Recognising and changing Black & White thinking
Black and white thinking, also known as dichotomous thinking, is when your thought patterns assign people, things, and actions into one of two categories – “good” or “bad”.
Everybody does this from time to time, however if this way of thinking is consistent it can lead to issues such as difficulty in relationships, problems sticking to tasks and poor self-image.
Some signs of black-and-white thinking
- Using extreme terms to describe everything: always and never, perfect and failure, easy and impossible.
- Perfectionism: You may think that you must do something perfectly or not attempt it at all.
- Inability to see either the good or bad in a person: This can lead you to believe someone must be only one or the other.
- Negative self-talk: Since it is very uncommon to do everything perfectly well all the time, if you are using black-or-white thinking you might refer to yourself as useless or a failure.
- Fear of trying new things: If all you can imagine is a complete success or total failure you will try your best to avoid that failure, even if it means not acting on a certain task.
Three ways to change your thinking patterns
- Ask other people what they think about various situations
It is always helpful to get another perspective on whatever is going on, and they might also be able to show you the nuance of the situation.
- Take a look at the words you use to describe things
See if you can replace “always” or “never” with “sometimes” or “maybe.” Just paying attention to your word usage can also make you rethink a situation.
- Look for evidence that what you are thinking isn’t correct
If you think you’re a failure, think of things you can do right. It may also be helpful to keep a physical or digital list of all of your accomplishments. If you think someone is terrible, try to think of the good things they have said or done.
**Adapted from Psychology Today