Errors in Thinking
Grossly misinterpret events & experiences, usually in harmful or negative ways. These patterns of thinking are full of assumptions, errors, incorrect logic, and real-world evidence does not back them up.
1
Converting positives into negatives
Embracing your own negative experiences and character traits is the exact opposite of positive psychology. It is Negative Psychology. Proust's endorsement aside, we have solid empirical reasons to prefer negative psychology to its positive counterpart. The main reason for this is cognitive dissonance.
2
Self put-downs
Putting yourself down can be damaging to your self-esteem and self-confidence. That includes the words you say out loud in addition to your internal negative self-talk. Negative thoughts and words can be very believable and they distort your perception about yourself.
3
Jumping to negative conclusions
A phenomenon where people reach a conclusion prematurely, on the basis of insufficient information. For example, a person jumping to conclusions might assume that someone they just met is angry at them, simply because that person wasn’t smiling at them while they talked, even though there are many alternative explanations for that behavior.
4
Mistaking feelings for facts
Emotional Reasoning Mistaking one’s feelings for reality is emotional reasoning. If this type of thinker feels scared, there must be real danger. If this type of thinker feels stupid, then to him or her this must be true. This type of thinking can be severe and may manifest as obsessive compulsion.