The Paradoxical White Bear

The Paradoxical White Bear

 

Sukjae Lee, Ph.D.
Creator of the Effectiveness Coaching Methodology
February 15, 2026

 

In his 2011 keynote address at the annual convention of the American Psychological Association, Harvard psychologist Daniel Wegner shared a personal experience. He had resolved not to think about a white bear. Yet even after a considerable amount of time had passed, thoughts of the white bear would not leave his mind. The very attempt to erase the thought from memory paradoxically intensified it. At times, he wished to push certain thoughts away, but they refused to disappear as easily as he hoped.

This psychological phenomenon, widely known as the white bear problem, traces back to the Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky. In his 1863 essay Winter Notes on Summer Impressions, he proposed:

“Try not to think of a white bear. Go ahead—try it.”

Those intrigued by the suggestion attempted to follow his advice, only to discover how difficult it was to suppress the image of the white bear. This paradoxical effect—where suppressing a thought makes it more persistent—is what we now call the white bear problem.

I encourage you to try it yourself. For five minutes, attempt not to think about a white bear. Then check again after ten minutes. What is the state of your thoughts?

 

Wegner’s Experimental Verification

In 1987, Wegner conducted laboratory research to scientifically examine this phenomenon. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups:

• Initial Suppression Group
• Initial Expression Group

The Initial Suppression Group was instructed to suppress their thoughts at the beginning of the experiment and later to express them. The Initial Expression Group received the reverse instructions.

Participants in the Initial Suppression Group were told:

“For the first five minutes, describe aloud everything that comes to mind. However, try not to think about a white bear. If you say ‘white bear’ or think of a white bear, please ring the bell.”

All verbalizations were recorded.

In the next five-minute session, they were instructed:

“Now think about a white bear. If you say ‘white bear’ or think of a white bear, ring the bell.”

Again, all responses were recorded.

For the Initial Expression Group, the order was reversed: they were first instructed to think about the white bear, then later instructed to suppress the thought.

The results were striking. At the beginning of the sessions, the frequency of bell ringing was high across all conditions—indicating that suppressing the thought of a white bear was initially difficult. However, two distinct patterns emerged over time.

In the suppression–expression sequence, the frequency of bell ringing increased as time passed. Participants initially attempted suppression, but over time suppression became increasingly difficult. Thoughts of the white bear intensified.

In contrast, in the other conditions, the frequency of bell ringing decreased sharply over time. When participants were initially instructed to think about the white bear, they found it easier later to stop thinking about it.

The act of suppression—intended as a self-control strategy—paradoxically strengthened the persistence of the unwanted thought. Suppression led to preoccupation and mental fixation on the suppressed content.

In a second study, Wegner found that when participants were instructed to think about something new that interfered with the suppressed thought, fixation on the original thought decreased.

 

What Is the White Bear in Your Life?

A father shouted:

“I told you from the beginning not to go through with that marriage. You said you would decide for yourself. You said it was your choice and that you would take responsibility. So take responsibility. Didn’t you say that?”

His anger and reproach still echoed in her ears.

She thought, “He’s right. Even I don’t understand why I couldn’t walk away from that man back then. It’s all my responsibility.”

Even when she tried to comfort herself, the phrase “It’s my responsibility” swallowed all other thoughts.

A woman I met in coaching lamented that she could not erase this short phrase—“It’s my responsibility”—from her mind. Whenever she felt tired or emotionally strained, the phrase acted as a trigger. It transported her back to the beginning of her failed marriage. Her wandering mind unfolded like a short novel, revisiting painful scenes. She would end in tears, immersed in self-blame and sorrow.

Each person carries a private life narrative—a personal novel with a title of its own. Simply recalling that title fills the mind with its familiar storyline. The mind loses its center and drifts. At times, it descends to the edge of emotional despair before eventually returning.

She had a beautiful daughter. In moments of emotional difficulty, she would picture her daughter’s face. It gave her strength and courage. But at some point, even seeing her daughter’s face began to cause discomfort. Why?

I invited her to reconstruct the meaning of the phrase “It’s my responsibility.”

If its former meaning referred solely to her decision to enter a failed marriage, could she replace that content with something new?

She began to consider her responsibility as a mother. In truth, this thought had occasionally surfaced before, but it was easily forgotten. What she needed was not to remain bound to the past, but to envision and shape her present and future life. She began redefining her role in relation to her daughter’s future:

• Focusing on her daughter
• Raising her as a healthy child
• Engaging in meaningful conversations that would support her growth into a confident member of society

When the old narrative resurfaced, instead of suppressing the thought “It’s my responsibility,” she would intentionally shift its meaning toward her responsibility as a mother.

After several coaching sessions, she reported that the obsessive quality of the original thought had significantly diminished. She regained confidence in leading her life forward.

Replacing the content of responsibility functioned similarly to Wegner’s second experiment, where introducing a new thought interfered with the fixation on the white bear.

 

Rewriting Your Inner Narrative

If you are suffering under the weight of your own life theme, try replacing its key phrase with new content that carries positive meaning. Then reinterpret your existing story through that new lens.

What thoughts emerge?
How do they differ from the original ones?
What does that difference suggest?

The white bear is not merely a laboratory phenomenon.
It is the recurring narrative in your own mind.

The question is not how to suppress it.
The question is how to transform its meaning.

 

Reference

 

Lee, Sukjae (2020). How to Use a Wandering Mind. Seoul: Plan B Design.

Lee, Sukjae (2020). Coaching Methodology. Seoul: Korea Coaching Supervision.

Wegner, D. M. (1994). Ironic processes of mental control. Psychological Review, 101, 34-52.

Wegner, D. M. (1997). Why the mind wanders. In J. D. Cohen & J. W. Schooler (Eds.), Carnegie Mellon Symposium on  Cognition. Scientific Approaches to Consciousness (p. 295-315). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.