12 Common Thinking Errors

Thinking with your feelings.

• personalization

• emotional reasoning

• minimization

• emotional justification

A belief that our choices will influence unrelated events.

• mind reading

• catastrophizing

• magical thinking

• emotional reasoning

Interpreting the thoughts or beliefs of others without adequate evidence.

• personalization

• magnification

• mind reading

• fortune telling

Exaggerating or downplaying the significance of events.

• minimization

• magical thinking

• magnification and minimization

• mind reading

Seeing only the worst possible outcome of a situation.

• should statements

• overgeneralization

• fortune telling

• catastrophizing

Recognizing only the negative aspects of a situation, while ignoring the good.

• all or nothing thinking

• disqualifying the positive

• should statements

• mind reading

The belief that things ought to be a certain way.

• emotional reasoning

• catastrophizing

• disqualifying the positive

• should statements

Thinking in extremes. It's either all good or all bad.

• all or nothing thinking

• disqualifying the positive

• should statements

• fortune telling

The expectation that a situation will turn out badly, without adequate evidence.

• emotional reasoning

• fortune telling

• mind reading

• catastrophizing

The belief that you are responsible for events outside of your control.

• mind reading

• magical thinking

• emotional reasoning

• personalization