Minimizing: Definition in Psychology, Theory, & Examples

By Eser Yilmaz, M.S., Ph.D.
​Reviewed by Tchiki Davis, M.A., Ph.D.

What is minimizing? Read on to learn more about the underlying theory of minimization, discover its causes, and explore tips to deal with minimizing.

*This page may include affiliate links; that means we earn from qualifying purchases of products.

“Oh, it’s nothing” or “it wasn’t a big deal” might be the types of phrases you use when people praise something you’ve accomplished, such as when you ace an exam, receive a prestigious award, or get promoted at work. Perhaps you hear such responses when you compliment someone you know. These responses serve only one purpose: minimizing the significance of an event. But have you ever thought about why we do this? 

Why do we minimize something remarkable as if it is not worthy of praise or discussion? In this article, we’ll define minimizing, discuss why we minimize our experiences and events and explore what we can do to stop minimizing.

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What Is Minimizing in Psychology? (A Definition)

American Psychological Association (APA) defines minimizing as a “cognitive distortion consisting of a tendency to present events to oneself or others as insignificant or unimportant” (APA, 2022). A cognitive distortion alters reality in our minds, similar to how our reflections are twisted in a hall of mirrors. Hence, you can imagine minimizing as one of these mirrors that makes everything look much smaller than it actually is in our mind’s eyes. In other words, minimizing is when we frame something to be lesser than it is by denying or dismissing its significance.
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Minimization can be a conscious process. For instance, a bully might deliberately downplay his rude remarks to avoid any consequences for his actions and claim that he was merely joking. However, one may also minimize something unwittingly, such as a school administrator considering an act of bullying as a silly prank when the perpetrator is a student with excellent grades. Here is a brief video about minimizing that you might enjoy.

Video: Minimizing the Positive

Opposite of Minimizing

If the distortion of an event’s significance were to be projected on a spectrum, minimizing would be on one the low end, and maximization would be on the high end of that spectrum. Why? When people minimize events or emotions, they frame them as unimportant and unworthy. In contrast, when they maximize them, they exaggerate their importance and make mountains out of molehills (in psychology, this is often called catastrophizing).

Often, minimizing and maximizing go hand in hand, distorting different aspects of the same event. Imagine a mother who threw a birthday party for her toddler. She planned the menu ahead of time, cooked and cleaned for days, handcrafted and hung decorations, and prepared games and activities for the littlest invitees. All guests had fun, and they complimented her on how great everything was. Yet, the mother couldn’t get past the fact that she had forgotten to purchase birthday candles for the cake. So, she minimized all the planning, good food, and fun and maximized her failure to remember to buy birthday candles. As a result, she felt like the party wasn’t very successful.

Video: Magnification and Minimization​

Examples of Minimizing

Minimizing is quite common, and many of us minimize our experiences, emotions, or the effects of events on us. Moreover, we minimize both the good and the bad. Here are a few examples that you might find in daily life.
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• Manuel was standing between two isles in a convenience store when a robber barged in. The robber held the store employee at gunpoint as he emptied the cash register. Manuel carefully approached the robber from behind and knocked him unconscious with a case of soda. Manuel was declared a hero when the police and the local news crews arrived. However, Manuel refused to take credit for his bravery and declared that anyone would do the same. 
• Jaya had been smoking since she finished high school and she became a chain smoker over time. When her friends confronted her about her excessive smoking and suggested that she cut back or quit, Jaya dismissed their concerns saying that she smokes only a bit more than before. 
• Albert was recently promoted at work. At a party, many people congratulated him and commented that he’s always been a hard worker with high standards. Albert shrugged off these comments and insisted that his supervisors must have confused him with someone else who actually deserved to be promoted. 
• Carmen attended a family event a few weeks after her miscarriage, where her relatives kept telling her how sorry they were. Carmen sighed and told them that it was early in the pregnancy anyway, and her situation was nothing major compared to other parents who have lost their children to cancer or other chronic conditions. ​

Minimizing vs. Other Cognitive Distortions

As mentioned earlier, cognitive distortions are unhelpful, faulty beliefs and thoughts that twist reality, just the way concave glasses in a hall of mirrors twist reflections. But if you have ever been in a hall of mirrors, you might have realized that there are many different ways these mirrors distort images: some elongate everything, some stretch the edges, and some make everything look rounder. Hence, you might guess that there are a variety of cognitive distortions, shifting reality in distinct ways. Here are some of the other cognitive distortions, with a brief example for each.

