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Those with low self-esteem precisely the kind of people who do not respond well to positive feedback but tend to read self-help books or attend therapy sessions encouraging positive thinking didn't feel better after those 16 bursts of self-affirmation. In fact, their self-evaluations and moods were more negative than those of the people not asked to remind themselves of their lovability.
This effect can also occur when experiments are more open-ended. The authors cite a 1991 study in which participants were asked to recall either six or 12 examples of instances when they behaved assertively. "Paradoxically," the authors write, "those in the 12-example condition rated themselves as less assertive than did those in the six-example condition. Participants apparently inferred from their difficulty retrieving 12 examples that they must not be very assertive after all."
Wood, Lee and Perunovic conclude that unfavorable thoughts about ourselves intrude very easily, especially among those of us with low self-esteem so easily and so persistently that even when a positive alternative is presented, it just underlines how awful we believe we are.
The paper provides support for newer forms of psychotherapy that urge people to accept their negative thoughts and feelings rather than try to reject and fight them. In the fighting, we not only often fail but can also make things worse. Mindfulness and meditation techniques, in contrast, can teach people to put their shortcomings into a larger, more realistic perspective. Call it the power of negative thinking.

A. 어휘
precisely 정확하게. therapy 치료. session 수업, 의회의 개회.
burst 자동화기의 連發(연발), 파열, 奮起(분기). bursts of 연속적인 강렬한 활동.
self-affirmation 자기긍정. self-evaluation 자기평가. significantly 주목할만하게.
open-ended 한도가 없는, 넓은 해석을 인정하는. cite 인용하다, 引證(인증)하다.
participants (실험에) 참여한 사람들. recall 생각해 내다. instance 실례, 例證(예증).
assertively 단정적으로, 독단적으로, 斷言的(단언적)으로. paradoxically 역설적으로.
rate 평가하다, 등급을 매기다. apparently 분명히. infer 추론하다, 추측하다.
retrieve 다시 생각해 내다, 想起(상기)하다, 회복하다.
unfavorable 형편이 나쁜, 불리한. intrude 억지로 밀어 넣다, 침입하다.
persistently 執拗(집요)하게, 끈질기게. positive alternative 긍정적 代案(대안).
underline 강조하다, 명시하다. psychotherapy 정신요법.
urge 열심히 권하다, 강요하다. reject 거부하다. mindfulness 念頭(염두)에 두는 것.
meditation 명상, 熟考(숙고). shortcomings 결점.
more realistic perspective 보다 더 현실적인 시각으로. perspective 조망, 시각.

B. 구문
- the people not asked to remind themselves of their lovability
[자신의 인간적 매력을 생각해내도록 요청 받지 않은 사람들]
- Participants apparently inferred . . . be very assertive after all.
[실험참여자들은 과거에 단언적으로 행동한 12개의 實例(실례)를 다시 생각해내는 어려움 때문에 자신들은 결국 단언적인 사람이 되어서는 아니 된다고 추론하였음이 분명하다.]
- unfavorable thoughts about ourselves . . . how awful we believe we are.
[우리자신에 대한 불리한 생각은 너무나 쉽게특히 자신감이 낮은 사람들 사이에서는너무나 집요하게 침입해 들어오기 때문에 하나의 긍정적인 대안이 제시되어도 그 제안은 우리가 얼마나 형편없는 인간이라는 것을 강조할 뿐이다.]