Doubting Your Doubts Can Actually Strengthen Your Commitment to Long-Term Goals
When people think about self-doubt, it’s usually seen as a warning sign — a signal that motivation is slipping or that a goal may no longer be realistic. But new psychological research suggests something far more interesting: questioning the validity of your doubts may actually increase your commitment to important life goals instead of weakening it.
This idea comes from a study led by psychologist Patrick Carroll of The Ohio State University at Lima, published in the academic journal Self and Identity. The research explores how a specific mental process called meta-cognitive doubt can help people stay committed to long-term, identity-based goals even when they feel uncertain.
Understanding Identity Goals and Action Crises
To understand the study, it’s important to first look at the type of goals involved. The research focuses on identity goals, which are long-term ambitions closely tied to how people see themselves or who they want to become. Examples include becoming a doctor, starting a business, earning a degree, or building a meaningful career. These goals are deeply personal and often require years of effort.
Along the way, people commonly experience what psychologists call an action crisis. This is a period of internal conflict where someone seriously questions whether they should continue pursuing a goal or disengage from it. Action crises often emerge when obstacles feel overwhelming, progress is slow, or confidence takes a hit.
Previous research has largely examined how goal-related doubts affect motivation and persistence. Carroll’s work takes a different angle by asking a more nuanced question: what happens when people begin to doubt the reliability of their own doubts?
What Is Meta-Cognitive Doubt?
Meta-cognitive doubt refers to uncertainty about the validity of one’s own thoughts. In simple terms, it’s the difference between thinking “I’m not sure I can achieve this goal” and thinking “Are these doubts actually accurate or trustworthy?”
According to the study, this second layer of questioning can change how people respond to setbacks. Instead of treating doubt as a final verdict, people may begin to see it as temporary, incomplete, or even misleading.
The research shows that this mental shift can strengthen commitment rather than weaken it.
Study One: Writing Exercises and Goal Commitment
The first study involved 267 participants who took part online. Each person was asked to identify their most important personal goal and then complete an action crisis scale, which measured how conflicted they felt about continuing that goal. Participants rated statements related to doubt and disengagement on a scale ranging from strong disagreement to strong agreement.
Afterward, participants were told they would join a second, unrelated study focused on memory and writing exercises. This framing was intentional, as the researchers did not want participants to connect the exercise to their personal goals.
Participants were randomly divided into two groups:
- One group wrote about a time when they felt confident in their own thinking.
- The other group wrote about a time when they felt doubtful about their own thinking.
Once the writing task was completed, all participants were asked to rate how committed they currently felt to achieving their most important goal.
The results were revealing. Participants who already felt doubtful about their goal and then wrote about feeling confident in their thinking became less committed to their goal. The writing exercise appeared to reinforce their belief that their doubts were valid.
In contrast, participants who felt doubtful about their goal and then wrote about doubting their own thoughts showed higher commitment afterward. Writing about uncertainty led them to question the reliability of their doubts, which reduced the doubts’ influence.
In short, doubt plus doubt did not increase uncertainty. Instead, it weakened it.
Study Two: Using the Non-Dominant Hand to Induce Doubt
To confirm the findings, Carroll conducted a second study with 130 college students, using a completely different method to induce meta-cognitive doubt.
In this experiment, participants completed the same action crisis scale, but some were asked to do so using their non-dominant hand. Prior psychological research has shown that writing with the non-dominant hand often produces shaky handwriting, which subtly leads people to question the accuracy or validity of their thoughts.
The results mirrored those of the first study. Participants who completed the task with their non-dominant hand showed increased doubt in their own doubts, which again led to stronger commitment to their goals.
Using two very different methods, the research consistently demonstrated that inducing meta-cognitive doubt can help people push through moments of uncertainty.
Why This Happens Psychologically
Doubts about goals are often interpreted as signals that quitting might be the smart or rational choice. But this research suggests that doubts themselves are not always reliable indicators of what someone should do next.
When people begin to question their doubts, those doubts lose their authority. Instead of being treated as facts, they become just another mental experience — one that can be examined, challenged, and put into perspective.
This shift can be especially powerful during an action crisis, when the temptation to disengage is strongest.
Practical Implications and Important Warnings
While the results are promising, Carroll emphasizes that this technique should be used carefully. Doubting one’s doubts is not the same as ignoring reality or pushing forward blindly. Overusing this strategy could undermine healthy judgment, humility, or necessary course correction.
Another key takeaway is that this process may be more effective when guided by someone else, such as a therapist, teacher, mentor, or trusted friend. In the studies, participants were unaware that the exercises were related to their goal doubts, which likely made the effect stronger.
Simply telling yourself to doubt your doubts may not work as well as subtle, guided reflection.
How This Fits Into Broader Psychological Research
This study adds to a growing body of research showing that how people think about their thoughts can be just as important as the thoughts themselves. Similar ideas appear in cognitive-behavioral therapy, mindfulness-based approaches, and metacognitive psychology.
Rather than trying to eliminate doubt entirely, this research suggests that learning to relate differently to doubt may be a more realistic and effective strategy for long-term motivation.
What This Means for Goal-Setters
If you’re working toward a long-term goal and find yourself questioning whether it’s worth continuing, this research offers a useful perspective. Feeling doubt does not automatically mean you should stop. In some cases, it may be worth stepping back and asking whether those doubts truly reflect your abilities, values, or long-term intentions.
By creating space between yourself and your doubts, you may find renewed clarity and commitment.
Research Paper Reference:
https://doi.org/10.1080/15298868.2025.2597804
