What is "lucky girl syndrome," and why is it so controversial?

A TikTok trend has taken over young people’s feeds that has caused quite a stir, though it allegedly consists only of positive thinking. "Lucky girl syndrome," as the trend is called, involves people swearing by the simple process of telling yourself mantras like "I’m so lucky and everything goes my way," and then suddenly reaping the rewards. Harmless, right?

Wrong! The trend has come under fire for a number of reasons, ranging from toxic positivity to the discussion of privilege. Psychologists are even chiming in, highlighting the benefits and drawbacks of this kind of mentality that has taken Gen Z by storm but which has been around in various forms since the Baby Boomers' time.

Click through to see where the lucky girl syndrome has scientific roots, and where it is branching into dangerous territory.

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The trend -

The term "lucky girl syndrome" gained huge traction on TikTok in December 2022 when content creator Laura Galebe shared a video in which she explains how she believes she gets "the most insane opportunities" as a result of simply "expecting great things" to happen, reports Dazed. She attributes her success and her life in NYC to the power of positive thought, stemming from certain mantras.

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The trend - Not too long after, a TikTok video of two girls eating noodles and explaining their experience of lucky girl syndrome went viral, with over five million views of them explaining how they passed their exams, got their preferred bedrooms in their house share, and more by repeating, "I’m so lucky, everything just works out for me."

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The trend - The trend surged at the turn of the new year, and the main #Luckygirlsyndrome hashtag has since amassed more than 182 million views. Most of the videos feature TikTokers raving about the life-changing power of the mantras "Everything works out for me," "The universe is conspiring in my favor," and "I’m so lucky."

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Obvious ties to manifestation -

The so-called syndrome is not so groundbreaking when you compare it to manifestation. And similar to manifestation too, often people stop short at believing that if they want something and say it out loud or write it down, then the universe will just give it to them.

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Same goes for the law of attraction -

The law of attraction is a philosophy suggesting that positive thoughts bring positive results into a person's life. But it’s not merely the thoughts doing the work, just as lucky girl syndrome doesn’t just change someone’s life based on a mantra, no matter how many people swear by it.

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The key missing piece -

The key part that many people leave out is that manifestation and the law of attraction work by letting those thoughts and mantras open up your mind and tune your attention so that you’re prepared to notice and take advantage of positive opportunities. The words are working more magic on you than they are the external world.

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Roots in the law of assumption -

Psychologists say lucky girl syndrome also branches off the law of assumption, a theory developed by New Age philosopher Neville Goddard in the 1940s and ‘50s. This theory suggests that if we believe we already have something, we will eventually get it.

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Roots in the law of assumption -

The law of assumption doesn’t put mystical power in an assumption but rather argues that it removes limiting beliefs and shifts your consciousness so that you can more easily go after the things you desire.

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Some scientific backing -

There is some science to back up why the law of assumption and lucky girl syndrome feels like it works for some people, and it’s centered around the reticular activating system (RAS), reports Women’s Health. The RAS is a network of neurons in the brain stem that creates a filtering system in your mind, filtering and seeking information that validates your preexisting beliefs, helping you see what you would like to see. It’s akin to 'always' seeing the same time on the clock. The reality is that your brain is just noticing that time to confirm your belief.

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Some scientific backing -

The idea with the law of assumption is that we are activating our RAS to look for the best possible outcome and shifting our perspective so that instead of focusing on the negative things that could happen, you keep your eyes on the positive. In the case of lucky girl syndrome, the previous example of seeing a particular time would be replaced by the mantra, and your brain hypothetically seeks out good things then attributes them to the lucky mantra.

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Confirmation bias -

Many people, however, believe that the RAS and the so-called syndrome are just sugarcoating what is simple confirmation bias. That’s because the people who are seeing 'results' are specifically picking up only the reasons and coincidences why their luck is changing for the better, while perhaps leaving out irritations and worries they would have otherwise considered. Confirmation bias is both the reason this syndrome 'works' and why it doesn’t.

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The hard truth -

There will always be situations in life where positive thought will fall short, and the danger is encouraging people to enter those situations believing that if they just repeat a mantra enough times they can get through it.

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A dangerous idea -

When things like manifestation and lucky girl syndrome are taken at face value, as is encouraged by trends, dangerous ideas can become unknowingly transferred. With this one in particular, the danger, as The Guardian pointed out, is believing that one always gets what one deserves.

