Beck’s cognitive model or “cognitive model” describes how our interpretations of situations influence our emotional and behavioral responses. (1)
This means that when a situation happens you interpret it with your previous beliefs, experiences, and assumptions. Almost like a filter. This happens so quickly you don’t realize it. Dr. Beck labeled these quick interpretations as “automatic thoughts” because they happen without us knowing.
General Example of the Cognitive Model
Different interpretations of the same event can produce different automatic thoughts.
So if you say “hello” and someone doesn’t say hello back, and you have a core belief that people are fundamentally rude or “bad” you will likely, automatically think, they heard me but are rude.
However, if you have a more neutral core beef about people, like that they are sometimes absentminded, then you might automatically think, they must not have heard me.
From the automatic thought you generate a reaction. This can be:
- emotional, like feeling upset,
- behavioral, like running away, or
- physiological, like getting sweaty or a rapid heartbeat.
In thought literacy content, the cognitive model is typically described as “thoughts influence emotions and behaviors,” which refers back to Beck’s concept.
Specific Cognitive Model Example: Hostility
Beck described how hostility is created with this model in his book Prisoners of Hate:
EVENT > DISTRESSED > “WRONGED” > ANGER > MOBILIZED TO ATTACK (2)
An external event was interpreted in a way that led to distress and defensive or attacking behavior. Say someone cuts you off in traffic and you have the unconscious automatic thought “they did this on purpose and they don’t respect me!”
You would then likely feel distressed and wronged due to someone else’s inconsideration, which leads to anger and then attack. On the outside, this could look like tailgating the person, cutting them off, or giving them a hand gesture. Actions commonly known as “road rage.”
It’s important to understand this model so you can separate yourself from the interpretations and learn to manage them. This would include identifying core beliefs that are leading to automatic thoughts and reframing them so you have responses more aligned with your values and goals.
After reflection, if you realized it was a one-time thing, you could recognize that you were overworked and tired and needed to better manage your anger when driving while stressed.
If you realize road rage is a constant, you can consider why. In this case, a possibility is that you’re taking things personally while assigning negative intent to others.
If that is correct, you can then work on not taking it personally, people make mistakes, and assigning positive intent: they weren’t looking or were distracted, and I’m glad I was quick enough to hit the brakes!
Note: you’re still allowed to be annoyed and think someone’s actions aren’t justified, while also giving them positive intent.
While all road rage doesn’t stem from this thought, it is one possibility. Someone with road rage could use the cognitive model with the thought literacy technique of thought reverse engineering to try to understand the thought leading to their anger and reduce their stress.
This model is not limited to anger and can be applied to a wide variety of life situations.
Thoughts?