What is true: the Cognitive Triangle shows the interconnection between…?
From the book – Chapter 5: Emotions, Feelings, Thoughts and Moods
The right answer
Thoughts, feelings and behaviours
The cognitive triangle
THOUGHTS ↔︎ FEELINGS ↔︎ BEHAVIOURS
Figure 5.2 Thoughts, feelings and actions influence each other.
These three are interconnected:
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Thoughts influence feelings: "I'm a failure" → sadness, shame.
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Feelings influence thoughts: sadness → "Nothing matters."
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Both influence behaviours: sadness + negative thoughts → withdrawal, isolation.
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Behaviours influence thoughts and feelings: isolation → more negative thoughts → deeper sadness.
This is the foundation of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT): by changing negative thought patterns, we can improve emotions and actions. By changing behaviours (like exercise, socialising), we can improve thoughts and feelings.
Example. Sunday night, a person thinks "the week will crush me," feels tight in the chest, cancels a walk, then believes the cancelled walk proves they are finished. One changed behaviour — a ten-minute walk anyway — often changes the next thought more cheaply than an argument with the first thought.
Read the full chapter – Chapter 5: Emotions, Feelings, Thoughts and Moods
Stories from real life
- Not Angry, Just Tired – Sana, thirty-three, worked as an accountant in Hyderabad. For nearly a week she had been in what she called 'a mood'. She snapped at the auto…
- I Always Fail – Vikram, forty, was an engineer in Chennai who had just delivered a client presentation. Most of it went well, but one slide had a mistake and…
- The Pressure Cooker at Home – Mr Deshmukh, fifty-five, was a bank clerk in Nagpur known for his short fuse. One evening his son Aditya came home late. Mr Deshmukh shouted, slammed…
- Three O’Clock Worries – Elena, twenty-eight, was a graphic designer living in Madrid. Most nights she woke at three with her mind running: Did I send the right file? What…
Shloks
- Bhagavad Gita 2.62–2.63 – Dwelling on objects, attachment is born; from attachment, desire; from desire, anger. From anger, delusion; from delusion, loss of memory; from loss of memory, ruin of…
More on this topic: Emotions, anger and mood swings – understanding your feelings
More questions
- Which is an example of "all-or-nothing thinking" (a cognitive distortion)?
- Which is a HEALTHY emotional coping strategy?
- What is true: emotions are best described as…?
- What is true: moods differ from emotions because moods are…?
- What does Bhagavad Gita 2.62–2.63 mean for the mind?
- Not Angry, Just Tired – what this story teaches, the signs and what to do
- I Always Fail – what this story teaches, the signs and what to do
- The Pressure Cooker at Home – what this story teaches, the signs and what to do
- Three O'Clock Worries – what this story teaches, the signs and what to do
- What can we learn from the story “Sunday-Night Money”?
- How to stop overthinking and worrying
- How to control anger