User talk:Jessica.MUW

"Fake it 'til you make it" (also called "act as if") is a common catchphrase. The purpose of “fake it to you make it” is that by imitating confidence, competence, and an optimistic mindset, with the hope that it leads to realization of that imitation in an individual’s life (.

The phrase, “Fake it till you make it,” is very similar to the idea of Aristotle that to be virtuous one must act as a virtuous person would act. Although Aristotle did not have actual evidence of this, he was wise enough to come to the conclusion that acting as if you were something could lead you to become something.

In the 1920s, a disciple of Sigmund Freud named Alfred Adler, developed a therapeutic technique, which he called “acting as if,” his variation of the fake it till you make it strategy. This strategy provided his clients an opportunity to practice alternative methods to some of the dysfunctional things that they would doing outside the counseling session. His strategy is still used today in therapeutically sections, where it is known as “role play.”

In the 1960s, psychotherapist William Glasser developed a method of psychotherapy, which he called Reality Therapy. William relied heavily upon the mind-body link. He argued that emotional states, such as depression, could be changed through a fake it till you make it strategy. He would say you are not “depressed,” but you are “depressing,” meaning that you are acting as a depressed person would, therefore you think you are depressed.

Uses In some cases “fake it to you make it” it may be recommended as a therapy technique for combating depression. In this case, the idea is to go through the routines of life imitating as if one were enjoying it. Although, it feels forced in the beginning, by continuing to engaged in this behavior eventually it will become real. This is an example of a positive feedback loop.

The phrase is often mostly associated with Alcoholics Anonymous even though it does not appear in either of the books that form the foundation of the AA program, Alcoholics Anonymous or The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions. AA to Z; An Addictionary of the 12-Step Culture describes it as a "suggestion often made to newcomers who feel they can't get the program and will go back to old behavior. The suggestion implies that if the newcomer acts according to the steps and teachings of the program, then the program will begin to work and the anxiety will fall away".

It does not always lead to success. For example, see cargo cult science. The term “Fake it 'til you make it'’ is not always in the best interest for a person’s more self-concept. Maryam Kouchaki’s research showed that a person being untrue to themselves and feeling a sense of inauthentic were likely to feel morally impure. Kouchaki gives an example in the work place such as, employees having to smile even when they are disrespected. She refers to this as “surface acting.” This meaning that when you have to pretend to be someone that you are not can have a negative effect on your moral belief. Kouchaki says, “I would say that staying true to yourself matters, even if it is difficult, because we notice that there is a cost involved in straying too far from your personal values.”