.

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PSYCHOLO(j!Co\L

SC1E:-'-CE

Special Section
WHEN THE Ironic ANTillOTE Mental Daniel Control M. Wegner
of Virginia

IS

THE

POISON:

Processes

Uni\Oersiry

,
may is working unwittingly so hard create the very psychological problem

Abstract-The both own ,he most

theory

lifirll/ric

prfICI!SSI!.l "fIIlI!IIral I!ffecrs ofatre!npts

cmrrrf,1

1t1,ld,\" rhut olle'.\"

improvemem he or she

Ilnd rhe leust

de.lired

ro control

to overcome,

mental (u

states

(ICCnle frflm effiJrrjul IJjolnind)

"""0 processe,\": .\earclt jcJr

an intentional Inl!IItaL colltellrs

operating rhut process ,..ilL Ian IRONIC PROCESS THEORY

process produce

c:on.l(.iou.l'. .\.ate

u de.l'ired

and (In ironic tnentaL vf Inindl, the

monitoring

un(.'onscious. lIre ro produce

autotnari(..

.\'eurr.'h jor .\'tate just time

(.'onrenrs rhut si,l,'naL cl jaiL,-\Irhough uperatin~ mentuL rhe Inonitorin,~ process. load. durof The our theory desires of ironic can processes because ~uggestS of that this cruel of perversion the memal

rhe de.lired functions

process ing tor.s

usualLv

to actn'ure

happen we achieve control

the :lfChitecture mental control in this operating an ironic

.\.re.l.s. effects

distra(..ion. on mind of mind control intended

urgem-y.

or other those

rhe Inoniproducing

-"lystem to

by which

whatever

we do manage view. process monirorino~ by the

can supersede thut may

ofrhe

operator.

summon.

Mental

is accomplished. intentionaL and

the very gain

state

is least desirecL thus precipitate

An indi\'idual the Ilnl..oanred

's attempts mental

ro

interaction conscious.

of tWO processes-an effonful. and

that is proopfor

mental

ortates

interruptible less etfortful. the imended

rhev, ~vere

to remedy,

(..ess thatproces., promotes is unconscious. ~r.lting

and .:omrol The men[:1j un interruptible.se:IfChing by

mental ~Iv o~er except third m:l.~im wns to endeavor and in ~ener:ll. alw3Ys to conquer accustom my,;clf myself r:lther rh3n the ~xample. trying is trying

content, this

consistent proce-"ls might The

with look

the tor

intended distrdctors process.

:>tate of when in turn.

mind-. the

-"10. tor is for

~rson

of the world.

to thc persu:l...ion thOlI.

to suppress

a thought.

or for signs monitoring

of fatigue

when

the person s~hes

our own thoughts.

there is nolhing -Rene

O1bsolulely in our power,

.' I. 1 I D Is,.ourse un o./ "110u. P -.0 In)

to go to sleep. content.,

Desc:lnes

~-

mental

silZnOllin" a failure -= In the case of thought :>uppression.

to create the intended state of mind. 0 o. for Instance. the monuor looks tor to :>leep. the unit moni-

Descarte:> third one

probably

should

have but

~topped

Jt two

-, max~m~.

0, This.

the to-be-suppressed thought. In the case of uying tor looks for :>i\!ns of waketuln.::>s. The mental two pr~esses control. The function person who together i~ trying -"lmoking. in the tonn Thi:> :>trategy

has the At

-"lound of truth. of course.

it :>ee~-"I :0 g~t peopl~ that w:

In a lot ot can ~ontrol tI~e to to

;1.'i a f~edback

to produce about ciga-

trouble. our time. abstain ing. might remedy C:1nes. ~imple wildly our And try

:>ome level. and

hi:> conVIction -"I~rve-"l ~ver:'on~ for instance.

to stop thinking for example. of an o~rating might well

thoughtS. It seems from too.

