Jumping to conclusions is something we all do sometimes. For some people, however, it can become a problem that feeds anxiety.
Consider the following example:
Anita is a college student who has been struggling in her history class. Her grades have been bad, and she worries that the professor thinks she should drop the class. One day the professor tells her he’d like to speak with her after class. Anita feels full of dread as she approaches him after the other students leave. To her surprise, the professor tells her that he liked her answer to a question in class, and, smiling, encouraged her to participate more.
Anita had jumped to the conclusion that she was in trouble, and suffered from anxiety as a result. In the end, however, there was no need for her to be concerned.
Jumping to conclusions is a common and unhelpful mental habit. It’s considered a form of cognitive distortion that can worsen anxiety and depression.
The Cognitive Distortion, Explained
Life is complicated. We are constantly confronted with confusing or ambiguous situations that we need to make sense of. Our minds develop shortcuts to help us make sense of situations quickly. Usually, these shortcuts are helpful, but sometimes they can lead us astray. These mental shortcuts can lead to certain biases in our thinking, sometimes known as cognitive distortions.
Definition of Jumping to Conclusions
Jumping to conclusions happens when you make a decision or assumption using limited information. These decisions are sometimes influenced by your emotions — like worry, sadness, or fear. Jumping to conclusions can lead you to make negative assumptions about others, situations, or even yourself.
How It Differs from Other Cognitive Distortions
There are other cognitive distortions that can have similar effects to jumping to conclusions. For example:
- Catastrophizing: You assume the worst possible outcome will occur.
- Disqualifying the positive: When something positive or neutral occurs, you conclude that it “doesn’t count” due to some flaw or deeper truth about yourself.
- All-or-nothing thinking: Also known as “black-and-white” thinking. You take things as good or bad, right or wrong, with no “gray” area or middle ground in between.
Jumping to conclusions is different from these because it assumes you can predict things about other people, like what they think about you or how they will act.
Unfortunately, humans don’t have those magical capabilities! When you jump to conclusions, you’re probably overlooking some important facts– facts you’d be better off taking into account. This habit can increase symptoms of anxiety, depression, and can lead to relationship difficulties.
Common Types of Jumping to Conclusions
Mind-reading
Mind-reading is a type of jumping to conclusions where you assume you know what another person is thinking. You might think to yourself, “I’m not even going to ask her for help because I know she thinks I’m dumb!” This type of thinking limits what could happen because you are only allowing for one potential outcome.
Mind reading is especially common in social anxiety.
Fortune-telling
Fortune-telling is another type of jumping to conclusions in which you take one possible outcome as a certain fact. Maybe you assume that you will lose your tennis match today because you lost the last time you played. Or you take it as fact that the rest of your day will be bad because you started the morning with a tough meeting.
Factors Influencing This Bias
Mental health issues
Some mental health issues, like anxiety and depression, can lead you to make assumptions or jump to conclusions.
When your mood is low, your mind is more likely to look for other negatives. When you’re feeling down you might make negative assumptions more often. For example, you might assume that no one will want to speak to you at a party because you are feeling depressed.
Or, when you’re feeling on edge and worried, you might jump to a conclusion that is in line with how you are feeling, rather than based on facts. So, if you are feeling very anxious about your upcoming review with your boss, you might tell yourself you are sure that you will get fired.
Need for certainty
Being uncertain or unsure of what will happen is an uncomfortable feeling. If you have trouble not knowing the answers, or how things will turn out, you might jump to conclusions to give yourself some relief from uncertainty. However, like discussed above, jumping to conclusions can lead us to make incorrect assumptions about how things are.
RELATED: Is Uncertainty Avoidance Causing Your Anxiety and Panic?
Situations where you’re more likely to jump to conclusions
If you are talking with someone that you dislike, or have made some other assumptions about, you are more likely assume other negative things about that person. Conversely, if you like someone, you might jump to the conclusion that there’s a positive reason for something they did or said, even though there’s not much evidence for it.
When you are in a rush or stressed, your mind might try to jump to conclusions because stress can lead you to take mental shortcuts. Why? Because when you’re stressed, you want to process things quickly. However, this can lead you to overlook important facts of the situation. For example, you might stereotype someone based on how they look, their name, or what they wear, without really knowing much about them or their background.
Examples in Everyday Contexts
Workplace scenarios
Jumping to conclusions can certainly happen in the workplace. Due to work stress, trying to do your best, or difficult workplace relationships, you might notice yourself jumping to conclusions when you’re at work.
