Overgeneralizing is a cognitive distortion that results in some pretty significant errors in thinking and has the potential to cause emotional pain resulting in diminished quality of life. When we draw a faulty conclusion about something based on just one example, we are overgeneralizing. This can take many forms. We may, for example, predict the outcome of something based on just one previous instance of it.
Overgeneralizing is ineffective mainly because it is usually highly inaccurate, and it is very limiting. Take another example, going out on a date and not being asked for a second date. Were we to use distorted thinking and overgeneralize, we may come to the conclusion that we will never successfully find a romantic partner.; because I wasn't asked on a second date, I will never be asked on a second date. If you really believe this, it might feel demoralizing, and perhaps devastating. Even worse, believing the distortion to be true, it would be unlikely that you would put forth any effort toward achieving your goal of romance. You might stop chatting casually with people you don’t know, delete your dating site profile, and even turn down future invitations of dates. Then your prediction would turn out to be true!