30 ourselves. sensible. might begin

w.:11 trom

rette3

in the hopt:-"I of quitting conscious for effort

likely

e,~~nd:> that and howof the 1 !

perfectly alcohol it stands

that a _person tryln~ not to t~mk \~ho teels pe~on about d~nk-

considerable is lookinlZ th; the

process succeed.

by trying that a ~rson

distrdctors.

to reason

overanxIous m~ght hop.: to But I'::ld to

launch ever.

person monitoring

into thought~ proce~s

that are smoke-free. :>I::lfChes and unconsciously environmental them

~[eanwhil.:. tor cues.

mentally the problem :lll.

to rela.~. by

or that J depre.o;sed sad thoughts.

thoughts When

avoiding are

A\."Cordmg

Desth~ .u~ tor

ci2arettes m~nitor and

bv :>canninlZ en~ounters

memories thoughts.

after

our ro

thoughtS try to

absol~tely our mInd, we

in our po~er. C:ln "om~"m~~.

~~ch

it bring.~

into. consciou.'ine$s again me~ to think of the out of

dr:ci-"lion out

control

re-"ltart-"l th~ oper.lting other ~oves. than

proc~~~-Jnd a :>moke. and Ovl:r

thl: pe~on time. to keep

or .:omrol-turning malai:>e into the very

what

thought

..~a.-. an antldot~

of anvthing

the cyclic .:igarette

interplay thoughtS

mental R~search

poi-"lon

that \.Tc:-.lte-"lit of IIlt'IItul control.::m

,proc~:>.::> (.'ollrrol (\~ eg-Th. backfire. IS about 1989). m:lk.:s mm. d The search ~xactlv ci!!are'nes b; ~d

in tits

,t:lnS.

conducted indicates with bear to think happen. any the how

on irIJni(.'

pro(.I!Sst'S

nero 1994) work even Trying 3uch

the use of memal

ironv

of the monitor. of mental

however. control.

is that

in providing

the need~d of

st:1ned a white not

observation

that it is difficult ~xplicit funny de:;ire way.

not to think t W~gner. what

for the failure

it incre=~

the :lCcessibility

when about

thi~ is one.:> it. in som.: out

the mo-"lt undesirabl~ and ,mok~

thoughts.

In the case of the smoke-ender. all becom.: highlighted

i:; jus~

and tobacco A3 long

and :l.'ihtrays

thoughtS

It turns

that the more control

gen~r:1lldea

may ~I~o ItS

the monitoring unimpaired. ~tfective

process. thi~ i:> only

;IS th~ o~r.lting problem. given Th.:

proce:;-"1 is he:1lthy operating proces~ is

be tnle-that own may cre:lte undoing. not only

attempt cert:lin

at mental condition3. desired

.:ontJin:>

the seed:> ot m~nt~l

a small

Under fail

in other ..vords. states ?f ~ind.

c~ntrol

tar more c:lpacity tivitv

than the monitor and

the Iu.~ury overwhelms produced

or the processmog the slight se,n3I-

to achieve the most

b~t C".m lromC:llIy TryIng to be happy tr:'I.ng dn~ not ;~

it consume:>.

:>0 it usually mental an3es-in

precisely

undesired

3tate of mind.

to coumerimentional when memalload alcohol

contentS

by the monuor. :>~S3.

can make to think

us sad. uying of alcohol can

to be rel:L~~d .:an m:lke m~e us

us anxious. our next

Ho~ever. time

the tonn or other may

or dis[r:1ction:>.

ob-"les:>ed with 3eems

pressure.

intoxication. proce:>s to till

impJinn.:nt

of proce~~tng by the monl~~rof ItS 1[S~lf to and

person

innocently

engaged

\n what

to be J progr:lm

ot ~e.t-

efficiency-the ing process in

operating its ability control

be overt:lk~n \vtth

.:onsciousness

the prooduc~ against

, " v se~h, Memal to D:lniel :\1. Wegner. -; De;:=enllJt '~ddress correspondence .0" V""90'..'I' Ps:cholog., b nngtomlnunw d - Gilmer H:lli. University of Vlrgln!:l. Ch:lrlottes~.Ile. A --.), e m:ll .This theorv dwegner@virginia.edu. .

then not only

cea:>es. but work:>

~~ ted conte n [s . has been tested in several

are:lS of mental

control.

