The Overgeneralization Cognitive Distortion
Overgeneralization is a cognitive distortion that refers to making a broad assumption about something from limited experience. An example is thinking, after a single rejection from a job interview, "I'm always going to fail at everything.” Overgeneralization is often implicated in clinical depression, anxiety disorders, and anger management problems.
Overgeneralization Examples
Overgeneralization can take many forms. We may, for example, predict the outcome of something based on just one instance of it:
After going on a job interview and finding out we didn’t get the job, we conclude we’ll never get a job (overgeneralizing) and feel hopeless about our career, leading to sadness and depression.
While talking to someone, we learn they adhere to a different political ideology than we do. Based on this, we assume all kinds of things about the other person (overgeneralizing), causing feelings of anger or even disgust.
Having spent five minutes learning to shoot a free throw and not making any baskets, we conclude basketball is too hard (overgeneralizing), and we give up, thinking it will always be this hard.
After the first date with someone, they stop returning our texts, leading us to believe we’ll never be asked on a second date (overgeneralizing). Moreover, we think we’ll never find love (overgeneralizing)!
In the examples of overgeneralization above, it’s pretty clear that overgeneralizing unnecessarily leads to painful emotions. What’s also evident is that in each of these examples, the overgeneralization was a pretty inaccurate assumption. Working off of a faulty assumption and believing the distortion to be true, it becomes even harder to put any effort toward achieving your goals. Then your overgeneralizing conclusion might turn out to be true!
Overcoming Overgeneralizing With Cognitive Reappraisal
Usually, when we experience setbacks, painful emotions go along with them. The stronger the emotion, the more likely it is to influence our thinking and result in us believing a distortion, such as overgeneralization. Fortunately, we can reverse this pattern by being more introspective: examining our own thinking in order to come to a more balanced, reasonable perspective. This process is called cognitive restructuring or cognitive reappraisal. Cognitive behavioral therapy has numerous techniques and exercises for investigating the validity of cognitive distortions, such as overgeneralizing and distancing ourselves from these unhelpful thought patterns. A useful skill to help us let go of our attachment to overgeneralizing is to investigate our thoughts from a number of angles intentionally:
6 Steps to Stop Overgeneralizing
Step 1: Ask yourself: What are the costs and benefits of thinking this way? In other words, is it worth being so attached to this way of thinking? Does this kind of thinking protect you from anything? Is it harmful? If this thought costs you more than you’re gaining, it makes sense to develop more effective ways of reacting to the situation by going through the next five steps.
Step 2: Collect the evidence that supports this thought. Are you basing your conclusion on a lot of relevant data or just one or two data points? Is there significant evidence against this particular thought? Is there a way to consider both the evidence against this thought and the evidence supporting it when thinking about this situation? Would the evidence you’re considering hold up in court, or is it too flimsy?
Step 3: Based on the current facts, do you think everyone would draw the same conclusion as you? If not, why not? Are they seeing something you’re not? Would other interpretations be more effective in coping or in achieving your desired outcome? If someone were handling this situation more effectively, how might their thinking be responsible for their success?
Step 4: Take a step outside of your own head for a moment. Pick a friend. If this friend came to you and told you the same thing was happening to them, what would you tell them? Is it different than what you’re telling yourself right now? Consider why you might be giving your friend different advice than you’re giving yourself and whether this is helpful. Would you tell a friend what you are telling yourself? If not, why not?
Step 5: Do you think you’re relying on the actual evidence, or is it possible you’re letting your feelings guide your thinking about this matter? Emotions tend to color our thinking, altering our conclusions we make and exacerbating natural errors in thinking.If you were feeling better or were in a better mood, what’s your best guess as to how you’d think about this situation?
Step 6: Identify examples of this interpretation not being true. What are the exceptions to this conclusion? Now, identify some more examples…
Looking at the thought from new perspectives helps us soften our attachment to old thinking patterns like overgeneralization. The best way to use these steps is first to identify the situations where you usually engage in this sort of distortion and apply the steps to them. You can even plan ahead by rehearsing these steps both before and during the situation. And don’t feel you have to be totally convinced of some other thought for this process to work. Just the act of taking on new ways of thinking can result in our emotions settling down and our thinking becoming more flexible.
Cognitive behavioral therapy is devoted to identifying similar patterns of thinking and helping people develop healthier thinking habits. Significant scientific research shows cognitive behavioral therapy is the most effective treatment for a whole host of problems. Click here to learn more about cognitive therapy.
Copyright © Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Los Angeles, 2016
Updated 2022
