A more extreme from of Magnifying and Minimizing is All-or-Nothing Thinking.
Consider this cheerleading scenario. Your cheerleading squad is at Nationals and you have come in 3rd in your division. You all know that your performance was excellent; you hit everything. What’s your reaction?
Do you smile with pleasure, knowing that your squad performed so well? Are you angry that you didn’t place first? Are you complaining that the judging was unfair?
Well, All-or-Nothing Thinking occurs when you wipe out everything positive and only look at the negative. This can have a snow ball effect such that EVERYTHING becomes negative. So, in this case, the thinking would be look like this: “We lost. We were terrible. I should just get out of cheerleading. I don’t think the coaching was good either. And the judges always pick that other squad. We’ll never come in first. This is the worst experience of my life.”
See how easily misery can happen? Such cognitive distortions can discourage you from trying new things or deter you from taking good risks.
Tip: In a situation like this, the squad can benefit from a debriefing in which everyone is asked what went well, what went very well, and what, if anything can be learned from the event.