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. 2025 Jan;51(1):49-65.
doi: 10.1177/01461672231181162. Epub 2023 Jul 8.

"The Secret" to Success? The Psychology of Belief in Manifestation

Lucas J Dixon  1 , Matthew J Hornsey  1 , Nicole Hartley  1
Affiliations

"The Secret" to Success? The Psychology of Belief in Manifestation

Lucas J Dixon et al. Pers Soc Psychol Bull. 2025 Jan.

Abstract

We explored the psychology of those who believe in manifestation: the ability to cosmically attract success in life through positive self-talk, visualization, and symbolic actions (e.g., acting as if something is true). In three studies (collective N = 1,023), we developed a reliable and valid measure-the Manifestation Scale-and found over one third of participants endorsed manifestation beliefs. Those who scored higher on the scale perceived themselves as more successful, had stronger aspirations for success, and believed they were more likely to achieve future success. They were also more likely to be drawn to risky investments, have experienced bankruptcy, and to believe they could achieve an unlikely level of success more quickly. We discuss the potential positives and negatives of this belief system in the context of growing public desire for success and an industry that capitalizes on these desires.

Keywords: life success; magical thinking; manifestation; mental causation; self-help.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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