Final answer:
Researchers use the idea of negative cognitive style primarily to predict the onset of depression. It involves a pattern of thought where people interpret events negatively, often leading to feelings of hopelessness and helplessness, which are predictive of depression.
Step-by-step explanation:
Researchers use the idea of negative cognitive style to A) Predict the onset of depression. This concept is a part of cognitive psychology, which examines how people think and how this thinking can affect their mental health. A negative cognitive style involves a tendency to interpret situations in a negative light, resulting in patterns of thought that can contribute to the development of depression. Negative cognitive style is characterized by making internal, global, and stable attributions for stressful or negative life events. For instance, if a student does poorly on an exam and attributes the failure to their own unchangeable shortcomings in a general way (internal, stable, and global attributions), this style of thinking could predict potential depression, as suggested by Seligman's reformulated theory of learned helplessness.
Additionally, cognitive flexibility, the ability to adjust one's thinking in response to changing goals and environments, has been linked to mental health outcomes. High cognitive flexibility can serve as a protective factor against depression, while lower flexibility can exacerbate negative cognitive styles.