The Science Behind Your Daily Affirmations

Tap any citation to read the original study or its abstract.

1. Self-Affirmation & Resilience

• Creswell JD & Sherman DK (2005). Affirmation of personal values buffers neuro-endocrine and psychological stress responses. A short values-reflection cut cortisol spikes by ~50 % during a stress task.
• Howell, A.J. (2016). Self-Affirmation Theory and the Science of Well-Being
• Escobar-Soler, C., Berrios, R., Peñaloza-Díaz, G., Melis-Rivera, C., Caqueo-Urízar, A., Ponce-Correa, F., & Flores, J. (2024).. Effectiveness of Self-Affirmation Interventions in Educational Settings: A Meta-Analysis. Healthcare, 12(1), 3.

2. Gratitude & Positive Reflection

• Emmons RA & McCullough ME (2003). Counting blessings versus burdens: an experimental investigation.
• Jeffrey Klibert, Haresh Rochani, Hani Samawi, Kayla Leleux-LaBarge & Rebecca Ryan. (2019). The Impact of an Integrated Gratitude Intervention on Positive Affect and Coping Resources.

3. Streaks, Tiny Habits & Behavioural Momentum

• Meghan Curran, Nicholas Larade, Gözde Özakinci, Gabriela TymowskiGionet & Stephan U. Dombrowski (2024). How are habits formed? Modelling habit formation in the real world.
• Cary E. Trump, Jessica L. Herrod, Kevin M. Ayres, Joel E. Ringdahl & Lauren Best - Published: 30 September 2020. Behavior Momentum Theory and Humans: A Review of the Literature

Most links open the publisher’s abstract. If pay-walled, try the “all versions” tab on Google Scholar for free PDFs.