Language
Country/Area
No result found
The turning point of life: How to rebuild a sense of self-worth from trauma?
In social psychology, "shattered assumptions theory" states that experiencing a traumatic event can change the way victims and survivors view themselves and the world. This theory was proposed by psychologist Ronnie Janoff-Bulman in 1992. It mainly explores the impact of negative events on three fundamental assumptions: the overall kindness of the world, the meaningfulness of the world, and a sense of self-worth. These basic beliefs underpin our conceptual system and are the assumptions we are least aware of and least likely to challenge. They constitute our "world of assumptions," which is defined by C. M. Parkes as "a set of firmly held assumptions about the world and self that are used as a means of identifying, planning, and acting." According to Janoff-Bullman, traumatic life events shatter these core assumptions, and the process of coping with these events involves reconstructing a workable world of assumptions.
These assumptions underlie our sense of well-being and help us navigate our daily lives.
This theory explores the process of these three basic assumptions, how our view of the world is challenged by traumatic events. Janoff-Burman's research highlights that one of the underlying assumptions is that "the world is benevolent," meaning that we view the people and circumstances around us as positive. And having a "meaningful world" means that we can connect the occurrence of events with the behavior or personality of specific individuals. Such a world can predict our future. Finally, the belief that we are worthy reflects our positive assessment of ourselves, which plays an important role in our pursuit of success.
However, when these assumptions are challenged, especially as a result of extreme events such as the unprovoked murder of a loved one, significant physical injury, or exposure to physical or mental abuse by others, these situations can be deeply traumatic. For those who otherwise lead relatively active lives, the disintegration of such assumptions can cause deeper trauma.
The moment everything is lost, the kindness of the world becomes incomprehensible.
The process of reconstructing these assumptions is a difficult challenge. After experiencing trauma, individuals must create new assumptions or revise old assumptions to recover from the traumatic experience. Janov-Burman pointed out that the psychological effects of individuals due to traumatic events will change the basic assumptions of life. This is the origin of the "shattered hypothesis theory". In the face of trauma, we must become aware of how the event affects our lives and learn new behaviors to change these negative thought patterns.
This process takes time, an adequate support system, and varies from person to person.
Many people seek therapeutic help and find that positive therapies, such as long-term exposure therapy and cognitive processing therapy, can help them rebuild their broken worldview. The former reduces negative thinking by familiarizing patients with traumatic events, while the latter helps patients understand traumatic events from different perspectives and gradually form a positive state. This is an excellent way to rebuild themselves and guide them towards a more active lifestyle.
Furthermore, although the broken hypothesis theory has attracted much attention theoretically, empirical studies have shown that its effect is small. Psychologist Jeremy D. W. Clifton notes that while the theory is intuitively appealing, further research is needed on whether trauma actually changes underlying worldviews.
Beliefs often provide people with a cognitive framework to help them understand and reconstruct traumatic experiences.
In summary, while trauma may shatter our assumptions about the world, it can also be a turning point that promotes the reconstruction of our sense of self-worth. Over time, through support and self-reflection, we can gradually reconstruct our outlook on life and self-identity. However, in this process of reconstruction, the traumatized person must also accept their experience as a victim and incorporate it into new values.
In different stages of life, have you ever had a moment when you reassessed your self-worth because of a major event?
