Feelings Are Not Facts series “Overgeneralization”

Overgeneralization is the second topic in our Feelings Aren’t Facts series. This series of blog posts will highlight ten common cognitive distortions, or ways that your automatic thoughts can cause problems.

Overgeneralization is when we draw a conclusion about the ability or worth of ourselves or others based on a single negative experience. Overgeneralization encourages us to make a sweeping judgment about something based on a very limited amount of information. Typically, the judgment that we make with this cognitive distortion is negative (“I’ll always fail,” “no one likes me,” etc.).

Example: Rebecca received negative feedback from a customer survey at work.

She thinks to herself, “I’m terrible at my job. Everyone that I interact knows how horrible I am. I am going to get fired.”

In the example above, Rebecca’s thoughts are distorted because she is coming to a conclusion based on a small amount of information. If she has not had multiple negative surveys, it is unlikely that her distorted thoughts are accurate. If Rebecca continues with her overgeneralization of this event, it would be easy for the negative thoughts to cloud her thinking, resulting in anxiety, depressed mood, irritability, avoidance, and many other behaviors.

One way to combat overgeneralization is to search for evidence that challenges our conclusions. In the example above, Rebecca may choose to think about times when she had good experiences with customers or when she received positive feedback. She may also find that talking with her supervisor about her performance may help her understand how job skills and weaknesses.