VOL 148 Copyright @ 1997 .~eric:ln Psychologic:ll S.xiety

S. NO, 3. ~IAY

1997

, ,
:::;;

PSYCHOLOGiCAL

SCiE;'-;CE

i-~;.,',--

Daniel M. Wegner the gene.ral P~d!ction has been substantiated repeatedly. Intended ~.ou~~t ~~ppre~slon under mental toad creates exaggerated cognitive accessibility ot the suppressed IhOU2ht (We2ner & Erber 199"). intended concentratIon under load Incre:lSesthe ;lCcessibility of distractors (Wegner. 1997: Zukier & Hag.e~..1978); intended mood conttol under load leads to greate~ accesslb~llty of thoughts relevant to the unwanted mood. and to self-repons ot mood opposite the one intended (Wegner. Erber. & Z:1nako~. 1993): intended relaxation under load promotes arou~al (Wegner. Broome. & Blumberg. 19971: intended sleep under load produces w:lkefulness (Ansfield. Wegner. & Bowser. 1996): intended forgetting under load yields remembering (;\Ila~"r:le. Bodenhausen. Milne. & Ford. in press): intended immobiliz:ltion of a handheld pendulum under load incre:lSes movement in the counterintentionai direction: and intended :lvoidance of ov.:rshooting :l golf putt under load induces just such overs hots (Wegner. Ansfield. & Pilloff. 1997). These discoveries of ironic effects of mental control \!ive the decided impression of slapstick-(Jf human toibles that th';art our best intentions in ways r:mging from comic to tragic. The faCt that these ironic errors do not al~ay; happen, however. ~uggeststhat such tindings signal potential pathways toward the effective conttol of mind. To begin with. they indicate that mental control must be :lpproached with C:lre (if the antidote is to be curative. it mu.'it be uscl under ducing mental contents that are not panic related. The findine that people with panic disorder are especially prone to attacks whe~ they q .. Irv to relax (Adler K ~~ ke & By.rlow 1987) 'IS consistent With th . ,. IS possibility. Perhaps a variety of conditions may be accompanied by the pronenes.'i to ironic effect'l predicted by such a self-loading ironic mechanism. Evidence in support of this idea comes from studies finding hil!h levels of cognitive accessibility for problem-relevant thou2hts i~ se~er.ll disorders. Stroop interference ,tudies :lnd ,imilar ;"ises~ment'i have found magnified :lccessibility or anxiety-related thoughts in anxiety disorder:\ (Logan & Goetsch, 1993). of depre~sion-related thoughts in depression (Gotlib & McCann. 1984). and of food- and body-related thoughL'i in e".lting di);Orders(Cooper & Fairburn. 1992). Attempts to ~xplain ,uch :lclivation have tocu~ed on the possibility that people come to rehe:JI'.ie,uch thoughts repeatedly, but there is little evidence for this (Williams. Mathews. & Macleod. 1996). It makes sense instead that people who have these problems might be trying to conttol them mentally. and that in so doing. they are ~n~ hancing the aCtivity of ironic monitoring processes that bring these issues intrUsively back to mind (W~gner & Zanakos. 1994). . TIONS

"