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Dangerous blame game -

Through this idea that one gets what they deserve, many people are left blaming themselves for bad things happening, even if those things were entirely beyond their control. TikTok users speaking out against lucky girl syndrome have shared instances where they blamed themselves at times when their positive thinking couldn't help a sick relative or cure long-term health conditions.

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Toxic positivity -

Toxic positivity is a term that has become increasingly popular with the rise of a kind of capitalist insistence that people maintain a positive mindset despite how dire or difficult a situation is. It’s a dysfunctional way to manage situations, and one which avoids, suppresses, or rejects negative emotions in favor of false reassurances.

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Where is the line? -

Abdullah Boulad, a behavioral specialist and founder of The Balance, acknowledges that positive thinking does help with self-control, socializing, and decreasing stress, "But when used as a coping mechanism for dealing with unpleasant emotions or the harsh realities of life, positive thinking can become toxic," as he told Dazed.

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The consequences -

"This may result in a lack of self-awareness, unreasonable expectations, and disillusionment," Boulad continued. "It is crucial to recognize and deal with unpleasant feelings and circumstances while also looking for and concentrating on the positives in order to strike a balance between applying the law of assumption and avoiding ‘poisonous positivity.'"

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Who gets to be a lucky girl? -

It's also been suggested by various TikTok users that the pressure to "think good thoughts" can be entirely unhelpful if you suffer from certain mental health conditions or physical disabilities, with some going as far as accusing it of being ableist. Others have criticized the way it leaves out people who are oppressed by things like systemic racism—people who can’t simply think their way out of their situations.

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The privilege problem -

Critics have noticed, without much effort, that most people perpetuating this trend, or 'syndrome,' are white, wealthy, conventionally attractive, or some combination of those. Additionally, the 'problems' the universe is allegedly solving for them are "first-world problems" like getting a promotion, getting a house, getting last-minute flights, or landing Taylor Swift tickets.

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Misleading belief -

Thoughts are most certainly helpful no matter your background or circumstance, but the idea behind lucky girl syndrome becomes dangerous when it first inaccurately attributes the power of privilege to the power of positive thinking, and then, second, preaches to people who don’t have those privileges that they simply need the right mindset.

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"Cruel optimism" -

On a societal level, cultural theorist Lauren Berlant described this kind of victim blaming as "cruel optimism," which The Guardian describes as "the great lie that you can find individual solutions to structural problems." An example of this is the myth that we can solve global warming by individually recycling more, meanwhile 20 firms are reportedly behind a third of all global emissions.

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Maintaining systems of power and oppression -

Though lucky girl syndrome seems like a harmless trend, it participates in cruel optimism by drawing attention away from the structures of power in place and instead attributing that power to the individual’s own mindset. Those less 'lucky' are then blamed for their own 'unluckiness,' meanwhile the lucky few feel like they earned their power by themselves.

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Lucky girl syndrome could backfire -

Privilege aside, putting one’s faith in a lucky mantra could also backfire and result in a failure to take responsibility for one’s actions. It could also encourage one to avoid or downplay unfavorable facts to keep up a certain narrative, which could have negative implications later.

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Some benefits remain -

It’s important to remember that no one is knocking the benefits of practicing optimism. By reframing your thoughts more positively, you can build resilience and a better mental health. Plus, mantras have also been shown to improve well-being.

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Some benefits remain -

Some supporters of the lucky girl syndrome also maintain that it’s a very useful tool to bring awareness to and combat negative thinking patterns that might limit us, such as thinking things aren’t going to work, that the universe is conspiring against you, and other discouraging thoughts.

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There's a difference -

But reframing your thinking away from negative biases and believing that if you think positively enough things will work out are two different things. Whereas one invites blame when things go wrong, the other acknowledges that things inevitably go wrong but that there will always be a way through it.

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A better alternative: cognitive behavioral therapy -

Writing things down, visualizing your desires, reflecting on your circumstances, and rerouting negative thoughts all sound like manifestation, but they’re also key components of cognitive behavioral therapy, which works with science-backed, evidence-based research to help people remove mental blocks that are stopping them from going after what they desire.

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It's important to be mindful about trends -

Before buying into the hype, it’s important to consider who are the people creating certain trends, and the audiences for whom they are creating them. This so-called syndrome, as with all trends, should be approached with a rather large grain of salt and a strong dose of common sense.

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This kind of thinking is nothing new -

As The Washington Post points out, the "power of positive thinking" got to Boomers through the book by Methodist minister Norman Vincent Peale, then traveled to Gen X though the best-selling manifestation guide ‘The Secret,’ then had Millennials constructing vision boards and journaling, and has now reached Gen Z with "lucky girl syndrome."