Is there any scientific basis for the law of attraction? Are people who believe in “cosmic collaboration” more successful? And what happens when you write yourself a check for $10 million?

• SOURCES:
  • Rhonda Byrne, writer and TV producer.
  • Jim Carrey, actor.
  • Christopher Clarey, sports journalist and author.
  • Peter Gollwitzer, professor of psychology at New York University.
  • Dave Levin, co-founder and executive director of KIPP Public Charter Schools.
  • Gabriele Oettingen, professor of psychology at New York University.
  • Wallace Wattles, self-help writer.

• RESOURCES:
  • "'The Secret' to Success? The Psychology of Belief in Manifestation," by Lucas J. Dixon, Matthew J. Hornsey, and Nicole Hartley (Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 2023).
  • "Making Dreams Come True: Inside the New Age World of Manifesting," by Stuart McGurk (The Guardian, 2022).
  • "TikTok's ‘Manifesting’ Craze, Explained," by Stuart McGurk (GQ, 2021).
  • "From Feeling Good to Doing Good," by Gabriele Oettingen and Peter M. Gollwitzer (The Oxford Handbook of Positive Emotion and Psychopathology, 2019).
  • "Self-Regulation of Time Management: Mental Contrasting With Implementation Intentions," by Gabriele Oettingen, Heather Barry Kappes, Katie B. Guttenberg, and Peter M. Gollwitzer (European Journal of Social Psychology, 2015).
  • "Olympians Use Imagery as Mental Training," by Christopher Clarey (The New York Times, 2014).
  • “Self-Fulfilling Prophecy,” by R. Rosenthal (Encyclopedia of Human Behavior - Second Edition, 2012).
  • The Secret, by Rhonda Byrne (2006).
  • The Science of Getting Rich, by Wallace Wattles (1910)