool while taking occasional breaks from studying, felt less stressed about their exam and ended up feeling less anxious while writing the exam compared to others who used a placebo task. This research suggests, then, that having a habit of mind that allows us to avoid being overly distracted by unhelpful thoughts of social rejection can help us deal with the stresses of daily life, and stay focused on other things we would prefer to pay attention to.

So it sounds like there might be value in giving it a go - maybe 5 minutes a day to see if it has a positive impact for you.

If you have any questions or queries please do not hesitate to contact us on [email protected].

Photos used in the site were generated using Dall-E.