By Heather Cherry—
Anxiety is a complex disorder. Anxiety doesn’t go away for people with an anxiety disorder and can get worse over time – symptoms can interfere with daily activities. But occasionally tension is normal and many people worry about health, money or career challenges.
In most cases, our main concern comes not from what is actually happening, but from our perception of what is happening. Our brain’s innate ability to piece together unrelated stimuli and identify potential threats — a psychological function known as distraction — sets up the ability to extract and understand things that others overlook.
Brianna Wiest, author of The mountain is you, explains the phenomenon similar to how metabolic body types work — endomorph, mesomorph, and ectomorph — in that the system’s original intent helped our ancestors survive, but hinders us in modern times. “When you’re very anxious, your brain takes an innocuous stimulus and pulls out a meaning or prediction,” says Wiest. “Your brain is in overdrive working to identify potential damage. The smarter you are, the better you get at this.”
“Just as the endomorph’s excellent metabolism works against them, so can the brain. Making wrong inferences sometimes – when fallacies, biases and incorrect assumptions are made based on valid evidence,” says Wiest.
False inferences
False inferences tend to follow patterns that can be categorized as logical fallacies. Logical fallacies are arguments that may sound convincing, but are based on flawed logic and are invalid. This means that what you see, experience or understand is valid, but the assumptions are imprecise or highly improbable. And if you take them for granted, you can make bad decisions based on unsound arguments.
For example, your boss requires you to attend a meeting at the last minute without explaining its purpose. You assume that you will be promoted or fired. This false dichotomy results from assuming that only two options are available, when there are likely others that you are not aware of.
Here are a few logical fallacies that cause your erroneous inferences.
- Hasty generalization (overgeneralization): File a claim based on limited experience.
- Post hoc ergo propter hoc: A weak causal inference that concludes that two events are linked because they occurred in a similar timeline.
- False Dichotomy: Assuming only two conclusions are valid when there are many more.
- Inclined plane: Predictive fallacies that claim that one event causes another event, even when precautions are in place.
The challenge of erroneous inferences
The problem with false inferences is that they can be misleading. The Correspondent Inference Theory, developed by Edward Jones and Keith Davis in 1965, suggested that people judge that a person’s personality matches or corresponds to their behavior.
For example, someone says something nice and you assume that person is friendly. “When we try to explain our behavior, we tend to make external attributions, such as situational or environmental characteristics,” says Saul Mcleaod, Ph.D., an educator and researcher. “Jones and Davis thought that people pay particular attention to intentional behavior (as opposed to unintentional or thoughtless behavior).”
Another prominent challenge of erroneous inferences is their cause for concern. Worrying about many things is useless and distressing and can affect your emotional and physical health. “Chronic worrying can affect your daily life so much that it can disrupt your appetite, lifestyle, relationships, sleep, and work performance,” says Debra Fulghum Bruce, Ph.D., award-winning medical writer and author. “Many people who worry excessively are so anxious that they seek relief from harmful lifestyle habits such as overeating or substance use.”
Excessive worry can affect your ability to respond to stressful situations. “Anxiety doesn’t protect us in the way we think — we can’t beat fear to the finish line,” says Wiest. “It changes the way we think about expecting, looking for and creating worst case scenarios. As soon as a crisis occurs, we panic. If we hadn’t overthought these fears, we wouldn’t be so touched when they happen, and we’d be able to see the situation objectively and act accordingly.”
Correct erroneous inferences
The first step to correcting erroneous inferences is to be self-aware. “Once you realize you’re thinking in a false dichotomy or making hasty generalizations, you stop,” says Wiest.
Training your brain to automatically shut it down takes time and requires self-directed rewiring, known as neuroplasticity.
Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to rewire itself and adapt to change. “If we keep acting the same way, thinking the same thing or feeling a familiar emotion, we’re reinforcing old nerve pathways,” says clinical psychiatrist Sam Zand. “When you pick up a new habit, your brain uses new paths — the more you walk new paths, the weaker the old ones get.”
Here’s how to rewire your brain and correct incorrect inferences holding you back from success.
- Shift the script: If you keep telling yourself the wrong inference, you’ll stay in the same cycle. “If you want to change your thinking and perception, tell yourself a different story,” says Aimee Daramus, PsyD, a clinical psychologist.
- Focus on reality: Reality testing was invented by Sigmund Freud – a concept in his own right psychoanalytic theory who analyzes situations and decides whether they are based on facts or on hopes and fears. For example, if you experience a hasty generalization, ask yourself, “What are the facts that support this feeling?”
- Practice a new skill: Trying out a new hobby or skill can be a great form of self-care. And trying something can stimulate and strengthen your brain neural pathways.
- Mindful Meditation: The practice of mindfulness meditation A few minutes a day has been proven to boost neuroplasticity.
- Get moving: Research shows that exercise increases neuroplasticity — specifically, aerobic exercise contributes to molecular, cellular, and systemic changes in your brain.
Correcting incorrect inferences takes time. Give yourself grace and remember that consistency is key. Like any new habit, one try won’t stick, but lasting change is likely with diligent repetition.
Heather Cherry is a freelance health and wellness writer and content marketing coach. She helps companies create strategic, creative and conversational messages and build effective content teams. She has been published in Sleepopolis, SELF, Insider and author of Market your A$$ discount.
Janice has been with businesskinda for 5 years, writing copy for client websites, blog posts, EDMs and other mediums to engage readers and encourage action. By collaborating with clients, our SEO manager and the wider businesskinda team, Janice seeks to understand an audience before creating memorable, persuasive copy.