For example, let’s say you walk down the hallway at work and pass your boss walking the other direction. You wave hello to her, but she walks straight by you without paying you any attention! You might think: “Wow, I can’t believe she ignored me. I must have done something to upset her. The meeting we have together this afternoon is going to be unbearable! (Here, both mind-reading and fortune-telling are happening).
Later that day at the meeting, you might be quieter than normal, or not bring up certain pieces of feedback to your boss because you have assumed she is upset with you. Jumping to conclusions has impacted your actions because of the quick assumptions made. Perhaps in reality, your boss had earphones in and was listening in to an important call. She was so wrapped up in the virtual meeting she didn’t even notice passing by you earlier that day.
Social scenarios
Here’s another example: Imagine you have plans to get lunch with a friend. You show up on time to the restaurant, but your friend isn’t there. After a few minutes of him not showing up, you begin to feel worried. “What could have happened to him? He must have gotten into a car accident! I know he would have texted if he was running late for a different reason.” You notice your mind ruminating on these thoughts, assuming he must have gotten hurt which is why he isn’t there, and you start to feel restless. (In the above thought, both jumping to conclusions and catastrophizing are actually happening!).
After about 20 minutes, your friend arrives out of breath. He explains that the bus stopped running and he had to walk, and his phone was out of battery.
Consequences of Jumping to Conclusions
Effects on personal relationships
Making assumptions in relationships can lead to misunderstandings and frustration. If you are constantly assuming you know how things will end up, you are more likely to disengage or avoid experiences that could be pleasant or have a surprising ending! If you are constantly assuming you know what others are thinking, you miss opportunities to better understand them.
Impact on decision-making
Jumping to conclusions can impact how you act. Imaging that you find a post-it note with a name and phone number written on it fall out of your girlfriend’s work bag. Although she said she had a work dinner tonight, you assume that this post-it means someone hit on her and she accepted their phone number – she must be out with them right now. Outraged, you pack up her things into a bag and confront her when she gets home – you tell her you know that she was out with another guy. In reality, she was out with work colleagues, and the post-it was a friends’ recommendation for a new hair stylist!
Many times, your view of the situation is one-sided, without regard for alternative possibilities. You might begin to make more and more decisions without having the skills of thinking critically about the situation.
Strategies to Combat Jumping to Conclusions
Reassessing situations
One way to help yourself when you have jumped to conclusions is to reassess the facts of the situation. Make a list of the facts of the situation: what has occurred objectively (i.e., facts that anyone who knowledgeable about the situation would agree on). Looking at the facts, how might you be able to understand what is going on in a new way?
For example, let’s say your friend invites you to join his softball team, and you miss the ball when going up to bat on your very first try. You think to yourself “Wow, I suck at this. I should just sit out the rest of the game. Everyone is going to wish I never came!” You feel anxious and annoyed that you even gave it a try. Then, you consider the facts: it was your first time up at bat, other people struck out, and the purpose of the game is to have fun, rather than to win. Considering these facts, you decide to give it your best shot at the next inning. When considering facts of the matter, you were able to change your perspective.
Considering alternative explanations
Another strategy is to consider other explanations or points of view. Is there another possible outcome or interpretation that could be true? What would a trusted friend or family member think? What would you tell someone else if they were in your situation? Try and take on a different perspective by putting yourself in the other person’s shoes.
Increasing self-awareness
Everyone is affected by cognitive biases. It’s part of being human. However, you can become more aware of your patterns of thinking to help you from making those cognitive errors.
If you notice that you often jump to conclusions, look for patterns in your thinking processes. Does this happen in certain types of situations? Or around certain people? Increasing your self-awareness can help you be prepared to notice these thinking errors and make changes.
Improving Decision-Making Processes
Techniques for better critical thinking
Thinking critically about your experiences can help you come to conclusions that are factual and balanced. Here are some tips to improve your critical thinking:
- Take a few breaths. Deep breathing can help you relax, which can help you think in more balanced ways.
- Be open-minded. Try not to take the first thought that pops into your mind as the truth. Instead, thinking about what other possibilities could be out there.
- Understand which cognitive biases you’re prone to use. Everyone experiences distortions in their thinking. Usually, there are a few types of cognitive biases (or more!) that your mind often goes to. Building insight into these patterns is the first step to changing them.
Finding Help
If you think that your anxiety involves a lot of jumping to conclusions, cognitive-behavioral therapy can help. It can teach you how to change your thought processes in situations that often lead to anxiety. Contact us today.
