Why do they work?

Research suggests certain neural pathways are increased when people practice self-affirmation tasks like the use of affirmation cards. One of the key psychological theories behind positive affirmations is the Self-affirmation Theory (Steele, 1988). There are empirical studies based on the idea that we can maintain our sense of self-integrity by telling ourselves (or affirming) what we believe in, in positive ways.

Affirmations are designed to encourage an optimistic mindset and broaden a person’s overall perspective. In terms of reducing negative thoughts, affirmations have been shown to help with the tendency to linger on negative experiences and reduce the effect of negative emotions (Wiesenfeld et al., 2001).

There is MRI evidence suggesting that certain neural pathways are increased when people practice self-affirmation tasks (Cascio et al., 2016). Being super specific, the ventromedial prefrontal cortex—is involved in positive valuation and self-related information processing (Falk et al., 2015; Cascio et al., 2016). Your brain has the ability to change and adapt to different circumstances throughout your life, this is called, neuroplasticity. The repetition of daily affirmation fires up your neural pathways and makes changes to those areas of the brain that makes you happy and positive.

Want to read more about the science behind affirmations?

3 Great Articles

Positive Daily Affirmations: Is There Science Behind It? By Catherine Moore
https://positivepsychology.com/daily-affirmations/#science

Positive Affirmations: Too Good to Be True?  By Crystal Raypole
https://www.healthline.com/health/mental-health/do-affirmations-work

Positive Affirmations And How To Use Them By Mara Santilli
https://www.forbes.com/health/mind/positive-affirmations/