TREA ThIENT

Il\IIPLICA

conditions that do not :1llow it to turn h t I h ld be d into the poison) C~tt:1inlv _I I -..'. ..How could such psychopathol02ies be treated.! Bevond the reducm ent-1 con.ro s ou Wh 01!h not exerte w en ment... 0 IS present. ., d.. d I ' d ...non In cogmnve load or stress su!!2ested bv the theory's most !!eneral en t e In tVI ua IS un er stress or IS oth~rwlse dIstracted. the provIsion. there :lre several other possible :lvenues. The use ot para~l-too-common co.nsequence of mental conttol will be IronICe.rror. It doxical therapies (e.g.. Shoh:lm-Salomon & Ro~enthal. 1987) might ISworth remembe~ng. then. tha~:lttempts to manage ,;~ss. :lvold nm.: help to revise or rescind a client's commitment to mental control in pr.ess~re.and engineer our ~nvlronments t~. reduce their load on our the first place. and thereby put the brakes on ironic etfects. Advice thinking :lre not mere luxun~~ th~~make lite ~.L'il~ror more pleasu.r- suggesting that people think their unwanted thoughts. dwell on their :lble. but m:lY well be necesslttes It we hope to :lchleve my success In worries. concentrate on thoU2hts or food while thev diet. or the like. m~ntal conttol. m:lY undo the problem by u~doing the control. This strategy could A recognition of the d:lnger of mental load is p:1rticul:lrly apropos sometimes be difficult. though. as m:lny clients could bring ye:lrs of tor the self-control efforts or individuals whose depres.,;.:d mood. phar- praCtice and striving toward mental conttol with them to therapy, md macologically induced mental load. or stressful life circumstance so tind the recommendation that they drop their quest particularly might ~nsure that my attempt at mental conttol would precipitate hard to embrace, New means tor inducing people to relinquish their immediate ironic failure. But the danger also holds in m:my C:lSeS :lttempts at mental control could be useful in this reg:lrd. when the :lppropriate operating process is a difficult one that might be A related \vay in which this theory suggests p~ychother.lpeutic ~:L'iiiy disrupted by ~ven mod~r.lte distr.lctions. Some forms of ment:ll : possibiliti~s i~ through re~.:arch on ironic proc~~s.:~in ,.:~recy. As it control are just so difticult that mo~t people simply do not have the happen~. keeping one., problem~ ,ecret from others involves the use I mental capacity to p.:rtorm th.:m. The suggestion to :lvoid ment:1l or mental control. and this mental control itself C:ln cre:lte ironies. control under load. then. extends to the related ide:l that one should People who keep secret.. in the laboratory or in everyday lite comselect one.s mental control effons c:lrefully. '.picking one.s tights.' to monly become preoccupied with them. because the exercise of secret bypass those that :lre simply beyond one's :1bility. It m:lY be child's keeping introduces automatic monitoring of the ~cret thoughts. beplay to stop thinking of a traffic ticket one received e:lrlier in the day. haviors. or emotions that C:1nyield ironic errors under mental load fo.r example. w~ere:lS it could be bey~n~ one's abilit). to k~p thoughts (e.g:. Lane ~ W'e~ner. ~ 995). Psychopathological. th~u.ghts .:lnd ~ot :l loved one s recent death out ot mind. havlors are otten hIdden trom other people. ;md the indIvidual s desIre Ultimately. though. it seems that people do choose to engage in to maintain such secrecy can thus :lct to perpctuate the occurrence of mental control when they should not. and it is instrUctive to co~ider the very thoughts and behaviors that "JIebeing hidden. Th.:rapies that the lik.:ly outcome of this choice. Elsewhere. I (Wegner. 1994) have encourage the disclosure of personal thoughts or memories to the ,uggested that such ill-:1dvised projects could cre:lte psychopathology therapii;t or to others more generally might gain th~ir effectiveness. in through .I.elf-loading ironic .I~s(ems,cycles of ~x:1c:rbalion in which part. by rele:lSing the individual trom ironic processes that otherwise th.: person.s failing mental control strategy le:1ds to :l decrement in are stimulated by the cloak of secrecy (Wegner & LIne. 1995), mental capacity. which then yields continued tailure or m.:nul conAnother tack to therapy suggested by this theory involves :1ttempts troi. It i.s easy to ima~ine how :1, person who tri.:s :0 :lvoid ,:1p~ic I to enhanc: ~heeffici:ncy of the oper.lting proce~s invok~d in p~ic.u:lttack. tor Instance. might over nme and re?",atcl att:lcks SpIral Into l Iar cases ot mental \;ontrol. Wnen peopl: choo~e .poor str.1tegl~ tor such preoccupation with panic that the m~nulload of thinking :1bout mental co~trol. or ~hen they hav~ had ll~e p~tl.ce ~d so pertortn the problem itself undermines :my operating processes :1lmcl :It prothem haltIngly. theIr chances ot producing ITOnlC effects become

I i I

VOL 8. NO.3. MAY 1997

149

"...

