Irrational Ideas And Perceptions Of People

2024 Author: Harry Day | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 15:43

The concept of "irrational idea" ("irrational idea") was introduced and described by the American psychologist Albert Ellis, the founder of rational-emotive psychotherapy. Literally, it means a certain idea or idea that has the character of a belief about oneself, other people or the world around it, but is not rationally conditioned and logically correct. Irrational representations are, as it were, a prism through which the individual examines and evaluates external events.

Irrational ideas are not something exotic, they are characteristic not only of neurotics or people with psychological problems. They are observed in almost all of us: some have some, some others, some have more, some have less.

As an example, let us cite one of the most common irrational ideas described by Albert Ellis: "I must be competent, adequate, reasonable and successful in all respects (you need to understand everything, be able to do everything, know everything and achieve success in everything)!" In other words, I must always be on top; if I don’t know something, I don’t know how, if something doesn’t work out for me, then I’m a failure. A person with such an irrational idea will not have peace of mind. Still would! After all, to know everything, to be able to do everything, to be always successful is simply IMPOSSIBLE. For such a person, any, even insignificant, failure in any business turns into serious worries about personal insolvency. And this can be easily used by a manipulator.

Examples of irrational beliefs include the following:

• I must always be on top.
• Everyone should like me.
• I must not make mistakes.
• I must be consistent in my judgments and actions.
• If a person has rendered me any service, I am obliged to answer him with a favor.
• People must be honest (for example, pay back debts).
• Parents (especially the mother) should in all situations think first about the child, and then about themselves.
• Whatever happens, you must be true to the word given once.
• It will be terrible if I do not become rich, I cannot provide for my children for the rest of my life.
• It's too bad that I won't be able to be always healthy and beautiful. Aging is awful.
• When others notice your feelings, this is a sign of your weakness. This cannot be allowed !!!
• Good kids always listen to their parents.
• A woman who has no children is inferior.
• A real man never cries.
• People over 40 years old are basically unteachable.

The list is endless. Each of us carries in ourselves more or less irrational ideas, which we partly learn with parental instructions in childhood, partly we get from the social environment around us (communication with friends, colleagues, the media, etc.). Some irrational ideas are generalizations of a person's own experience.

Irrational beliefs complicate our life and, in a sense, are a zone of our vulnerability. On the one hand, it is because of them that we perceive certain events not quite adequately. On the other hand, irrational representations give the manipulator a "clue" to achieve his goals.

The article appeared thanks to the works of Anna Azarnova.

Dmitry Dudalov