A new study sheds light on a stubborn challenge for people with anxiety and depression: they often undervalue their own abilities even when evidence shows they are right. Published in Nature Communications, the research finds that anxious and depressed individuals perform as well as peers but struggle to internalize moments of success, fueling chronic underconfidence. This has important implications for mental health awareness and treatment in Thailand, where stigma and underdiagnosis remain concerns.
Why this matters for Thai audiences: Mental health has historically received less attention in Thai society due to cultural emphasis on endurance and emotional restraint. Thailand’s Department of Mental Health reports that depression and anxiety affect a significant portion of the population at various points in life. Understanding how these conditions alter self-perception can help families, teachers, and health professionals offer more meaningful support. In Thailand’s competitive schools and workplaces, accurate self-assessment is crucial for personal and professional growth.
The study, conducted by a team led at the University of Copenhagen, used two large online experiments with more than 500 participants. Researchers examined metacognition—the process by which people form beliefs about their own abilities—by measuring two kinds of confidence: local confidence (certainty about individual decisions) and global confidence (beliefs about overall performance). Participants completed perception and memory tasks with gamified fruit-identification challenges, rated confidence after each choice, and received feedback from a fictional auditor. This design allowed scientists to see how personal moments of certainty and external feedback shape overall self-belief.
Key findings show that positive feedback increases confidence and negative feedback decreases it, independent of actual performance. These effects persisted across task blocks, suggesting feedback can have lasting influence on self-belief. Importantly, participants with higher anxiety and depressive symptoms did not translate their personal moments of confidence into a stronger global self-view. In short, they could feel sure in the moment but did not reward themselves for success in their overall self-assessment.
Computational modeling revealed the mechanism: these individuals were not mainly driven by external criticism as some have suggested. They were largely insensitive to their own successes; internal certainty did not improve their global self-view. The study’s lead researcher explained to PsyPost that the expectation of heightened sensitivity to negative feedback among those with low self-belief did not hold. Instead, past low confidence on tasks shaped their self-perception.
The research also found that even in simple, low-stakes online tasks, a steady stream of negative feedback could lead people to describe themselves negatively, such as “unreliable” or “incompetent.” This resonates with Thai cultural concepts like rak su nam jai (keeping dignity) and face-saving, which can make individuals wary of criticism and hesitant to seek mental health support.
For Thailand, these insights are especially relevant. Thai education often emphasizes rote learning and standardized testing, placing heavy pressure on students. External praise or critique can strongly influence self-belief, while internal signals of certainty may be muted by anxious or depressive thinking. Thailand’s national mental health strategy increasingly recognizes the mental toll of academic and social stress.
Experts see potential applications for anti-stigma campaigns and therapeutic approaches. While the study involved non-clinical participants, its implications extend to those with subclinical symptoms who nevertheless experience meaningful impacts on self-view and willingness to try new challenges. A university psychologist notes that many students feel like imposters despite high grades. The new findings suggest that educators should provide timely, specific positive feedback, not just broad praise, to help students acknowledge their successes and reduce self-doubt.
Community and peer support also matter. Since external feedback influenced global confidence even among those with low self-esteem, programs that train teachers, parents, and mentors to deliver constructive, accurate feedback could be valuable. This aligns with Thai values of nam jai (generosity of spirit) and communal encouragement often observed in temple schools and family networks.
Mental health stigma in Thailand remains a barrier to treatment. As research into metacognition deepens, it provides new language to shift conversations from weakness to cognitive processing. With growing mental health awareness after the disruptions of the COVID-19 era, campaigns can educate that underconfidence is not solely a result of poor performance or harsh criticism, but can stem from how individuals internalize moments of certainty.
Looking ahead, researchers suggest interventions that emphasize positive feedback could be especially effective in Thailand. People with anxious-depressive symptoms respond well to accurate, reinforcing feedback from others, though private feelings of certainty may not translate into a stronger self-view. This points to school, university, and workplace programs that celebrate genuine achievements and create safe spaces to discuss mental health openly.
Nevertheless, there are caveats. The study did not include clinically diagnosed patients, and the durability of feedback effects over the long term remains uncertain. More research, including local studies in Thailand, is needed to see if findings apply to severe clinical anxiety or depression and how to sustain improvements in self-esteem. Additionally, cultural nuances—how Thais interpret praise and criticism—require further exploration, especially between urban and rural communities.
In summary, the study emphasizes the power of feedback, both internal and external, in shaping beliefs about one’s abilities. For Thai readers, the takeaway is clear: acknowledge your moments of competence, and seek or offer precise, constructive feedback to friends, family, and colleagues. For educators, health professionals, and policymakers, the results support creating feedback-rich environments that help individuals recognize their true capabilities amid daily challenges. As Thailand strengthens its commitment to mental well-being, applying these insights in classrooms, workplaces, and communities can foster broader recognition of strengths and reduce self-doubt.
Data and interpretation are drawn from a PsyPost summary of the Nature Communications study, with local context informed by Thai mental health policies and cultural considerations discussed by Thai researchers and institutions.