• All-or-none thinking: All-or-none thinking refers to the type of thinking that sorts everything into two bins: perfect and terrible. In other words, if something isn’t excellent, the individual perceives it as a failure. 

“I got a B on my test. I am a failure.”

• Overgeneralization: This type of thinking turns one bad experience (or lack of good experience) into a general rule. 

“Nobody cares about me.”

• Jumping to conclusions: This time, the individual makes assumptions about how people will feel or how things will turn out.  

“I don’t want to have dinner at my girlfriend’s parents’ house. They will hate me anyway.”

• Mental filter: When people use a mental filter, they cherrypick something negative and ignore the rest. 

“One of my friends didn’t like my new shoes. I have no sense of fashion.”

• Discounting the positive: This distortion is similar to minimizing. However, in this case, the individual disregards the positives entirely instead of reducing their importance.

“I’m glad you liked my painting, but anyone with a canvas and a brush can paint that.”

• Unrealistic expectations: People with unrealistic expectations have definite yet impractical ideas about how things should be. Moreover, they may see themselves as failures when they don’t meet that high standard. 

“I should be able to write a bestseller novel in a month.”

• Emotional reasoning: This type of thinking projects an individual’s personal thoughts and emotions as absolute truths or objective realities. 

“Sushi is gross. Nobody likes it.”

• Labeling: This distortion involves individuals attaching a negative label to themselves, another person, or something they do. As a result, they judge themselves (or the other person) through that lens.

“She dates anyone who asks her out. Therefore, she is a slut. ”

• Personalization: This time, the person blames themselves or someone else for an adverse outcome over which they had little or no control. 

“If I were a good parent, my daughter wouldn’t have flunked math.”

Our cognitive distortions do shift our reality, but it doesn’t mean they are linked to any brain dysfunction. Even though cognitive distortions may seem illogical, experts believe cognitive distortions might have evolved to help humans think adaptively, especially if the individual faces a threat (Gilbert, 1998). Do you want to find out more about cognitive distortions? Here is a fun video you may find informative.

Video: Cognitive Distortions

When Do People Use Minimizing?

Minimizing is very common, and there may be different underlying causes. One of the most common of these might be minimization as a defense mechanism. Why? First, minimizing allows a person to decrease the intensity of a situation, which in turn reduces the emotional response to that situation. For instance, dismissing someone’s rude remarks can prevent us from having strong negative emotions and allow us to focus our energy on other important matters.  

Minimizing as a defense mechanism can also be used for situations that evoke shame or guilt. In these cases, minimization helps us reframe the situation to reduce these emotions. Let’s imagine a girl in middle school who has a deep crush on one of her classmates. When her friends ask her about it, she might feel ashamed and reluctant to admit her true feelings. As a result, she may use minimizing language, such as saying that she likes that classmate just a little or dismiss her friends’ inquiries entirely. 

What about guilt? Imagine an employer who regularly yells at her employees for minor mistakes. She may feel guilty about her outbursts but may minimize them as “I just talk loud” or “I never say anything offensive.” In this case, minimizing helps the employer reframe their behavior to reduce their guilt.

Sometimes, minimizing can also result from overcompensation, such as when we minimize our accomplishments to avoid bragging. This cause of minimization is especially true for women, who are conditioned from a young age to be modest (Smith & Huntoon, 2013). In this case, a person may be aware and proud of their accomplishments on the inside, but for the sake of modesty, they may minimize the importance of the accomplishment.
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Minimizing can also indicate a lack of self-esteem or low self-confidence. When we struggle with our self-esteem, we might have an overall low sense of personal value and self-worth. We may feel that we don’t deserve to be praised when someone compliments us. As a result, we may respond by minimizing it. Similarly, if we have low self-confidence, we might see our skills and abilities as unimportant or inferior, and our own success may cause us to feel uncomfortable. We may be worried that our success was a fluke and doubt that we’ll ever have the same outcome. Hence, we may resort to minimizing our success.

How to Stop Minimizing

Although minimizing something every once in a while isn’t necessarily bad, frequent use of minimization may be a sign that you avoid dealing with your emotions. Furthermore, when you always minimize your role in situations, you may appear avoidant, indecisive, or unconfident. The more you minimize the importance of your accomplishments, the more likely you will perpetuate a self-fulfilling prophecy. For instance, when it comes to your career, you might be passed over for promotions or salary increases you actually deserve. 

