Subliminal self-help tapes: Promises, promises

An offspring of the New Thought movement in the 19th century and nurtured by the positive thinking and human potential movements of this century, self-improvement has attained the status of a secular religion (Meyer, 1956, Starker, 1989). Not surprisingly, a huge industry has arisen, catering to the fond hope that positive thinking wedded to the latest in a never-ending stream of self-improvement products could revamp our personalities, habits, and abilities. Such transformations, the hucksters suggest, can be rapid and enduring, requiring minimal effort and sacrifice (except, of course, of the monetary type). The banalities and exaggerations of the current generation of "New Age" entrepreneurs cap a long line of attempts to cash in on the human longing for an quick, painless fix for the frustrations and hardships of daily existence.