overgeneralisation

Overgeneralisation is a cognitive tendency to extend a rule, pattern, or conclusion beyond its valid scope, resulting in broad or sweeping statements that are not warranted by the available evidence. It involves drawing conclusions from limited data or from a single instance and applying them to many other cases.

In psychology, overgeneralisation is a common cognitive distortion in which individuals make broad interpretations based on a single event or a few experiences. Examples include believing that a setback means permanent failure or that a single negative interaction proves that a entire group or situation is unacceptable. Such patterns can contribute to anxiety, depression, and rigid beliefs if not challenged with evidence and alternative interpretations.

In language development, overgeneralisation refers to the tendency to apply grammatical rules too broadly. Children might say “goed” instead of “went” or “mouses” instead of “mice,” demonstrating how a once-rule that governs many forms is mistakenly extended to irregular cases.

Causes often include limited data, cognitive biases, emotional responses, and the natural tendency to seek efficiency in thinking. The result can be distorted beliefs, stereotypes, poor decision-making, and difficulties in learning or adapting to new information.

Mitigation involves gathering more diverse evidence, testing hypotheses, and considering counterexamples. In therapy, strategies such as cognitive restructuring help individuals evaluate the evidence for and against broad beliefs. In education and critical thinking, explicitly distinguishing between general rules and exceptions supports more accurate reasoning.