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Negative emotions are created when we attempt to explain away situation or a behavior in our lives that is unpleasant for us. Rationalization has been defined as putting favorable interpretation on an otherwise unfavorable act.
Another major source of negative emotions comes about when we justify our negative behaviors by explaining then away in some fashion. We justify our negative emotions by telling ourselves and anyone else who will listen that we are thoroughly entitled to experience this negative emotion because of something that someone else, somewhere has done to us or to someone else.
Many of our negative emotions come from our tendency to judge other people. We actually set ourselves up as judge, jury and executioner. We find the other person guilty of doing or not doing something, condemn him for his misbehavior and pass a sentence upon him.
As a result of the development of feelings of rejection and criticism in childhood, it is quite common for people to become hypersensitive to the thoughts, feelings and behavior of others as adults. We see criticisms and slights where they do not exist. We are hypersensitive to what we think other people might be thinking and feeling about us. We are so concerned with not incurring the displeasure of disapproval o others that we are often paralyzed or held hack from taking actions that are in our best interests.
