Ironic Suppression

Before we begin, let us conduct a simple experiment on ourselves. In the next 10 seconds, whatever you do, do not to think of a white bear. Ready? Let’s go!

Okay, so how did that turn out? If you are like most people, then you might have found it difficult to suppress the thought of a white bear. Thought suppression refers to the act of pushing thoughts out of one’s mind, and is basically what you have just tried to do. It is practised on a frequent scale. For example, you might have tried to suppress thoughts of your homework when you were partying at your friend’s house. Or you might have tried to suppress thoughts of your ex-boyfriend or ex-girlfriend during Valentine’s Day. Sometimes, thought suppression is successful. Most of the time, however, we find thought suppression difficult to achieve. The essential question then is why? I shall attempt to explain what ironic suppression is. Following that, we will discuss ways to overcome the difficulty of thought suppression.

In a classic study conducted in 1987, social psychologist Daniel Wegner and his colleagues instructed participants to not think of a white bear. As you might have guessed, the participants were not very successful in that task. What has gone through in the participants’ minds is known as ironic suppression. Ironic suppression refers to the tendency for a target to become even more accessible when an individual tries to inhibit thoughts of that target. In other words, the more we try to suppress a thought, the more it floats to the forefront of our minds, hence the term “ironic”.

To understand why ironic suppression occurs, we first need to understand two major divisions in cognition (or thinking). Cognition can be sub-divided into two broad categories – either automatic thinking or controlled thinking. Automatic thinking refers to thoughts that are involuntary, unintentional, unconscious and effortless. Controlled thinking refers to thoughts that are voluntary, intentional, conscious and effortful. A specific type of thinking is automatic or controlled if it satisfies one of, a combination of, or all four criterion (voluntariness, intentionality, consciousness and effort). Another way to define controlled thinking is as a sub-division of cognition that requires us to exercise our self-control. Self-control refers to the way individuals make plans and execute them. According to the self-regulatory resource model, self-control is a limited resource. This means that if we exercise our self-control on one task, then we necessarily have less self-control to exercise on another task. Let me cite an example. Suppose Lisa intends to achieve two things today – to complete her math assignment and to go grocery shopping. However, she realises that she no longer wants to go grocery shopping after having completed her math assignment. According to the self-regulatory resource model, this is because Lisa has exhausted most of her self-control in completing her math assignment that she no longer has sufficient self-control (or energy) left to execute her plan to go grocery shopping. What then is this energy? This energy refers to the amount of glucose in the bloodstream at any given point in time.

Now let us apply this knowledge to the experiment Wegner et al. conducted. When participants are instructed to not think of a white bear, two thought processes occur.

Search for “white bear”.
Suppress “white bear”.

Thought 1 is a form of automatic thinking. This means that it is effortless. Thought 2 is a form of controlled thinking. In other words, thought suppression requires effort. As time passes, the amount of energy left within the participant to successfully suppress the “white bear” thought decreases. The result is that the automatic thought (i.e. search for “white bear”) takes over the controlled thought (i.e. suppress “white bear”) and the participant is no longer able to suppress the thought. What happens now is something you might have experienced earlier on – the participant starts thinking of the white bear.

So how do we increase this level of energy (or blood glucose) that influences our level of self-control? A few things can be done. For example, because glucose is obtained from food, it is advisable to have a healthy balanced diet. Also, practice makes perfect. Our level of self-control improves with practice. Because our level of self-control also increases after some time, it also helps to take a break and relax for a few minutes between two tasks that require us to exercise self-control. Lastly, it helps to form a specific plan to be executed in a situation that requires self-control. The first three strategies are aimed at increasing this energy, while the fourth strategy is aimed at minimising the amount of energy expended in a particular situation. Either way, they are viable strategies we can adopt when we find ourselves running low on self-control.