Cognitive biases are errors in thinking that we systematically and unconsciously apply in certain situations. They are formed in childhood, and then are adjusted throughout life, depending on our upbringing, environment and circumstances. Thus, it can be said that cognitive biases are the leverage by which our intermediate and deepest beliefs influence thinking. In this article, we will look at a list of cognitive biases and break them down in detail.
How can cognitive biases affect our lives? Let's figure it out. We all often hear from others phrases like "this woman made me terribly angry!" or "because of this situation I am very worried …". The causal relationship in these sentences is fundamentally wrong. In fact, it is not events that evoke our emotions, but the thoughts that we experience at that moment. They are the ones who are able to influence our mood, well-being and even behavior.
Proving this is very easy: notice how differently people react to the same situation. For one, the delay of the bus on the way to work will seem like a disaster, since he is used to reasoning that way, while the other will think something like this: “I probably won't make it in time. Well, they won't fire me because of one delay. They have different thoughts and, as a result, different emotions and behavior. They will both be late for work, but the first will be annoyed all day, and the second will forget about the incident before arriving.
Cognitive biases in psychology
It is these and similar cognitive distortions in psychology that form chronic anxiety, restlessness, and irritability. Subsequently, they are also capable of provoking the appearance of an anxiety disorder, neurosis, or even the development of depression. Accordingly, one should learn to notice such errors of perception of the world around oneself and be able to work with them. Subsequently, you will be able to start thinking more rationally, get rid of chronic emotional stress and difficulties in communicating with others.
List of cognitive biases
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The list of cognitive biases is quite long. Within the framework of this article, we will not consider all of them, dwelling in detail on the most common.
Catastrophizing thinking
The list of cognitive biases is opened by catastrophization, as the most common representative. It is a cognitive error of thinking, in which, behind any event, a person sees a terrible continuation and almost guaranteed the end of the world. Without thinking about the fact that statistically the probability of this is extremely small, he in detail and in colors presents in his head all the worst scenarios for the development of this event. For example, if a child is half an hour late from school, an anxious mother can call all his friends, hospitals, morgues, and the class teacher at the same time.
Due to her anxiety, she is not able to reason soberly and think about the fact that the child is most likely just chatting with friends. A kaleidoscope of horrible pictures of accidents, thefts and kidnapping for ransom is spinning in her head. It’s easy to guess that this habit increases anxiety and does not allow to live peacefully.
Generalization of experience with negative connotations
Having faced something once in their life and having failed, many tend to generalize this experience. For example, upon learning about his wife's cheating, a person with neurotic thinking may begin to think that all women are cheating. This cognitive error in thinking will prevent him from starting a new relationship, as he will see the danger of infidelity everywhere.
Another example: after a car accident, a person became afraid to travel by car. He reasons that "they are all constantly fighting, it is so dangerous!" Interestingly, he would indeed take this as a reasonable argument in favor of never getting into the car again. People with this mindset are able to ignore all of their many positive travel experiences, focusing on one single failure.
Comparing yourself to others
This distortion comes from childhood. It was formed through the constant comparisons with which our parents tried to motivate us. “Why did you get 4, and Seryozha 5?”, “Look, the boy is behaving decently, why can't you ?!”. This is how we learn from childhood to unconsciously compare ourselves and our achievements with those around us. In school, it can be grades or behavior, and in adulthood, social or financial indicators become the measure of success.
It is necessary to understand that the constant comparison of oneself with others is, albeit nowhere, a dead end. There is always someone more talented, richer or smarter. A person who evaluates himself exclusively in comparison with those around him is not able to objectively mark his positive and negative qualities. Consequently, he is forced to spend his whole life in an endless senseless race in order to prove to himself, his parents and everyone around him that he is better and more successful.
Duties: Excessive demands on yourself and others
Another thought error formed in childhood is excessive obligations. It is a consequence of the so-called "conditional love". Its essence lies in the fact that we always had to seek the love of parents or others. Give good grades, clean your room on time, be quiet, comfortable, and correct. Otherwise, we feared, “love” might be denied.
Children do not think about the fact that their parents always love them, they just sometimes say too much, flaring up. They strive with all their might to be loved, so they quickly get used to the fact that for this one must always make the highest demands on themselves. Children from a very early age become "should" - to be good, successful, the best, obedient, polite. A striking example is the "excellent student's syndrome", in which a person makes maximum demands on himself. And in the event that he cannot cope with this burden, then he experiences the strongest anxiety and self-doubt.
Such children often grow into adults who themselves find it difficult to love regardless of conditions. They are already making demands not only on themselves, but also on those around them. “For me to love you, you must be beautiful, caring, intelligent, educated.” And dozens of other prerequisites, not always realized and even more so voiced.
Black and White Thinking: Polarization
"If you love, then the queen, if you steal, then a million" - this is the proverb that can describe black and white thinking. For a person inclined towards it, there are no semitones. Everything can be either perfect or disgusting, there is no middle ground. And he himself can be either the best or worthless and pathetic. It is difficult for such people to communicate with others; they accept other people's shortcomings with great difficulty. It is easier for them to refuse to communicate with a person who, at least in some way, does not correspond to their outlook on life.
