Toss negative thoughts away--literally.

• Position: YOUR LIFE

If you want to get rid of unwanted, negative thoughts, simply rip them up and toss them in the trash, advises a study published in the journal Psychological Sciences. Researchers found that, when people wrote down their thoughts on a piece of paper and then threw the paper away, they mentally discarded the thoughts as well. On the other hand, people were more likely to use their thoughts when making judgments if they first wrote them down on a piece of paper and tucked the paper in a pocket to protect it.

"However you tag your thoughts-as trash or as worthy of protection-seems to make a difference in how you use those thoughts," explains study coauthor Richard Petty.

Some types of psychological therapy employ variations of this concept by trying to get patients to discard their negative thoughts, but Petty indicates that this is the first study he is aware of that has validated that approach. "At some level, it can sound silly, but we found that it really works--by physically throwing away or protecting your thoughts, you influence how you end up using those thoughts. Merely imagining engaging in these actions has no effect"

The findings...