Key Takeaways
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Questioning self-doubt may help some folks stay committed to goals
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Two studies found doubt about doubt increased motivation
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The approach should be used carefully to avoid overconfidence, experts said
TUESDAY, Dec. 30, 2025 (HealthDay News) — When people start doubting whether they can reach an important life goal, it often feels like a sign to give up.
But a new study suggests questioning those doubts can actually strengthen commitment.
The research — led by Patrick Carroll, a psychology professor at Ohio State University — found that people who were encouraged to doubt their own doubts became more committed to their goals, not less.
“What this study found is that inducing doubts in one’s doubts can provide a formula for confidence,” Carroll said in a news release.
The study focused on what psychologists call identity goals: Long-term aims tied to who someone wants to become, such as becoming a doctor, artist or parent.
When obstacles arise, people can experience an “action crisis,” meaning they are unsure whether to keep pursuing the goal or walk away, researchers said.
Carroll wanted to understand what happens not just when people doubt their goals, but when they start questioning whether those doubts are even valid.
In one study, 267 adults completed an online survey about their most important personal goal and how uncertain they felt about it.
Participants were then told to complete an unrelated writing task.
Half were asked to write about a time they felt confident in their thinking. The other half wrote about a time they doubted their own thoughts.
Afterward, participants rated how committed they felt to achieving their goal.
The results showed a pattern: People who already doubted their goal and then wrote about feeling confident became less committed, likely because they felt more certain that their doubts were correct.
But people who doubted their goal and then wrote about feeling doubtful in their own thinking became more committed. Writing about doubt made them question whether their doubts about the goal were valid.
“On some level, it may seem that doubt would be additive. Doubt plus doubt would equal more doubt,” Carroll said. “But this study found the opposite: Doubt plus doubt equaled less doubt.”
He found similar results in a second study involving 130 college students.
This time, participants completed the goal survey using their non-dominant hand, a method known to make people question their own thoughts because the writing feels awkward and shaky.
“In two different studies we found that inducing meta-cognitive doubt can lead to people doubting their own doubts,” Carroll explained.
He said this approach may be helpful when guided by someone else, such as a therapist, teacher, friend or parent, but it should be used carefully.
“You don’t want to undermine humility and replace it with overconfidence or premature certainty,” Carroll added. “This needs to be used wisely.”
The findings were recently published online in the journal Self and Identity.
More information
The International Honor Society in Psychology has more about self-doubt.
SOURCE: Ohio State University, news release, Dec. 29, 2025
What This Means For You
If you’re unsure about a big goal, pausing to question your doubts — not just the goal — may help you move forward.