Why are there so few studies on the effectiveness of Self Help products?

[focuskid]

I'm sure you've all noticed it. Self Help or Personal Development products with more hype than actual substance. The products are out there and the customers are ripe for exploitation. Why are there so many sharlatans and outright frauds in this industry? And why is there so little in the way of substantial double blind studies? Even hugely successful companies in this business shy away from any form of formal study or testing. Why? Is it because it is a business in the first place? Even worse, when the system or process isn't working, have you noticed, it's almost always because you're just not doing it right or trying hard enough! Have you also noticed that most of the people promoting these products have little or no qualifications and/or experience in their fields!
Considering the dismal record of this industry, shouldn't there be a way of rating products and services?

Looking forward to your replies!

[WarrenG]

Good question focuskid, I agree that people would benefit by being more discerning when buying self-help products.

A possible answer to your question is that they don't need to. If drug companies weren't required to produce a certain amount of evidence before releasing a new product, I doubt they'd do it. Indeed, it seems like they fudge the data they do collect!

Likewise, why would someone risk the study not coming out right, for an already established self-help product? And if it's not already established, and the test comes out negative, then you've wasted all that money and you can't even make a product.

Also, speaking in absolute terms sells better. A scientist might say "The results of one trial indicate increased happiness after 2 weeks of performing this exercise, relative to controls." Tony Robbins might say "This is the ONE THING that will make the BIGGEST DIFFERENCE in your life INSTANTLY." That sells much more than the reserved version.

Some self-help stuff is evidence-based though. We can debate the quality of the evidence, but there are randomised trials behind the stuff the positive psychologists are putting out. For example, Authentic Happiness and Learned Optimism by Seligman, The How of Happiness by Lyubomirsky, Flow by Czicksentmihalyi, Curious by Kashdan, are all based on research. There's a lot more, this is a good site to learn more about positive psychology.

[Brutha]

Because consumers don't value scientific evidence enough to pay the price premium for study.
Products get only backed by scientific studies when a government requires those studies.

[focuskid]

I understand the quick fix sales pitch that made Anthony Robbins a lot of money. But the entire self help industry is a huge quagmire of everything from outright frauds to well researched modalities backed by well qualified people. It's like walking through a minefield, needing expert knowledge to figure out the good from the bad.
I think this guy's on the right track: Scientific Self-Help: The State of Our Knowledge - Less Wrong

[Dulma]

That's a good point, focuskid. It would be helpful if there were a Yelp-like place where people could congregate on the web to exchange their experiences with particular books and programs and seminars. Maybe you can start one if it doesn't exist already. I'm sure it would offer a lot of value and maybe even rake in some profits.

[WarrenG]

Originally Posted by Dulma

That's a good point, focuskid. It would be helpful if there were a Yelp-like place where people could congregate on the web to exchange their experiences with particular books and programs and seminars. Maybe you can start one if it doesn't exist already. I'm sure it would offer a lot of value and maybe even rake in some profits.

That could easily be made using wordpress using the comments for written review and a post-rating plugin to rate the product.

But I doubt you'd get anything that the Amazon reviews don't already provide.

[focuskid]

I'm not sure I agree with that. I think something more in depth and researched is needed. I've taken a few self development courses myself and most people would likely categorize me as a self help junkie. So as a layman I'd say something pretty comprehensive has to be put out there as a resource site.

[N64]

I have a different view on this.

As long as we're talking about "self" help, it's hard to objectively quantify any progress, since self is not something solid that exists outside awareness.

A better measurement would be, which self help technique would enable to change the current self into the desired self in the most efficient manner. But, how would you go about measuring efficiency?

Is it Something like

( Desired change in self ) / ( Time that it takes to attain the desired change)

But then, there's a personal will, which may change from person to person

If x is the desired change,


((x)/(T)) * (W/(R*C))

( w stands for willpower, R stands for resistance, C stands for contentment of current self)

Perhaps we can test the effectiveness of given self help methods using this formula. Higher the value, the better the method is or something like that

But, all these things are measured by the self itself !

[focuskid]

Human behavior is complex, that's obvious. But Psychology as a field of study has been around for about 100 years and has gone through a few changes to what it is today. Not everybody aggrees on the major points but the majority do. I'm not talking about efficiency but basic criterias that separate those self help products that follow the current accepted psychological principles and those that don't.

Look at it this way, would you hire a mechanic that went to school and got some training in his field or would you hire a guy that's telling to trust him because he's done this a lot? That's the way it is in the self help industry. There are no standards, no criterea.

Would you put yourself out there as a self help guru with what you know now? (Assuming you're not a professional) Probably not, you likely have more self respect than that. But, many do, just to make a buck. That doesn't mean that you don't have something valuable to offer, but all things being equal, what are the chances?

This site reflects my thinking pretty well: Scientific Self-Help: The State of Our Knowledge - Less Wrong

[Brutha]

I'm not talking about efficiency but basic criterias that separate those self help products that follow the current accepted psychological principles and those that don't.

That a completely different demand from the one you made in the opening post.

Theoretical soundness is something different than being empirically validated.

[focuskid]

[QUOTE=Brutha;944407]Because consumers don't value scientific evidence enough to pay the price premium for study.
Products get only backed by scientific studies when a government requires those studies.[/QUOTE

I think to the contrary, consumers would rather choose a proven, tested product than one that has no testing backing it up. That, in my opinion, would add value to it.

[IEvo]

Some other things to consider about this is that even if you did a test, it would not be accurate.

There are lots of self-help programs out there that have you follow a set of steps to success, but whether or not they work is dependant on a whole bunch of variables unique to the individual.

- Was it presented in a manner that motivated the individual?
- Did the individual complete all the steps exactly as described?
- Are the test steps viable for someone in a lower social standing vs someone in a higher social standing? (In otherwords, if the program is telling you to go to college and get a degree, some people are going to have the opportunity to pay for it outright, others will have to take out a line of credit and others have two kids and work at Burger King and can't spare the time to go to school. Others won't have the intelligence to obtain a degree.)

And then even with all of that, you'll have two people from the exact same social standings who both follow the instructions to the letter: One person will be succeed and be happy with the results and the other won't.

People and their brains are the most complex living organism we have ever encountered, and we have no way of empirically and accurately measuring whether or not a self-help program 'works.'

My advice? Try everything that's free and maybe some of the cheaper ones. All the advice you're going to hear in an expensive, paid seminar is the same advice you'll find in a hundred other places. The only difference is the energy in the room and the flair with which it's presented. Sometimes people need that incentive ('I spent $400 on this seminar! It has to work!') to get their butts into gear, but the advice is mostly all the same.