Mental Subtraction Worksheet Overview
Mental subtraction is a short exercise where you imagine your life without something good in it, so you can see how much it means to you. Psychologists Minkyung Koo, Sara Algoe, Timothy Wilson, and Daniel Gilbert studied it in 2008 and found that it lifted people's mood more than writing about how the good thing came about.
This worksheet helps you choose one good thing, picture how it might never have happened, and then come back to the present to notice how you feel. A practice log lets you repeat the exercise with other good things over time.
In this worksheet, we’ll:
- Explain why imagining a good thing's absence can help you appreciate it
- Help you choose one good thing you may have stopped noticing
- Walk you through imagining how it might never have happened
- Give you space to notice how you feel and show appreciation
- Provide a log to repeat the practice over time
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Koo, M., Algoe, S. B., Wilson, T. D., & Gilbert, D. T. (2008). It's a wonderful life: Mentally subtracting positive events improves people's affective states, contrary to their affective forecasts. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95(5), 1217-1224.
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Wilson, T. D., & Gilbert, D. T. (2008). Explaining away: A model of affective adaptation. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 3(5), 370-386.
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