Dichotomous thinking: what it is, effects and distinctive features

We know that in life, few things are usually black or white, but almost everything moves in a gray scale.

However, many times we tend to polarize our thoughts and move in absolute. We will analyze this question throughout this article. We will explore the characteristics of dichotomous thinking, the consequences of its use, and other questions of interest.

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What is dichotomous thinking?

Dichotomous thinking, also known as polarized thinking, is that way of thinking in which only two alternatives are contemplated that are totally opposite and mutually exclusive. It is also commonly known as thinking all or nothing, black or white.

As we anticipated in the introduction, this is a very common way of thinking in certain people, but for that reason it is not logical, or at least not always. And it is that, except for very specific circumstances, there are few occasions in which the possibilities are really two and also differentiated in such a radical way.

Therefore, we could say, when talking about dichotomous thinking, that we are facing a way of seeing reality that presents a distortion. This does not necessarily imply suffering from any pathology, as it is a phenomenon that all people have experienced at some point, but some will do it more frequently than others.

Subjects who tend to fall into this way of seeing the world usually have one characteristic in common: a way of being authoritarian. This personality gives them a categorical worldview, which is what shapes their dichotomous thinking. Namely, They usually only contemplate two alternatives when making proposals: either all or nothing.

But, as we have said, there are not many situations in which the decision is between option A and option B. Generally, life offers us a whole range of nuances that these people simply do not contemplate. Dichotomous thinking would be a way of simplifying reality to the extreme, reducing all the alternatives to just two, which are also usually extreme.

Consequences of dichotomous thinking

Obviously, the use of dichotomous thinking has a number of consequences. Own simplification of reality is already one of them, because the person who uses this type of thinking is ignoring a whole range of possibilities of thought and action that are limiting his behavior, since he only contemplates two possible options, although there are many more.

Another problem with polarized thinking is that it can tend to fall into different biases, since the person chooses by a simpler way of reasoning, which implies less use of resources (hence the simplification of the reality that we saw). By making use of these thinking biases, the subject ignores information that can be very valuable.

In fact, dichotomous thinking has been described by personalities in psychology such as Aaron Beck, as an immature and primitive way of reasoning. Beck sees negative implications in these thought processes, since he considers that these subjects have problems identifying the different dimensions of reality that they are considering.

Equally, Aaron Beck notes that individuals who tend to use dichotomous thinking tend not to rethink their claims.Therefore, even when they are wrong, it is difficult for them to twist their arm, varying their approach. On the contrary, they will stand firm in their categorical position.

Other authors, such as the Japanese psychologist, Atsushi Oshio, go beyond the authoritarian personality of which we spoke, and propose through his studies that subjects who usually reason through dichotomous thinking tend to score high on the narcissism scales but at the same time show a low index of self-esteem.

Not only that. Other characteristics of the personality of these people would be the need to be in control, a search for perfectionism and a low tolerance for ambiguous situations. They are also radical in their thinking, rejecting the options contrary to those of their preference, since they only contemplate their option and the opposite, with no intermediate possibilities.

But in addition, an abuse of dichotomous thinking can affect the subject's state of mind, since moving constantly in absolute terms can generate frustration by failing to always impose their criteria and consider that this entails having to inevitably suffer the option completely opposite. The damage to the mood could even lead to depressive symptoms.

This way of seeing life can also have consequences for the establishment of adequate social relationships, because equally, these can be deteriorated if the person tends to move in extremes and to try to be only validate the alternative you propose, as opposed to the other, which would represent everything you don't want.

Obviously, it is an unrealistic way of reasoning, and it is understandable that it generates frustration to a greater or lesser extent.

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How to modify it

But we must not fall into pessimism, because the good news is that dichotomous thinking is a phenomenon that can be reversed. Obviously, depending on the personality characteristics of the subject in question, this process will be more or less simple and will allow more or less flexibility in the new way of reasoning.

Replace dichotomous thinking with a broader way of thinking that includes the full range of alternatives that the person has at their disposal at any given time, is a way of enriching our mental processes and reasoning. For this reason, it is a way that increases the problem-solving capacity, since there is a tendency to see new ways that previously went unnoticed.

Working to encourage flexible rather than dichotomous thinking is more effective working at an early age. Therefore, it will be easier to get a child used to reasoning using flexibility rather than dichotomy, than trying to do it with an adult who tends to constantly use thought dichotomic.

But the work is definitely worth it. The possible frustration that may arise from a constant use of these reasonings will tend to diminish, as we move away from absolute positions. Likewise, you can experience a greater creative capacity and even more empathy towards other people's positions.

We see, therefore, that flexible thinking offers a whole series of advantages that are more difficult to find if we opt for dichotomous thinking.

Examples of dichotomous thinking

After conducting an exhaustive exploration of the implications of dichotomous thinking, it would only be necessary to contemplate a few simple examples in order to establish this knowledge.

1. Black or white

We have already seen that dichotomous thinking implies an all or nothing differentiation. For example, a person might consider performing a complex task that will take many hours, one only once, with the consequent fatigue that this will imply, compared to the opposite option, which would be not to nothing.

As we see, I would be ruling out the whole range of intermediate alternatives, which would consist of distributing said task over different days, so that the effort was not so intense, or even request help from another person, if this were possible, to equally distribute the workload between various.

2. Either with me or against me

On many occasions, dichotomous thinking is posed as a personal matter in which the subject considers that the other agrees with him one hundred percent, or on the contrary is radically in against. You will hardly realize that you can share parts of your reasoning, but not all.

It can also be posed as a reasoning that approaches coercion, either you are with me or you are against me, radicalizing positions and considering that anyone who is not in the same line of thought is practically a enemy. As we can see, these are very rigid approaches, typical of authoritarian mentalities.

3. Perfection or catastrophe

Equally, dichotomous thinking can cause the person who uses it to fall into a distortion that makes him perceive only two options: either absolute perfection, or a disaster. Obviously, the decisions we make in life are not always perfect, but that does not imply, far from it, that they unleash a catastrophe.

However, for someone who moves on dichotomous terms, failure to achieve total perfection can only be considered a resounding failure. This is a perfect way to live in a state of constant frustration and suffer the consequences in our state of mind.

As we have already seen, the best antidote to avoid falling into this problem is none other than working with flexible thinking and thus contemplating all the alternatives that life offers us.

Bibliographic references:

• Egan, S.J., Piek, J.P., Dyck, M.J., Rees, C.S. (2007). The role of dichotomous thinking and rigidity in perfectionism. Behavior research and therapy. Elsevier.
• Oshio, A. (2009). Development and validation of the dichotomous thinking inventory. Social Behavior and Personality: an international journal.
• Oshio, A. (2012). An all ‐ or ‐ nothing thinking turns into darkness: Relations between dichotomous thinking and personality disorders. Japanese Psychological Research. Wiley Online Library.