Arbitrary Inference: Characteristics Of This Cognitive Bias
Each of us has our own way of seeing the world, of explaining ourselves and the reality that surrounds us. We observe and receive data from the environment through our senses, to later give them meaning, interpret them and react to them.
But a large number of mental processes come into play in interpretation: we use our mental schemas, our beliefs, our knowledge and previous experiences to give them meaning. And sometimes our interpretation is skewed and distorted for some reason. One of the biases that we usually apply in our daily lives is arbitrary inference
Arbitrary inference is one of the different cognitive biases or distortions, which are understood as that type of error in which the subject interprets reality in a wrong way as a result of beliefs derived from experiences or processing patterns learned throughout life
For example, cognitive distortions are what cause prejudices and stereotypes to exist, or misinterpret the intentions of others towards us, or only consider one or two possible solutions to the same problem instead of thinking about them. intermediate or different solutions.
The individual generates an explanation of the world or himself based on false premises, which can cause you to make various interpretive errors and that can have consequences on your way of acting. Among these biases we can find selective abstraction, dichotomous thinking, personalization, overgeneralization, minimization or maximization or arbitrary inference.
When we talk about arbitrary inference we are talking about the type of cognitive distortion in which the subject reaches a certain conclusion about a fact without there being data to support said conclusion or even in the presence of information contrary to it.
The person in question does not use the available evidence, but rather quickly jumps to interpret the situation in a certain way, often due to their own expectations, beliefs or previous experiences.
For example, we think that someone wants to harm and discredit us because they disagree with our opinion, that we will fail an exam regardless of what we study, that a person wants to sleep with us because he smiled at us, or that a specific number has more or less chances of winning the lottery than another because that number coincides with a birthday or anniversary.
Arbitrary inference is a very common error in most people, and serves as a cognitive shortcut that allows us to save the energy and time of processing information in a more detailed way. Sometimes it is even possible for us to reach a correct conclusion, but this would not have been drawn from the information available.
Influence on mental disorders
Arbitrary inference is a type of cognitive distortion that all of us can and do commit from time to time. However, its habitual appearance can bias our behavior and our way of interpreting reality
Along with the rest of the cognitive distortions, arbitrary inference appears as a distortion that participates in generating and maintaining maladaptive thought patterns in multiple mental disorders.
From the cognitive-behavioral perspective, specifically from Beck’s cognitive theory, it is considered that the cognitive alterations of depressed patients are generated by the activation of negative and dysfunctional thought schemes, these thoughts being due to cognitive distortions such as arbitrary inference.
These distortions in turn cause the problem to persist because they make alternative interpretations difficult. For example, a patient may think that he is useless and that he will amount to nothing even though there is information that points to the contrary.
2. Psychotic disorders
One of the best known symptoms of psychotic disorders is the existence of hallucinations and delusions Although the latter may be more or less systematized, the fact is that different aspects that could contradict the subject’s belief are not taken into account and it is common for an intention or fact to be arbitrarily inferred from another that does not have to have any bonding. For example, the idea that we are being chased can come from observing a subject who is nervous on the street.
3. Disorders linked to anxiety and phobias
Anxiety is another problem that is linked to cognitive distortions such as arbitrary inference. in anxiety panic arises in anticipation of possible harm harm or situation that may or may not occur in the future.
As with anxiety, in phobias there is a stimulus, group of stimuli or situations that cause us to panic. This panic may come from the belief that if we get close to said stimulus we will suffer damage. For example, arbitrarily inferring that if a dog approaches it it will bite me.
Personality is the relatively stable and consistent pattern of ways of thinking, interpreting and acting towards ourselves and the world. In many personality disorders, such as paranoid, there are biased interpretations of reality which may be due to processes such as arbitrary inference.
Solution through therapies?
Although arbitrary inference is not a disorder, in cases where it appears in a context of psychopathology in which the problem is created or maintained, it is necessary to reduce or eliminate the bias that this cognitive distortion causes.
For this purpose, cognitive restructuring is often used as a method by which the patient combats thoughts derived from arbitrary inference and other distortions and learns not to make these distortions. It is about helping to look for equally valid alternatives to one’s own, discussing what causes such thoughts or what they are based on, searching for and contrasting the available information.