Believe it or not, I have struggled with minimizing for a long time. I just couldn’t accept any compliments without feeling the urge to diminish or dismiss it. Here are the strategies that helped me. 

1. Ask yourself why you minimize. Sometimes we minimize everything as if we are on autopilot because we don’t see ourselves in a positive light. Maybe we avoid dealing with our emotions or are conditioned to appear modest. Once you figure out why you minimize, you can address the root causes. For instance, if you suffer from low-self esteem, you can work on strengthening your perception of your self-worth.  

2. Use positive affirmations. Positive affirmations are supportive statements about ourselves that can shift our mindsets toward positivity. Whether you are conditioned to be modest or lack self-esteem and confidence, positive affirmations can help you see yourself in a more positive light. Here are a few suggestions:

• I deserve success.
• I am proud of myself.
• I am proud of my accomplishments.
• I am proud of how far I have come.
• I am worthy of respect and love.
• I am capable of achieving my goals.
• I appreciate my skills.

​3. Change your responses. You might need to do a spring cleaning and replace the minimizing words and phrases with those that aren’t dismissive. Here are a few suggestions:

• “Thank you for your kind words” instead of “I don’t deserve all these compliments.” 
• “Thanks for noticing my efforts” instead of “I didn’t really do that much.”
• “I understand your concern” instead of “that’s nothing to worry about.”
• “I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings” instead of “I was just joking.”
• “Your appreciation means a lot” instead of “no big deal.”

Quotes on Minimizing

Sometimes we need to hear wise words from others to feel inspired. Here are a few uplifting quotes that you may enjoy.
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• “Mentors of mine were under a big pressure to minimize their femininity to make it. I'm not going to do that. That takes away my power. I'm not going to compromise who I am.” – Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
• “What is it in people, or just in people like me, that would rather let a lie go by, would rather wish it away or minimize it, than point it out and cause the liar embarrassment?” – Walter Kirn
• “I am not minimizing emotions. Emotions are an important part of life.” – Gary Chapman
• “Survivors have a difficult time expressing their feelings. They are more accustomed to minimizing their pain and hiding how they really feel, both from themselves and others. They often become frightened whenever they feel anything intensely, be it anger, pain, fear, or even love and joy. They fear their emotions will consume them or make them crazy.” – Beverly Engel
• “We'd all like to increase pleasure and minimize pain, but the truth is, suffering, even collective suffering that we're going through, is often the earmark that some real change is happening.” – Pete Holmes

Articles Related to Minimizing

​Want to learn more? Check out these articles:​

• Self-Doubt: Definition, Causes, & How to Overcome It
• Acceptance: Definition, Theory, & Tips​​
• Self-Reflection: Definition and How to Do It
• Negativity: Definition, Bias, & Tips to Stop It
• ​Stop Worrying: 10 Ways to Put an End to Worry​​​

Books Related to Minimizing​

If you’d like to keep learning more, here are a few books that you might be interested in.

• Retrain Your Brain: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in 7 Weeks: A Workbook for Managing Depression and Anxiety​
• The CBT Workbook for Mental Health: Evidence-Based Exercises to Transform Negative Thoughts and Manage Your Well-Being
• Mind Over Mood: Change How You Feel by Changing the Way You Think
• Stop Overthinking: 23 Techniques to Relieve Stress, Stop Negative Spirals, Declutter Your Mind, and Focus on the Present

Final Thoughts on Minimizing

Minimizing is a cognitive distortion characterized by the tendency to reframe events to reduce their significance. Minimizing can help us cope with situations and emotions that may be hard for us to accept or deal with. We all use minimization once in a while. However, persistent minimization may make us appear avoidant or unconfident. Understanding the underlying causes of why we minimize in certain situations can help us address these causes and develop strategies to stop minimizing.

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References

• APA (2022). APA Dictionary of Psychology. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
• Gilbert, P. (1998). The evolved basis and adaptive functions of cognitive distortions. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 71(4), 447-463.
• Smith, J. L., & Huntoon, M. (2014). Women’s bragging rights: Overcoming modesty norms to facilitate women’s self-promotion. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 38(4), 447-459.

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