Picture this: you’re in an important meeting, talking to a colleague, and perhaps discussing a recently completed project. Suddenly, a frown flashes across your co-worker’s face as you speak.
What would your next move be?
Would you ask her, “Why the frown?” Maybe “Is something on your mind?” Or would you fill in the mental blanks yourself: “Uh oh, she hates what I’ve said,” or “I must have done something wrong…”
The truth is, there are many possible reasons why your colleague might look displeased. She could have forgotten to lock her car, recalled an email she never sent, or even smelled something funny in the air…but if you chose the latter two responses, you’ve already decided.
This article will look at what happens when we jump to conclusions, just like I’ve described in this example.
I’ll explore how these snap judgments can happen, why they’re more likely when you’re stressed, and how you can stop this unhelpful habit from getting the better of you.
Why Do We Jump To Conclusions?
It’s all in your mind—or at least a large part of it is. If you were quick to assume why your colleague frowned in our example, you made what’s known as a snap judgment.
In this scenario, your brain jumped on the first piece of information you received and neglected everything that came after. Essentially, it “jumped over” or skipped the next steps in the reasoning process, e.g., considering all the possibilities, weighing up their likelihood, looking at your context for more clues, and so on.
We humans are inclined to mental shortcuts like these based on our experience and because it sometimes helps us.
For example:
- Your window is broken when you return home one day, and you call the police. Turns out a dangerous criminal broke into your home and was still there—by jumping to that conclusion, you potentially saved your own life.
- Your car makes a strange noise, and you think, “Something terrible is wrong!” You stop, check your brakes, and find out they aren’t working. Your life is saved.
With both of these scenarios in mind, what do you think you would conclude next time you return to a broken window or your car starts making a noise?
So mental shortcuts can save us time and prompt us to take immediate action, which might sometimes be life-saving.
But for most day-to-day situations, such as your colleague’s frown, it’s more likely that you need to think through, reflect, and evaluate a little more.
Let’s look at an example.
Vase or Face?
Take a moment to look at the following image. What do you see?
This optical illusion is a great example of how easily our minds can be tricked.
This Ambiguous Figure, created by the psychologist and philosopher Edgar John Rubin, can be interpreted in two ways. There’s more to it than meets the eye, and it’s almost impossible not to see the second option in sharp contrast once you know about it.
So what did you see?
If you answered “vase,” the purple part of the image was probably the first information your brain received. You likely started filling in the base of the vase, the top, and the decorative outline.
Now, switch your attention to the white of the image and think of the narrowest indent as the tips of two noses, the double indent below as lips, and the topmost indent as the outline of eyes.
If you answered “faces,” try this: focus on the edges of the profile of each face forming the profile of a decorative, symmetrical vase. What you experience as you shift between the two images is known as a “Gestalt switch.”
You’re More Vulnerable When You’re Stressed
By now, you might be starting to see why such mental shortcuts are far more likely when you’re stressed out.
When you are under pressure, it’s far easier to focus on the potential negatives of the first stimulus your brain receives, such as a colleague’s frown. Stress can also make you feel as if you are running out of time: that a quick decision is needed, and that there’s no time for you to explore all the options.
I created the Jumping To Conclusions Stress Coaching Card because this shortcut is a recognized cognitive bias. Also known as the Confirmation Bias, hasty snap decisions can be damaging to your work, mental health, and relationships.
Now, I’m going to show you what you can do instead.
3 Tips To Avoid Jumping To Conclusions
Now that you know what’s going on in your stressed-out brain, there are several ways to counteract the potential negative impacts of confirmation bias.
1. Bring in an outside perspective
The next time you find yourself quick to conclude, try asking someone else to brainstorm other possible explanations for the situation. Instead of presuming you know why your colleague is frowning, for example, you might leave it until after the meeting and discuss it with a third colleague or friend.
Some helpful questions to discuss with your third party include the following:
- What are/were the facts of the situation, and what were merely thoughts? E.g., When you thought, “She hates what I said,” was that based on facts or emotion?
- Were you looking at the whole picture? What was an interpretation? What was an assumption?
With someone to act as a sounding board, you can collect more details and get a clearer picture. They might even come up with some arguments that prove you completely wrong!
2. Think about other times a snap decision was made
This one’s easy. Before you run with your assumption, think back to other times when you or someone else made a hasty decision based on the first information available to hand.
What happened in those instances? Were they right or wrong? How can you avoid setting yourself up for a similar result?
3. Try stopping your thoughts
Reminding yourself that your assumptions aren’t fact-based is another way you can stop your mind from taking a mental shortcut.
Try to remember that conclusions are based only on beliefs and feelings, and you may be able to stop your mind with a simple phrase: “No! I don’t know that yet!”
