Story highlights Andre Spicer: Liberal Americans will turn to self-improvement because of the election of Trump

Gym memberships and self-help books sales will go up, but empathy may go down, he writes

Andre Spicer is a professor of organizational behavior at Cass Business School, City University London. He is the co-author, with Carl Cederstrom, of "The Wellness Syndrome." Unless otherwise noted, facts here reflect the research published in that book. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.

(CNN) Donald Trump's election, in addition to worrying many Americans, will usher in a new age of self-development in American life. Following what many liberals see as a profound political defeat, people are likely to see politics as a losing game and give up on it entirely. They will stop engaging with public issues like poverty, pollution or public violence.

Instead, they will focus on private concerns like their own individual happiness and health. There will be big increases in gym attendance, consumption of self-help books, alternative health treatments and therapy.

President-elect Trump's ascension will exacerbate this trend. He has promised a more protectionist agenda, which will have a big influence on the way Americans relate to the outside world. But what will be more profound is the impact it will have on how Americans relate to each other -- and themselves. My research indicates that they will start a turn inward, to look more closely at their own lives.

Andre Spicer

More Americans becoming self-development junkies means more money for the more-than $11 billion-a-year self-help industry, but perhaps counterintuitively, this surge in self-development won't be healthy for the country overall.

We all know it is a good idea to look after your health by getting more exercise and not eating too much junk food. But as I have found in my research, stoking an overriding fascination with self-improvement can have some profoundly troubling consequences.