Mistakes Were Made (But Not By Me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions and Hurtful Acts
Carol Tavris, Elliot Aronson
Mistakes Were Made (But Not By Me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions and Hurtful Acts
Why do people dodge responsibility when things fall apart? Why the parade of public figures unable to own up when they make mistakes? Why the endless marital quarrels over who is right? Why can we see hypocrisy in others but not in ourselves? Are we all liars? Or do we really believe the stories we tell? Social psychologists Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson take a look into how the brain is wired for self-justification. When we make mistakes, we must calm the cognitive dissonance that jars our feelings of self-worth. And so we create fictions that absolve us of responsibility, restoring our belief that we are smart, moral, and right--a belief that often keeps us on a course that is stupid, immoral, and wrong.
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Omniscore:
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| Classification |
Non-fiction |
| Genre |
Society, Politics & Philosophy, Psychology & Psychiatry |
| Format |
Paperback |
| Pages |
304 |
| RRP |
£8.99 |
| Date of Publication |
May 2008 |
| ISBN |
978-1905177219 |
| Publisher |
Pinter & Martin |
| |
Why do people dodge responsibility when things fall apart? Why the parade of public figures unable to own up when they make mistakes? Why the endless marital quarrels over who is right? Why can we see hypocrisy in others but not in ourselves? Are we all liars? Or do we really believe the stories we tell? Social psychologists Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson take a look into how the brain is wired for self-justification. When we make mistakes, we must calm the cognitive dissonance that jars our feelings of self-worth. And so we create fictions that absolve us of responsibility, restoring our belief that we are smart, moral, and right--a belief that often keeps us on a course that is stupid, immoral, and wrong.