{"id":7345,"date":"2026-04-21T13:38:56","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T12:38:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kennethsorensen.dk\/?post_type=glossary&p=7345\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T13:51:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T12:51:18","slug":"act-as-if","status":"publish","type":"glossary","link":"https:\/\/kennethsorensen.dk\/en\/glossary\/act-as-if\/","title":{"rendered":"Act as if \u2014 Assagioli\u2019s Psychosynthesis Technique"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Definition, Examples, Practice<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Acting \u201cas if\u201d<\/strong> is one of Roberto Assagioli\u2019s most practical psychosynthesis techniques for the training of the will. Its principle is disarmingly simple: because the will has only limited direct power over feelings and moods, but considerable direct power over posture, facial expression, voice and action, we can approach a desired inner state from the outside in<\/em>. We assume the bearing, the tone and the behaviour of the quality we wish to cultivate \u2014 courage, serenity, benevolence, confidence \u2014 and the inner state tends to follow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Assagioli grounds the technique in what he formulates as the second psychological law of the will: attitudes, movements, and actions tend to evoke corresponding images and ideas; these, in turn, evoke or intensify corresponding emotions and feelings. He describes the mechanism as a kind of suggestion in reverse: where ordinary suggestion moves from image to feeling to act, acting \u201cas if\u201d moves from the willed act to the self-observed image to the emotional state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The technique is not a form of pretence or self-deception. Assagioli is explicit that it becomes hypocrisy only when used to deceive others for selfish ends. When the deeper self genuinely wills the quality that the surface personality cannot yet feel, the \u201cas if\u201d is an act of sincerity at a higher level \u2014 an alignment of behaviour with one\u2019s true aim rather than with one\u2019s passing mood. The classic illustration is General Turenne, who acted bravely in battle while trembling, and who commanded his body, \u201cTremble, old carcass, but walk.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In psychosynthesis practice, acting \u201cas if\u201d is rarely used alone. It combines naturally with the disidentification method<\/a>, a fundamental approach in Psychosynthesis (which gives the inner observer its freedom), the ideal model<\/a> (which supplies the image of who one is becoming), evocative words<\/strong>, and imaginative rehearsal<\/strong>. Together these form a small repertoire through which the skillful will reshapes the personality from both the outside and the inside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the full Assagioli article on this technique, see Technique of Acting \u201cAs If\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The psychological law behind acting \u201cas if\u201d<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In Chapter 5 of The Act of Will, Assagioli formulates ten psychological laws governing the will. The second of these is the operative law for this technique:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAttitudes, movements, and actions tend to evoke corresponding images and ideas; these, in turn, evoke or intensify corresponding emotions and feelings.\u201d<\/em> \u2014 Law II, The Act of Will<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The law works in both directions. Its companion \u2014 Law I \u2014 states that images and ideas tend to produce the physical states and external acts that correspond to them. Ordinary suggestion, visualisation and affirmation all rely on Law I: begin with the image, and the feeling and the action follow. Acting \u201cas if\u201d reverses the direction. Begin with the willed action, and the image and the feeling follow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is why the technique is so useful when the feeling itself is out of reach. A depressed person usually cannot visualise joy convincingly; a frightened person usually cannot imagine calm. But both can still smooth the forehead, lift the head, steady the breath and speak in a measured voice. The feeling that will not come when summoned from the inside can often be coaxed from the outside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The mechanism: suggestion in reverse<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Assagioli describes the psychophysiology of the technique as a feedback loop:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEvery external act requires that it be first imagined or visualized, even if unconsciously. But then during its performance the self-observation that accompanies it creates an image that, in its turn, produces a reinforcing effect, a positive feedback process. It could be said that the \u2018as if\u2019 technique makes use of the same dynamic power of images as in suggestion, only in a reverse direction.\u201d<\/em> \u2014 The Act of Will, p. 80<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sequence runs:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Willed act<\/strong> \u2014 the will directs the body into a new posture, expression or behaviour.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Self-observed image<\/strong> \u2014 the act, while being performed, produces an inner image of oneself acting this way.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Emotional state<\/strong> \u2014 the image, acting like a suggestion from within, evokes and intensifies the corresponding feeling.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    The loop then strengthens itself: the new feeling makes the willed act easier, which sharpens the image, which deepens the feeling. This is why Assagioli says the emotional change can sometimes be rapid as well as gradual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"Act<\/a>
    The “Act as If” technique is a central technique to develop the will, according to Roberto Assagioli<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Historical examples Assagioli cites<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Assagioli draws on a wide range of figures \u2014 religious, literary, military \u2014 to show that acting \u201cas if\u201d is neither new nor exotic, but a law of the psyche that skilful people have always used:<\/p>\n\n\n\n