"'."iIWI,"

PSr.CHOLOGICAL SCIE~CE

Ironic Men[al Con[rol

I
contro

greater. ~

I[ ..,

could

be

that

therapeutic

I I
e

re2imens

automanzlng

th

th

certain 'd
ann ores

menta
peop

em

true

eslre

Id k h . rec nlques cou serve ro ma e

h w c:n r h ey tlrst I e ect to reat

aimed

ar

srrucrurin2

and

Ansfield.

Belra,.i'JurRe,t~arclr TI.erap" 3~ 5"1-531 and ., .' .-,

\1J.. re!:lted &. F",rj)um. words in CG. p:l1ienlS (I~_). with .::sling Selective disorden processln~ ;md

M.E..

Wegner.

D..\1..

&.

Bowser.

R.

([99(11.

Ironic

~tfecls

of

sleep

urgency.

.
or ui~el5. e:llln~. Bnl;th weigh!. JII~rnal :Ind "f .h:ipe C/ini-

Cooper.

themselves. be something

The ability

to stop smoking

or ro diet. tor example.

may

cal Ps:-'chn/IJt'., 363-365. 31. Gotlib. I.H.. & McC:Inn.C.D. (19&01.). Consuua ~c ibilily:lnd depression:,o\ne":lmin:IIion of ~gnilive.:Ind :lffcctive f~tol5. J"urnal "f P,n'J"ali/:,' anti S'JCiaiPs:-'4" .1:7-+-,9. !.;me.J.D,. & Wegner.D,.\1.(1995). The cognitiveconsequences '=y. of J"urnal 'If P"rsIJ"ali/:,'and S",'ial Pt,'chl'I,,'1.'"/59.~7-~3.
wg:m. A.C. & GlJels.:h. V.L. (IWJ). Allemion to .:.'tem:ll thle:l! "ues ill anxiety ,Iale'.

that is acquired

with practice (Schachrer.

1982). There

are hundreds of instances in daily life when practice helps with minor -..,-.Ir'J/'J~.\". forms of mental conrro~-as wh~n peo~l~ learn t~ compil~enr the host on whatever
were nor-~o '. . nd ,...1

W:1.'i edible and ~Imply tall ro mention the thmgs that

as a thc:rapy might ~ucceed \l.hc:n such control

IS I

ecu
.'1 :;eems

po ' s.
c

practice

S Ible ..
ear. rh enrh' a t rh e ..OC" IroniC pr e:;:; th e orv .:1.'\. h .s eve ral Macr:le.

Clinical Pn','h,,/,,'1" R"\'i~,,.,IJ. 5.11-559,

of C.:-I.. =ollection: BoIJenhOlu,= The G. im.:ntion:ll v.. ~liJne. A.B,. toreerrinl! & Ford. of R.L 'te~typlC:IJ (in presSI.memones. On the IegU!:I1ion J"urnal "f

It

implications

for the development

of psychorherapy.

Yet more are

P,nIJnali/:,"anti SiJCiai P.-:-"Cho/a~.". -Schachter.S. (!98:). ReciWv15m:lnd ",If-.:= ,-.h"h,~isl.]7, .l3~. of .moking md Obesity,Aln~rican Ps.\"-

suggested by Shoharn and Rohrbaugh (this issue). The most difficult part of applying this theory to ther.lpy. it turns out. is determining which way to go. Is a particular case of mental control one that is so ho pe less that it-:maIy.ss. be abandoned. and therapeutic ~tfOI1Sshould be should
aimed at helping the client to get off this merry-go-round? Or is this

Shoham-Si1Jomon. &., Rosenlh:l\. R. ([~87). P:1r:IdoxiC:IJ Y.. i.mcrventions: A mc\:l. J"urnal "f Consullln'1anti ChlllCaiPn,,'h,,/o~'. -,$. lZ-:8. ."
W':2ncr. -anti D,M. Ih~ (19~9\. ps:-'Chol,,~.v \VlIII~ 'If ""an m~nlal and ,,(her c"nl"". UI"'.anl,,ti :-Iew Yortc: (h"uyhls: Viking. Suppr'sslon. "",teSSlan.

ca:;e one in which mental control

might be achieved if ir were done in

Wegner. D,.\1. (1994\. Ironic proc= 34-52.

