Paradoxical and less paradoxical effects of thought suppression: A critical review

The process of consciously trying to avoid certain thoughts is referred to as thought suppression. Experimental research has documented that thought s uppression may have paradoxical effects in that it leads to an increased fr equency of the to-be-suppressed thought intruding consciousness. It has als o been claimed that suppression has disruptive effect on episodic memory (i .e., a less paradoxical effect). The present article critically evaluates s tudies on the paradoxical and less paradoxical effects of thought suppressi on. More specifically, the issue of whether thought suppression plays a cau sative role in the development of various psychopathological symptoms is ad dressed. While laboratory studies have come up with highly consistent findi ngs about the paradoxical effects of thought suppression, there is, as yet, little reason to believe that such effects are implicated in the etiology of obsessions, phobias, or other psychopathological conditions. Relatively little work has been done on the alleged memory effects of thought suppress ion. The studies that have examined this issue have found mixed results. Ac cordingly, the case for the amnestic power of thought suppression is weak. Alternative explanations and competing theories are discussed, and it is co ncluded that research concerned with the psychopathological consequences of thought suppression would benefit from development of better taxonomies of intrusive thinking and cognitive avoidance strategies. (C) 2000 Elsevier S cience Ltd.