Ironic processing is the psychological process whereby an individual's deliberate attempts to suppress or avoid certain thoughts (thought suppression) renders those thoughts more persistently likely to surface.
The phenomenon was identified through thought suppression studies in experimental psychology. Ironic mental processes have been shown in a variety of situations, where they are usually created or worsened by stress.
In extreme cases, ironic mental processes result in intrusive thoughts about doing something immoral or out of character, which can be troubling to the individual. This shows why it would be unproductive to try to suppress anxiety-producing or depressing thoughts.
YOU ARE READING
Idioms, Fallacies, and Paradoxes
RandomAll definitions are 100% written by Wikipedia, not my own words.
