How To Explain Overgeneralization To Clients

It’s natural for people to use their past experiences to guide their actions and behaviors. Without the ability to generalize, we wouldn’t be able to apply what we’ve learned in one situation to others that are slightly different. In this sense, our ability to learn and adapt depends upon generalization (Raviv et al., 2022). However, there may be times when we generalize too much or problematic ways.

What Is Overgeneralization?

Cognitive distortions, cognitive biases, or ‘unhelpful thinking styles’ are the characteristic ways our thoughts become biased (Beck, 1963). Overgeneralization is a common cognitive distortion in which people make sweeping, self-defeating conclusions about themselves, other people, or the world that are based on isolated events - one negative experience is treated as a law that governs a person’s entire life, and a single event is misconstrued as part of a never-ending pattern (Beck et al., 1985; Tolin, 2016).

Overgeneralized thoughts often contain global terms such as “always,” “never,” and “everyone.” Examples include:

• “He was rude to me – all men are so obnoxious.”

• "My train is late - they’re never reliable.”

• “I failed a test - I’ll never pass any of my exams.”

• “I lost my temper with my child – I’ve always been a terrible parent.”

Overgeneralizations can focus on the self, other people, or situations. They can also be overly positive, such as “I won the race, so I’m the best,” or “My horse came first - this must be the start of a winning streak.”

Normalizing Generalization (Without Minimizing Its Impact)

Generalization isn’t inherently problematic. Generalizing from experience supports learning and helps people know what to do or expect in the future. Rapid, “fast-track” judgments can also help people make urgent judgements when they are under threat – situations were slow and deliberative thinking could be costly (Gilbert, 1998). Research also indicates that people often show a ‘positivity bias’ insofar as they positively overgeneralise to enhance their optimism and self-esteem (e.g., van den Heuvel, 2012). In fact, it has been suggested that this “moderate self-overestimation” can be helpful because it protects an individual’s positive self-view and buffers the effects of negative experiences (Epstein, 1992).

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is concerned with overgeneralizations that are distressing and maladaptive. People who tend to think in this way may often ‘blind spots’ when it comes to:

• Recognising variation and exceptions.

• Forming individual or situation-specific (rather than global) judgements.

• Recollecting specific events (i.e., they have vague or overgeneral memories).

• Setting expectations that are accurate and/or optimistic.

• Prejudiced thinking (towards the self or others).

Seven Tips for Addressing Overgeneralization

1. Educate. Therapists can begin by providing psychoeducation about overgeneralisation and automatic thoughts more generally. For example, they might explain that automatic thoughts are sometimes inaccurate in characteristic ways. One common type of bias is ‘overgeneralisation’ – times when we form a sweeping conclusion based on one event or isolated experiences. For example, if something bad happens, we might assume that the same thing will happen in similar situations in the future.

2. Name the thinking process. Meta-cognitive awareness, also known as decentering, refers to the ability to step back and view thoughts as cognitive events rather than facts (Flavell, 1979). Therapists can help clients recognize negative thinking patterns by encouraging them to use statements like, “I’m overgeneralizing again” or “That’s an overgeneralization.”

3. Use more precise terms. Encourage clients to replace global expressions with more nuanced phrases such as “sometimes,” “some people,” or “in this situation.” For example, “I always fail” can become “I failed this time,” while “Everyone is self-centered” can become “Some people are self-centered.”

4. Search systematically for exceptions. Clients can reality-test overgeneralizations by reviewing experiences that do not fit the conclusion. A belief such as “I never get anything right” can be compared with occasions when the client was correct. Exceptions can be identified using Socratic dialogue, diaries, or behavioral experiments.

5. Separate people from their behavior. Overgeneralizing thoughts sometimes equate a behavior or outcome with the whole person (e.g., “Forgetting my birthday means my partner is totally selfish”). Encourage the client to focus on specific problematic behaviours without making character judgements or global evaluations.

6. Explore the opposite generalization. Exploring whether overgeneralisations in the opposite direction are accurate can highlight just how illogical this thinking style is. For example, if the client believes, “Forgetting my child’s lunch makes me an awful parent”, explore whether remembering their lunch would make them a perfect parent.

7. Use metaphors. Metaphors can be a powerful way to illustrate how people sometimes overgeneralise the negative aspects of their experience. For example, Stott and colleagues (2010) use the example of depression being like ‘dark sunglasses’ that make everything seem darker than it really is. Can your client come up with a personal metaphor that describes this stye of thinking?

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is overgeneralization?

Overgeneralisation is a problematic style of thinking where an individual makes a sweeping judgement or conclusion based on just one experience or a small number of incidents. In other words, they believe an isolated event will become a pattern and repeat itself in the future. Overgeneralisations can apply to oneself, other people, or the world in general.

2. Is overgeneralization always negative?

No. People can make excessively positive (as well as negative) generalizations (e.g., “She was a nice salesperson – I can trust her and her company with my entire life savings”).

3. Is overgeneralization only associated with depression?

No. Research has this thinking style to anger, anxiety, bipolar disorder, body image problems, chronic pain, eating disorders, low self-esteem, perfectionism, and self-harm.

Key references

• Beck, A. T. (1976). Cognitive therapy and the emotional disorders. International Universities Press.

• Beck, A. T., Emery, G., & Greenberg, R. L. (1985). Anxiety disorders and phobias: A cognitive perspective. Basic Books.

• Carver, C. S. (1998). Generalization, adverse events, and development of depressive symptoms. Journal of Personality, 66, 607–619.

• Epstein, S. (1992). Coping ability, negative self-evaluation, and overgeneralization: Experiment and theory. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 62, 826–836.

• Gilbert, P. (1998). The evolved basis and adaptive functions of cognitive distortions. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 71, 447–463.

• Harvey, A. G., Watkins, E., Mansell, W., & Shafran, R. (2004). Cognitive behavioural processes across psychological disorders: A transdiagnostic approach to research and treatment. Oxford University Press.

• Leahy, R. L. (2017). Cognitive therapy techniques: A practitioner’s guide. Guilford Press.

• Raviv, L., Lupyan, G., & Green, S. (2022). How variability shapes learning and generalization. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 26, 462–483.

• Roberts, J. E., & Monroe, S. M. (1994). A multidimensional model of self-esteem in depression. Clinical Psychology Review, 14, 161–181.

• Tolin, D. F. (2016). Doing CBT: A comprehensive guide to work with behaviors, thoughts, and emotions. Guilford Press.

• van den Heuvel, T. J., Derksen, J. J., Eling, P. A., & van der Staak, C. P. (2012). An investigation of different aspects of overgeneralization in patients with major depressive disorder and borderline personality disorder. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 51, 376–395.

• Williams, J. M. G., Barnhofer, T., Crane, C., Herman, D., Raes, F., Watkins, E., & Dalgleish, T. (2007). Autobiographical memory specificity and emotional disorder. Psychological Bulletin, 133, 122–148.