The Power of Positive Thinking Peale's work in an article in "The Nation" dated May 7, 1955. He compares Peale's message in "The Power of Positive Thinking" to that of hypnosis, writing that "self knowledge, in Mr. Peale's understanding, is unequivocally bad; self hypnosis is good." Murphy explains that such repeated hypnosis defeats an individual's self-motivation, sense of reality, and ability to think critically. He describes Peale's understanding of the mind as inaccurate and his description of the workings of the mind as deceptively simplistic and false. Murphy states that if man's unconscious “can be conceptualized merely as a container for a small number of
Wishful thinking off working on the unpleasant task. Wishful thinking Wishful thinking is the formation of beliefs and making decisions according to what might be pleasing to imagine instead of by appealing to evidence, rationality, or reality. It is a product of resolving conflicts between belief and desire. Studies have consistently shown that holding all else equal, subjects will predict positive outcomes to be more likely than negative outcomes (see unrealistic optimism). However, research suggests that under certain circumstances, such as when threat increases, a reverse phenomenon occurs. Some psychologists believe that positive thinking is able to positively influence behavior and so