Defined 1
is a type of cognitive distortion that involves viewing things in absolute terms: all good or all bad, angelic or evil, perfection or total failure. There is no in-between.
Black and white thinking,
All or Nothing - Polarized thinking
This cognitive distortions occur when an individual blows things out of proportion. For example, someone might view a small mistake as an epic failure.
Minimization occurs when we inappropriately shrink something—like an achievement— to make it seem less important. Some people may minimize their strengths and positive qualities and believe they are not “likable.”
Catastrophizing
Magnification or Minimization
Name the Cognitive Distortion from this example:
A person who struggles with low income might feel anger and resentment towards others who make more money than them. They might feel that they work just as hard if not harder than other people but are not rewarded the same. What the person fails to realize is that others who make more income could have different educational backgrounds with different types of jobs.
Fallacy of Fairness
Name the Cognitive Distortion from this example:
"I should be losing weight."
Should-ing and must-ing (using language that is self-critical that puts a lot of pressure on you):
individuals see patterns based on a single event and assume that all future events will have the same outcome.
Overgeneralization
This Cognitive Distortion assumes that because we feel a certain way, what we think at that moment must be true. This kind of thinking gives emotions total control of a situation rather than the facts of the situation.
Examples of emotional reasoning could be:
“I feel embarrassed by what happened, so I must be an idiot.”
“I feel angry, so this person I’m talking to must not care about or respect me.”
“I feel guilty, so I must be responsible for this situation.”
Emotional Reasoning
Name the Cognitive Distortion from this example:
"I am terrible at getting enough sleep."
Mental filter (focusing on the negative, such as the one aspect of a health change which you didn't do well)
"I never have anything interesting to say"
Black-and-white (or all-or-nothing) thinking
This focuses entirely on negative examples and experiences, filtering out anything positive. Individuals who engage in negative filtering, may notice all of their failures but not see any of their successes.
Mental Filtering or Negative Filtering
Thoughts with these words can make individuals feel guilty, or like they have already failed. These kinds of statements may apply an unrealistic set of rules or standards to how we measure ourselves and our lives. Society and culture, particularly social media, is full of explicit or implied these
Should, Must, and Ought Statements
Name the Cognitive Distortion from this example:
"The doctor is going to tell me I have cancer."
Jumping to conclusions (or mind-reading):
Name the Cognitive Distortion from this example:
You were expecting to get a promotion this year because of your hard work. You believe you worked harder than the rest of your colleagues but you didn’t get the promotion. You feel resentment towards your colleague because you believe you should have been rewarded for your hard work. However, there could have been many reasons why they were promoted over you, hard work isn’t the only consideration.
Heaven’s Reward
Similar to discounting the positive involves invalidating or “explaining away” good things that have happened. Instead of ignoring the positives like negative filtering, individuals see the positives but actively reject the positive aspects of a situation or person.
Discounting the Positive
These involves defining yourself or another person entirely on one interaction or one behavior. Rather than seeing a behavior as something the individual did which does not necessarily define them. Often times we can view someone’s behavior as who they are.
Labeling
Name the Cognitive Distortion from this example:
"Our team lost because of me."
Personalization
Name the Cognitive Distortion from this example:
A colleague made a technical error on a task at work. This mistake created severe consequences for other tasks. You feel guilty and responsible because when you reviewed their work you missed the mistake.
Internal Control Fallacy
when we attribute thoughts, feelings, and intentions to another person, regardless of the lack of evidence. “They think I’m a loser.”
In this cognitive distortion, an individual predicts events will unfold in a particular way, often to avoid trying something difficult.
Mind Reading and Fortune Telling
With this cognitive distortion,, individuals blame themselves, or someone else, for a situation that, in reality, involves many other factors
Personalization and Blame
Name the Cognitive Distortion from this example:
When something goes right — say you get a promotion — you acknowledge it but refuse to take credit. Instead, you chalk it up to dumb luck or a mistake. Or, you receive many positive comments on an evaluation, but choose to focus on a single piece of negative feedback.
Discounting the positive.
You rely on “gut” feelings over objective evidence to judge yourself and the world. For example, “I feel like a bad mother, therefore I must be a bad mother.”
Emotional reasoning.