What is manifestation? The word “manifestation” means to turn an idea into a reality. Usually, we want to manifest things that improve our happiness and well-being (take this well-being quiz to check your current level of well-being). People generally talk about manifestation as the process of using thoughts, feelings, and beliefs to bring something into reality, but given the science behind manifestation, it seems important to also include actions as a key part of the manifestation process.
What Does Manifestation Really Mean?
Manifestation has become popular thanks to books like The Secret and The Law of Attraction. Unfortunately, most psychological scientists will tell you that these books are based on pseudoscience—they claim to be scientific and factual, but they’re not actually based on scientific evidence.
So as a psychological scientist, I can’t, in good conscience, recommend these books. However, I feel like many psychologists throw out the baby with the bathwater when it comes to the idea of “manifestation.” They’ll often say it’s junk science. But I say: Of course we can manifest positive things in our lives—if we couldn’t then what would be the point of therapy, wellness interventions, or any of the tools we use to help people?
