A new scientific study has shed light on a persistent challenge faced by those experiencing anxiety and depression: the tendency to underestimate their own abilities even when objective evidence shows they are correct. The research, published in the esteemed journal Nature Communications, suggests that while anxious and depressed individuals perform as well as their peers, they struggle to internalize moments of success, leaving them prone to chronic underconfidence. This discovery could have significant implications for mental health awareness and treatment approaches in Thailand, where stigma and underdiagnosis of mental health issues remain widespread.
Why does this new research matter to Thai readers? In Thai society, mental health has often been under-recognized due to cultural attitudes highlighting endurance and emotional restraint. With depression and anxiety affecting an estimated 1 in 5 Thais at some point in their lives, according to the Department of Mental Health (dmh.go.th), understanding the subtle ways these disorders influence self-perception can help families, educators, and healthcare providers offer more meaningful support. Moreover, in competitive academic and workplace environments in Thailand, the ability to accurately self-assess is crucial for personal and professional development.
The study, led by a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Copenhagen, involved two large online experiments with over 500 participants. Researchers explored how people form beliefs about their own abilities—a process called metacognition—by measuring two types of confidence: “local” (how sure someone feels about individual decisions) and “global” (how well they believe they performed overall). Participants completed perception and memory tasks using gamified fruit-identification challenges, rated their confidence after each choice, and periodically received feedback from a fictional “auditor” about their accuracy. This unique setup allowed researchers to analyze how both personal confidence moments and external feedback shifted people’s overall self-judgment.
Key results showed that everyone, regardless of mental health status, became more confident after positive feedback and less after negative feedback, regardless of actual performance. Notably, these effects persisted across different task blocks, suggesting feedback can have long-lasting impacts on self-belief. However, participants who reported higher symptoms of anxiety and depression failed to incorporate their own confident moments into their broader self-assessment. In other words, despite feeling secure about some decisions, these individuals did not “credit” themselves collectively, maintaining global underconfidence even when their actual accuracy matched those without anxious-depressive symptoms.
Crucially, computational modeling revealed that the driving mechanism was not an excessive focus on external criticism, as some experts previously believed. Instead, these individuals were primarily insensitive to their own successes—they didn’t let internal experiences of certainty improve their overall view of themselves. As the study’s lead postdoctoral researcher explained to PsyPost, “We had expected that people with low self-beliefs would be disproportionately sensitive to negative feedback, but we did not find this to be the case. Instead, they were more sensitive only to their own past low confidence when they did the task.” (PsyPost)
Moreover, the researchers also found that even in simulated, low-stakes online tasks, receiving mainly negative feedback led people to endorse negative self-descriptions like “unreliable” or “incompetent.” This finding aligns with Thai cultural concepts such as “rak sa nam jai” (preserving dignity) and “face-saving,” which often make individuals wary of criticism and may exacerbate reluctance to engage with mental health services (Culture and Mental Health in Thailand—NIH).
For Thailand, these insights are especially relevant. Thai educational systems often emphasize rote learning and standardized assessments, placing students under significant pressure to perform well academically. When external praise or criticism plays a dominant role—and personal confidence signals are muted by anxious or depressive thinking—students may learn to distrust their own abilities, potentially trapping them in cycles of self-doubt. This is reflected in Thailand’s national mental health strategies, which now increasingly recognize the psychological toll of academic and social stress (WHO Thailand—Mental Health).
Unsurprisingly, the study’s findings have attracted attention from global mental health experts who see them as directly applicable to anti-stigma campaigns and therapeutic protocols. While the study was conducted with non-clinical online participants, its results highlight that even subclinical symptoms—those not rising to the level of formal diagnosis—can have outsized effects on a person’s self-view and willingness to take on new challenges.
One Thai psychologist working with university students noted, “Many of our clients in educational counseling report feeling like ‘imposters,’ doubting their capabilities despite consistently high grades. This new research helps us see that supporting students with timely, specific positive feedback—not just blanket praise—can help shift that self-doubt. The finding that anxious and depressed individuals are not more vulnerable to criticism, but less able to benefit from their moments of confidence, reminds us to focus mental health support on helping students recognize and record their own successes.”
Experts in Thailand also emphasize the importance of community and peer support. Given that external feedback was shown to influence global confidence even for those low in self-esteem, programs that train teachers, parents, and mentors to give accurate, constructive, and positive feedback could be a cost-effective intervention. This approach ties in with traditional Thai values of “nam jai” (generosity of spirit) and communal encouragement, traditionally seen in temple schools, family networks, and Buddhist youth groups.
Historically, mental health stigma in Thailand has been a major barrier to treatment, often leaving individuals to suffer in silence. The growing research focus on the mechanics of metacognition—how we evaluate our own thinking and abilities—offers new language for challenging stereotypes, shifting the conversation from “weakness” to cognitive processing. As mental health awareness grows in Thailand, particularly after the social disruptions of COVID-19, education campaigns can now explain that underconfidence is not always rooted in low performance or excess criticism, but in a failure to internalize internal moments of certainty.
What might the future look like for addressing these challenges in Thailand? The researchers suggested that interventions focusing on positive feedback could be particularly effective. Notably, they found that people with anxious-depressive symptoms responded as well as their peers to accurate, reinforcing feedback from external sources—but not to their private feelings of confidence. This suggests that mental health programs in Thai schools, universities, and workplaces could emphasize both recognizing individual achievements and normalizing open discussions about mental health struggles.
There are, however, important caveats. The study’s sample did not include clinically diagnosed patients, and the feedback effects—while strong—have not been tested for long-term durability. Future research, both abroad and locally, will be required to determine whether these findings extend to severe clinical anxiety or depression, and how best to sustain improvements in self-esteem. Additionally, the cultural context—how Thais interpret criticism and praise—needs further exploration, especially in rural vs. urban settings.
In conclusion, this new research underscores the critical role of feedback, both internal and external, in shaping our beliefs about our own abilities. For Thai readers, the lesson is clear: celebrate your moments of competence, and do not hesitate to seek or give accurate positive feedback to family, friends, and colleagues. For educators, mental health professionals, and policymakers, the findings strengthen the case for supportive, feedback-rich environments that help all individuals—especially those at risk of anxiety or depression—recognize their true capabilities amid everyday challenges. As Thailand’s commitment to mental well-being grows, integrating these insights into everyday practice can help build a society where everyone’s strengths are acknowledged, and fewer people are left underestimating themselves.