Mistakes Were Made (But Not By Me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions and Hurtful Acts

Cover of Mistakes Were Made (But Not By Me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions and Hurtful Actsbook

Book Decription:

Why do people dodge responsibility when things fall apart? Why the parade of public figures unable to own up when they screw up? 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?

Renowned social psychologists Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson take a compelling 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 dumb, immoral, and wrong.

Categories: All-or-Nothing Thinking, BEHAVIOR, Beliefs, Biases, Blame, Change, Cultures, Exclusionary Behavior, Fear of the Unknown, Gender Roles, Hidden Motives, Ideologies, Insincerity, KNOWLEDGE, Leadership, Learning, Learning from Failures, Logical Ethics, Lying, Opinions, Other People Exist, Power, Pride & Shame, Social Skills, Societies, THINKING, This or That Thinking, Unhealthy Behavior, and What Should Be

Author: Dr. Carol Tavris

Website: Link

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Publishing Date: 2007-05-07

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