Psychological Flexibility

Psychological flexibility is defined as being able to notice the expectations of the environment we are in and adjust our thoughts and behaviors accordingly. We use personal and social skills to adapt to these environments, thus creating a balance between significant situations in our lives and being able to choose thoughts and behaviors that are appropriate for changing circumstances. Being flexible allows us to have a broad perspective even when we are in emotional turmoil and enables us to make more objective evaluations.

Although psychological flexibility is related to change, it can also involve making decisions about our current situations without changing our important values. In other words, flexibility is not only about changing our thoughts but is closely linked to our beliefs and values that we cherish in our lives and want to continue in the same way.

What is Psychological Flexibility?

Individuals with psychological flexibility experience fewer psychological problems, and their life satisfaction tends to be higher. At the same time, these individuals find it easier to cope with the daily stressors that we often encounter in life. It is believed that the key to this lies in the ability of psychologically flexible individuals to adapt to the demands of changing situations more easily and to better maintain their balance. Being flexible helps protect us against negative thoughts that arise in our minds when faced with a stressful situation, positively impacting our psychological well-being. As a result, psychologically flexible individuals experience less depression and anxiety.

Furthermore, individuals with psychological flexibility engage in fewer cognitive distortions. But what does it mean to engage in cognitive distortions? We can sometimes think that events we encounter will always have very negative outcomes, consistently evaluate events in a negative light, or perceive events in an "all or nothing" mindset, seeing only black and white and neglecting the gray areas. These evaluation patterns are referred to as cognitive distortions. It can be said that many of us are familiar with these irrational, exaggerated, and truth-distorting thinking patterns. Research shows that these illogical and exaggerated thoughts play a significant role in the emergence of depression.

Psychological flexibility is closely related to the cognitive distortion known as "all or nothing" thinking. Individuals with this thinking habit distort reality by perceiving it in extremes. In other words, they trap themselves in a mindset. For example, they may think they are constantly failing because they perceive only perfection as an achievement. However, when they realize that success does not always mean being perfect but sometimes being good enough, they do not feel like failures. If individuals become psychologically flexible, they use the cognitive distortion known as "all or nothing" less frequently. This is because only then can they notice the details in events and see the gray area between black and white. To be psychologically flexible, individuals are recommended to observe their own thoughts and consider alternative perspectives. This way, they can choose to embrace thoughts that seem more rational rather than sticking to dominant or initially occurring thoughts.