"f menl:li control. Ps:-'Chlllo~icai R~vir\v. 10/.

just the right way or with enough trequency'! These questions deserve further research. as there must be a wav to discern !!eneral rules that " ,.'. ..~ could help In making these decIsions In mdIvlduai ca:;es and even across broad syndromes. people do attempt succeed wondert'ully rn the me;mrime. ir :;eems certain that when their minds. at ~ome times they will happy that they have this to conrrol

W.:gncr. D.i\1: (1'197\. Why lhe mind w:lndm. In J.~..C~h.:n.& J.\V. S"hooler (Eds.). S,.,"'r(fI'.appnJlJ,.h,..(n"'H/.tCI"IU"~SSlpp.:9:1--,I;)).Hall...bI...:-IJ:ErIb-olum. Wel:nc:r. D.."'.. An'ili.:ld. ~1..& Pillolf. D. I 1'197). phil anti Ill, p'"duillm: I"",i".. "f TIr~ -'hOl11r c:oI"nJLL;npubli,;/led m:lnuocnpr.Univ.:",iIY01 Virgini:L Ch:u-loltesvillc:. W.:gn.:r. D.~1,.Broome. A.. & B[umbe~. SJ. (1997). !ronic ''If,,ctS of trying to n:t:sx undc:r 'Ino.', 8ehari".,r R"t..arch anti TIr'mp.v. 3$, 11-:1. W.:gner.D.M.. &. Erber.R. (IW2). The hyper:ICcessibility ,upptess.:d of thoughts.J'lur"al ofP,n"nah,,' anti Stx-/olPtvchlll'Jl(v.63, 903-91:. W':1!ner. D,.M..Erber.~.. & ~os. S. \ IW3;. Ironic processc:s thc: in m.:nl:l\ conlrol of -mOOti mu mOOti-n:laled thought.Journal -if Pen"'la/i/:,' and S"",ol Ps:-'ch'J/o~.V. 6$. 1093-110.1. -. W.:gner. D..\1.. EdLIne. J.D. \[99,), From secrecy10psychop:l1holo~. [n J.W. P.:n. & " I ., . .,. ( .). ..",,'11/'". "S"",su",. and I" aI In tpp. -'~,.,~. W:IS Ington. DC . h Am.:ric:m Psy"hologiC:IJ .\.soci:l110n. Wc:1Iner. D,,\1.. & Z:m:1ko..S. t 1994\. Chronic thought,uppt.:ssion.Joumul of P"non-"Ii/:" 6:. ()15-""iO. Willi:lms.l.M.G.. ~I:I,h.:ws.A.. & ~:lCL.:od.C. \ 199(1). The .:morlonalStroop':lSk:lnd psychop:llhology.Ps:-"Ch,'I('~lcal Bull~tin. 1:0. 3-:.1.
Zuki.:r: H.. & H:lgen.l. \V. (197~\; Thc oJev~lop~enr ~~ '.:iecrive :utenuon under dislr:lCtIng condulons. ChIld D".~I"p("enl. ..9. g ,~,_.

and make themselves

fine human ability.'. Ar other times. thev will fail. and descend into an ironic ~elf-defearing cycle of ~elf-heJp gonc: awry, , '" -, Acknowledgments--Thls re:;e:lrch was $Upport= In p:Irt by.,auona I I n' . _I ,lllute 0t '".v,ent", He:l Ith G r:lnt ' IH '91 " 7 ,v .neb:1ker

REFERENCES
Adler. C.~1.. Kr:lSKe. ~I.G.. & B:Irlow. D.H. '1987). R.:l:s.~:IIion-induc;:d p:mic (RIP): \Vhen resting i,n't pe:ICeful. Inte1lrali,., P.-:-.clriaJry., 9.J-J I:' :6.

150

YOLo NO.3. MAY 1997 8.