Rationalization is irrational and self-serving, but useful
Behavioral and Brain Sciences 43:e42 (2020)
Abstract
Rationalization through reduction of cognitive dissonance does not have the function of representational exchange. Instead, cognitive dissonance is part of the “psychological immune system” (Gilbert 2006; Mandelbaum 2019) and functions to protect the self-concept against evidence of incompetence, immorality, and instability. The irrational forms of attitude change that protect the self-concept in dissonance reduction are useful primarily for maintaining motivation.Author's Profile
DOI
10.1017/s0140525x19002218
My notes
Similar books and articles
Unconscious Rationalization, or: How (Not) to Think about Awfulness and Death.Jake Quilty-Dunn - manuscript
Managers and Moral Dissonance: Self Justification as a Big Threat to Ethical Management? [REVIEW]Jonathan Lowell - 2012 - Journal of Business Ethics 105 (1):17-25.
Rationalization as representational exchange: Scope and mechanism.Fiery Cushman - 2020 - Behavioral and Brain Sciences 43.
Rationalization in the pejorative sense: Cushman's account overlooks the scope and costs of rationalization.Jonathan Ellis & Eric Schwitzgebel - 2020 - Behavioral and Brain Sciences 43.
Cognitive dissonance processes serve an action-oriented adaptive function.Eddie Harmon-Jones & Cindy Harmon-Jones - 2020 - Behavioral and Brain Sciences 43:e38.
The social function of rationalization: An identity perspective.Jay J. Van Bavel, Anni Sternisko, Elizabeth Harris & Claire Robertson - 2020 - Behavioral and Brain Sciences 43.
Antecedent rationalization: Rationalization prior to action.Eric Thomas Sievers - 2020 - Behavioral and Brain Sciences 43.
Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc: Some Benefits of Rationalization.Jesse S. Summers - 2017 - Philosophical Explorations 20 (sup1):21-36.
Rationalization is a suboptimal defense mechanism associated with clinical and forensic problems.Stuart Brody & Rui Miguel Costa - 2020 - Behavioral and Brain Sciences 43.
Rationalization of emotion is also rational.Peter Railton - 2020 - Behavioral and Brain Sciences 43:e43.
Rationalization, Overcompensation and the Escalation of Corruption in Organizations.Stelios C. Zyglidopoulos, Peter J. Fleming & Sandra Rothenberg - 2009 - Journal of Business Ethics 84 (S1):65 - 73.
Analytics
Added to PP
2020-04-16
Downloads
63 (#191,211)
6 months
6 (#133,567)
2020-04-16
Downloads
63 (#191,211)
6 months
6 (#133,567)
Historical graph of downloads
Author's Profile
Citations of this work
References found in this work
Troubles with Bayesianism: An introduction to the psychological immune system.Eric Mandelbaum - 2019 - Mind and Language 34 (2):141-157.
