Suppression of negative self-referent thoughts: A field study

Abstract

We examined the effects of suppressing negative self-referent thoughts on thought frequency, mood, and self-esteem over an 11-day period. Participants were randomly assigned to a suppression or control group and completed a nightly Web survey. Compared with controls, participants who suppressed a specific thought experienced it more frequently and had more anxious and depressed mood. Self-reported shamefulness of the thought moderated the effect of suppression on self-esteem. Suppression participants who rated their thoughts as shame-producing had lower self-esteem than did all other participants. These findings generally replicate results from a previous laboratory study (Borton, Markowitz, & Dieterich, 2005) and demonstrate that the deleterious effects of suppression are not confined to short-term laboratory experiments.