ABSTRACT
Ironic process theory applies across a wide range of psychological phenomena. Throwing participants off the scent ensured that the experimental hypotheses would not be inadvertently confirmed or refuted by savvy participants trying to please or peeve the experimenter. Ironic process theory nicely explains and correctly predicts a range of paradoxical intentional phenomena. It is proof that scientific psychology can address the same puzzling quirks of motivation that Freudian psychoanalysis did and provide more plausible and empirically grounded accounts of them. The idea that the deliberate cultivation of unwanted psychological states could be psychologically beneficial is not new. Closet chauvinists must watch their words and intentionally avoid making potentially insulting remarks about the, ahem, strength-impaired sex. A hard-nosed social psychologist might here voice skepticism. Nonetheless, many scientists feel intellectually compelled to accept psychological determinism on the grounds that free will would amount to some sort of ghost in the machine.
