Emotional Reasoning, A Common Thinking Error and Strategies to Overcome It

Emotional reasoning is a cognitive distortion where you make decisions and interpret reality based on your emotions rather than objective evidence. This thinking error can lead to irrational beliefs, misunderstandings, and poor decision-making. This blog post will delve into emotional reasoning, explore its impact, and provide practical tips on identifying and overcoming it.

Emotional reasoning occurs when people rely solely on their emotions to guide their thoughts and actions. It often involves assuming that something must be true in reality because it feels true emotionally. For instance, anxiety about a social event may lead to the belief that it will inevitably go poorly, even when no concrete evidence supports it.

It's essential to be aware of the impact of emotional reasoning on our perception, decision-making ability, and relationships. Emotional reasoning can distort our perception of reality, making us interpret situations based on our emotions rather than the actual facts. This can lead to misunderstandings and conflicts in personal and professional relationships, as emotional responses may not accurately reflect the intentions or actions of others. Moreover, relying solely on emotions can impair our ability to make sound decisions, as emotions are subjective and may not align with objective truths. Therefore, it is crucial to recognise and manage our emotions to make objective and rational decisions and build healthy relationships.

It's important to be aware of strong emotional reactions, particularly when they influence thoughts and decisions. This awareness is the first step in identifying emotional reasoning. Additionally, it's important to challenge assumptions that arise from emotional reasoning. You should question whether your beliefs are based on evidence or if emotions solely drive them.

To overcome emotional reasoning, you can take the following steps:

Cognitive Restructuring: Identify and challenge irrational thoughts associated with emotional reasoning. Ask yourself for evidence supporting or contradicting your beliefs and reframe negative thoughts into more realistic and balanced ones.

Journaling: Keep a journal to track your emotions and their associated thoughts. This can help you identify patterns of emotional reasoning and provide a clearer understanding of the situations triggering these responses.

Mindfulness Practices: Engage in mindfulness activities to increase awareness of your emotions without necessarily letting them dictate your thoughts. Techniques such as meditation can create a mental space between your emotions and reasoning.

Safe Place Imagery: Develop a safe place in your mind to retreat when overwhelmed by emotions. This location, whether somewhere you've been before or a complete figment of your imagination, brings feelings of security and tranquillity. While it may not directly target emotional reasoning, it can be a valuable tool in managing and mitigating the impact of strong emotions, which can help put things into perspective and provide more clarity on the situation. Find out more about creating safe place imagery.

Shuttling Awareness: This is when you shift your awareness between images of experiences when things were a little better and tuning into what is happening in the body. Moving your awareness away from the current distressing thoughts and emotions allows you to interrupt negative thought patterns associated with emotional reasoning, provides a means to balance your emotional perspective, aids emotional regulation and more. Find out more about how to shuttle awareness.

Emotional reasoning is a common thinking error affecting different aspects of our lives. By recognising this cognitive distortion, questioning our assumptions, and using practical strategies, we can overcome emotional reasoning and make more informed and rational decisions. Remember, emotions are an essential part of the human experience. Still, when they become the only driving force behind our thoughts, it's crucial to introduce a balance between emotions and objective reasoning.