"The fact that you saved me from a bullet is, of course, thanks, but as a person you are …"
With such polarized thinking, it is difficult to accept yourself and other people, and the world becomes extremely simple. Either you are with us or against us. This does not allow you to think critically, to understand that everyone has their own advantages and disadvantages. It is difficult for such people to start work if they do not feel the strength to do it perfectly, which gives rise to insecurity and procrastination. Accordingly, polarized thinking makes a person's life very limited and hectic. After all, he himself becomes the most severe critic.
Personalization
Surely many have noticed that when entering a room full of people, it begins to seem that everyone is watching and discussing us. Despite the absurd illogicality of this statement, it seems that all the whispering and furtive glances are directed precisely in our direction. The same happens in communication, for example: seeing an upset wife, a person may immediately think “oh, I probably did something wrong, she is upset because of me …”. Or he will explain the boss's bad mood solely by his own shortcomings or mistakes.
In fact, in most situations, people do not pay any attention to others. They are busy with their thoughts, problems, or plans. The smiling passer-by most likely remembered a funny dialogue or a joke, rather than laughing at our appearance. However, many people tend to attribute everything that happens exclusively to their own actions, while experiencing constant emotional stress and discomfort.
Mind reading
This mistake lies in our belief that we know the thoughts of the interlocutors about us. We are also sure that they know what we are thinking and what we want. Thus, we may become upset or anxious that our loved one or colleague has not done what we expected of him. This is not only a requirement for another person, but also the confidence that he must know what we think. "He did not offer to help me with the report, although he knew that I was sewn up, he wants me to fail!" Or “my wife again cooked borsch for me, she knows that I don’t like it, she does it on purpose!” These thoughts are based on mind reading, they increase our anxiety, can cause irritability, anger or resentment.
But it may well be that a person is just in a hurry to go home and did not even notice the workload of a colleague. And the wife simply does not know about her husband's attitude to borscht, since he always ate it and praised it out of politeness. We need to understand that other people's thoughts are inaccessible to us. As well as our thoughts - to others. If we want to convey information to someone, then the only reasonable way is to talk.
Intolerance to discomfort
The level of discomfort is very subjective. However, many, being in an anxious state, overestimate the discomfort, believe that they will not survive it, that it is too unpleasant and catastrophic. For example, if it is necessary to go to the dentist, a person will think “I am always so unpleasant and scared at the dentist, I just can’t bear it! It's terrible, I can't go. Of course, dental treatment can be unpleasant or painful, but it can be survived. This should be understood and not to abandon your plans, for which you need to go through moderate discomfort.
By avoiding any unpleasant sensations, we only increase our anxiety. In addition, next time it will be even more difficult for us to enter this situation. Over time, this can lead to avoidant behavior or even agoraphobia - the fear of leaving the house. So you should notice such thoughts, suppress them and rationally explain to yourself that discomfort is unpleasant, but not fatal, and you can survive it.
Filtration
Another distortion of thinking is filtering. Applying it, a person focuses on the negative side of any issue, ignoring everything positive that he has. For example, signing up for a gym and setting himself a goal to quickly gain muscle mass, he gets upset if he does not achieve it. Despite the fact that he has become much healthier and stronger, the person is fixated on the fact that he did not achieve his goal, which means that everything was in vain, money and time were thrown into the wind.
For example, a person working on an anxiety disorder may become upset because they still feel anxious. He may ignore the improvement in his condition and the fact that he has overcome many difficulties in his work. At this moment it will seem to him that there is only negative in the situation. This way of thinking also triggers anxiety, guilt, and shame.
The need to always be right
At the bottom of the list of cognitive biases is the need to always feel right. Self-doubt and low self-esteem often lead to the fact that a person tries to be right in any situation. He is ready to express whatever he thinks, even if it may hurt loved ones. His righteousness is more valuable than the relationship with family and their feelings. Having made a mistake, such a person feels anxiety, feels weak and helpless. All his desire to constantly and to the last defend his point of view helps to conform to his inner convictions and cope with constant anxiety.
Such a person does not realize that he does not have to be always right in order to appreciate and respect himself. He also does not understand that all people are entitled to their own opinion and can be wrong. However, neurotic thinking allows only the extremes to be seen.
List of cognitive biases: how to work on them
Despite the fact that every person with a neurosis or anxiety disorder uses these mistakes in his thinking, he does not always notice them. To identify them, it is best to use the ABC scheme used in cognitive behavioral therapy. By regularly filling out the table of events, thoughts and emotions, over time you will be able to notice that some of these distortions are constantly present in thinking and directly affect the perception of the surrounding world.
Then, once you discover habits of applying these cognitive biases, you can logically act on them. To do this, you can ask yourself rational questions, look sensibly at these situations and try to approach the problem soberly and without emotion. For example, when faced with a misunderstanding of your spouse, ask yourself the following questions:
- can he not know what I would like to receive from him now in our relationship? Shouldn't we discuss this together?
- Am I asking too much of him? Yes, I want him to do that, but should he do it?
- do I know exactly what he thinks about this? Or is there a chance that I am wrong? Is it possible that I am misinterpreting his reactions?
List of Cognitive Biases: Summing Up
Now you know what a list of cognitive biases is and you can identify them yourself. You can also read in detail about the issues that can be used to “reflect” on cognitive distortions in the book of psychologists Pavel Fedorenko and Anastasia Bubnova “Settings for the Mind”. It also details thinking techniques that can help you identify intermediate and deepest beliefs that affect your life. And then you can eventually replace maladaptive thinking habits with new and emotionally healthy ones. All this will help you get rid of excessive anxiety, resolve your neurosis and simply become happier.