11/10/2022
We all engage in cognitive distortions some of the time. A cognitive distortion is an assumption we make based on minimal evidence, or without considering the evidence. There are numerous kinds of cognitive distortions, but all-or-nothing thinking is one of the most common. The more we rely on distortions like all-or-nothing thinking to make decisions or to interpret events, the worse we tend to feel. To feel better and develop a more grounded understanding of the world around us, it’s important to recognize all-or-nothing thinking and take steps to develop a more effective viewpoint.
All-or-nothing thinking refers to thinking in extremes. You are either a success or a failure. Your performance was totally good or totally bad. If you are not perfect, then you are a failure. This binary way of thinking does not account for shades of gray, and can be responsible for a great deal of negative evaluations of yourself and others.
Take for example a job interview. During the interview, you are caught off-guard by a question, and do not answer it as well as you would have liked. If you view this experience through the lens of all-or-nothing thinking, you are likely to discount your performance during the other 95% of the interview, and think that it was “horrible” and a “thorough waste of time,” triggering feelings of disappointment and shame. This cognitive distortion sets an unreasonable rule in which any outcome less than 100% equates to 0%. It is easy to see how that all-or-nothing thinking can lead to a lot of harsh negative judgments about yourself, lowering self-esteem in the process.
This cognitive distortion can disrupt attempts to change behavior, such as sticking to a diet. If you think about your diet in all-or-nothing terms, it is likely that one indiscretion will derail all of your effort. Remember, anything short of 100% might as well be 0%, so if you stick to your diet 90% of the time, all-or-nothing thinking will have you believe that you’ve totally failed, and that you might as well eat whatever you want.