Cognitive Bias: Excessive Generalization

First, we’d like to mention that over-generalizing is what is known as a cognitive bias. That is to say, it is a flawed train of thought that our minds follow without our noticing. We process information in a wrong way, which makes us perceive reality differently and also leads to us being emotionally troubled in a certain way.

In general, cognitive biases are defined as false beliefs that result in a dysfunctional frame of mind. Such moods can be, for example, irrational fears or an unfounded sadness. Over-generalizing is on that list of cognitive biases.

Over-generalizing is simplifying reality in an extreme way. Things are either white or black, good or bad. The subtleties that exist between one and the other extreme are not noticed. Those with such a cognitive bias feel good about seeing reality in only one of these two extreme ways. But where does such a distorted perception come from? What can you do about it? That is exactly what we would like to look at below.

“To generalize always means to be wrong.”

Hermann Keyserling

Exaggerated Generalizing: The Features

The main characteristic of an exaggerated generalization is the tendency to summarize different realities and only look at them holistically in order to place them in the same category. That’s why the favorite words of people who think this way are very categorical: always, never, everything, nothing, etc. – they do that automatically. Every event that they perceive has to be put into one of these drawers by them.

The worrying thing is that these extreme categories are usually very negative. They use this mindset to emphasize the existence of something bad. People with this mindset often use phrases like “I’m just unlucky” or ” I’m always being  taken advantage of” . We don’t hear the opposite.

Anyone who makes use of the exaggerated generalization is just pretending that there are no subtle differences and gray tones. They build a large part of their identity on these constant generalizations and they simply want to put everything in pre-existing boxes. And even if reality shows them that they are wrong, they do not want to disregard their extreme assessment.

Where does this cognitive bias come from?

Exaggerating generalization suggests that such a mindset is someone who sees himself as victim in relation to life. Nobody thinks or acts that way, just because they want to. A cognitive bias arises from an emotional blockage that is the result of inadequately processed experiences. Basically, people with these kinds of thoughts think that they have experienced “unsightly things” that they do not deserve.

The victim perceives himself as a passive object of circumstances or fate. They do not believe they have any control over the negative events they experienced or how they dealt with them. It assumes that it has suffered passive damage and there is nothing it can do about it.

So it is a blockage of emotional development. These people still see themselves as children. They haven’t found any tools or resources to use to help them overcome their difficulties. Instead, they project their complaint and tend to over-generalize in order to ensure their existence.

How to make excessive generalizing a thing of the past

This way of thinking is not only a cognitive mistake, but also implies unresolved conflict. Overcoming these means seeing our own history, ourselves and what we can do in the present differently. Of course, it is easier for us to force ourselves into the victim role of our circumstances: it frees us from responsibility. And in order to get rid of this attitude, we first have to accept in principle that we are responsible for what happens to us, but above all for the way we do it.

A good start is to become aware of these automatisms. We should sound the alarm ourselves every time we utter categorical words like “never”, “always”, “everything”, “nothing”. Then we should pause and evaluate how justified this statement is.

In addition, it is important to think about those situations in which we feel like the victim. Perhaps a relationship that is causing us inconvenience or a task at work that we find unduly demanding.

Do we really have no choice but to endure something quietly? Or maybe we know there are other ways out but are afraid to choose them? Perhaps over-generalizing is an indicator that we are not taking ourselves seriously enough. Maybe we need space and time to think about what is happening to us.