Thinking Errors (Cognitive Distortions)
Psychological Concepts
Thinking Errors (Cognitive Distortions)
Thinking errors, also known as cognitive distortions, are patterns of unhealthy thinking that lead to distress. Thinking errors are a fundamental part of one of the most famous and utilized theories of healing within psychology, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT).
Why This Matters
Recognizing these patterns is the first step toward changing them. When left unchecked, thinking errors can fuel anxiety, depression, and relationship problems.
Signs & Indicators
Common Signs
- Frequent negative self-talk
- Jumping to conclusions
- Feeling overwhelmed by small setbacks
- Difficulty seeing alternative perspectives
- Persistent anxiety or low mood
- Relationship conflicts from assumptions
1. All or Nothing Thinking
Only thinking about things in extremes. Wrong or right, bad or good, black or white. Life is often shades of gray.
Example: Stealing is wrong. That is a black or white statement. What if a person hasn't eaten for 10 days and doesn't have money to pay for food and no one will give them any? Is it still wrong then?
2. Unfair Comparisons
Making unfair comparisons between yourself and other individuals who have an advantage in the area in which you are making a comparison.
Example: "The world record for running a mile is around 4 minutes and I can't even run it in five! I suck at running."
3. Filtering
Honing in on the negative and ignoring the positive. Filtering can also be more akin to selective attention in which you filter out what you don't want to pay attention to and only focus on what confirms your belief.
Example: "I missed three questions on the test, I'm so stupid!" (despite getting a 97%)
4. Personalizing
Taking responsibility when something goes wrong even if it's not your fault. Personalization requires thinking that you are the center of other people's world.
Example: Feeling responsible for a parent's divorce, a friend's suicide, etc. Example: "Angela looks mad, she must be mad at me leaving my coffee cup in the break room."
5. Mind-Reading
Assuming you know what others are thinking/the motives for their actions or that others know what you are thinking or feeling.
Example: "They should've known I was upset because of their comment." Example: "Everyone is thinking about how awkward I am."
6. Catastrophizing
Exaggerating the consequences when things go wrong or imagining it going wrong and acting according to the imagined scenario.
Example: "If we are even five minutes late to the work party my boss will be so mad that she will fire me!"
7. Overgeneralizing
When you overgeneralize you exaggerate the frequency of negative things in your life, like mistakes, disapproval and failures. Overgeneralizing can lead to negative self-perceptions such as thinking that because you "always fail" you are a failure or worthless.
Example: "I always screw things up."
8. Fact vs. Thinking/Feeling
Sometimes you might confuse your thoughts or feelings with reality. You might assume, "If I think or feel this way then my thoughts/feelings must be correct." This is most common with negative emotions but can also occur with positive emotions.
Example: "I feel like this person was intentionally disrespectful, therefore they must've been!"
9. Labeling
Making negative generalizations about your own or another person's character instead of being specific. This labels a person a certain way and denies them the opportunity for their actions to be circumstantial.
Example: "That was a dumb thing to say." vs. "You're so stupid."
10. Minimization
Downplaying the importance of what happened or its meaning to yourself or someone else.
Example: "It's merely a flesh wound." – Monty Python and the Holy Grail Example: "It's not a big deal because it shouldn't bother me."
11. Magnification
Taking a situation's meaning and blowing it out of proportion.
Example: "Because this person lied to me about their favorite food, I can never trust them ever again."
12. Shoulds
Any statement where should, ought, or must is used. These words are a clear indicator of a person's worldview and their expectations of what should be. While having expectations isn't bad, having too many or unrealistic expectations can lead to feelings of guilt if directed towards yourself or feelings of anger, frustration and resentment if directed towards others.
Example: "I shouldn't be so lazy." Example: "He should've greeted me first."
13. Fallacy of Fairness
Believing that life needs to be fair and that you know what is fair and what isn't. Unfortunately, what is fair depends on your worldview and fairness is, therefore, subjective. Needing fairness will often result in disappointment and frustration.
Example: "That's just not fair! I mowed the lawn so you should take out the trash and do the dishes."
14. Fortune Telling
Predicting the future. First, no one can know the future with surety and second, predicting the future can be a self-fulfilling prophecy where your negative expectations impact the outcome negatively.
Example: "I always fail so I'm sure I'll fail at this too."
15. Control Fallacies
A person that believes they either have zero control over anything in life and their fate or a person that believes they have control over everything around them, including others.
Example: A person who claims that nothing ever goes right for them or that God hates them when their engine breaks down despite never having gotten an oil change.
16. Fallacy of Change
Believing that others will change if you pressure them, encourage them, or love them enough. This is problematic as you can never force anyone else to change and it puts the responsibility for your own happiness on the actions of another person.
Example: "If I am mean enough to my husband when he plays video games, he will stop finding joy in playing."
17. Always Being Right
Needing to be right no matter what and not shifting opinions based on contrary evidence.
18. Heaven's Reward Fallacy
The belief that you will be rewarded for your good deeds or compensated for your struggles.
Example: "If I do five good deeds a week, I'll get a promotion at my job."
19. Blaming
Holding others entirely responsible for your emotional pain while denying any personal responsibility. The opposite of Personalizing.
Example: "I wouldn't be so unhappy if my partner would just change." Example: "It's all their fault that our relationship failed."
20. Discounting the Positive
Dismissing positive experiences by insisting they "don't count." This maintains a negative belief even when contradicted by everyday experiences.
Example: "That compliment was just them being polite." Example: "I only got the promotion because no one else applied."
21. Jumping to Conclusions
Drawing negative conclusions without sufficient evidence to support them. Mind-Reading and Fortune Telling are specific types of this, but it also includes any hasty negative assumption.
Example: "She didn't text me back within an hour, so she must be mad at me." Example: "They didn't invite me to lunch, so they must not like me."
Awareness is the first step of any change. Knowing these thinking errors is supposed to help you catch them while they are happening so that you don't fall into their grasp.
- Keep a Thought Journal. CBT recommends keeping a thought journal, a record of every time you have a thinking error with immediate thought corrections. This is a tried and tested method of changing your thinking.
- Catch and Correct. When you notice a thinking error, pause and ask yourself: "Is this thought based on facts or feelings? What would I tell a friend who had this thought?"
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